IBM Signs with Cognos for Business Intelligence
IBM (Armonk, NY) has agreed to bundle Cognos' (Burlington, MA) Impromptu and PowerPlay business intelligence tools in its Visual Warehouse and DB2 OLAP server products. The combination of Cognos' reporting and OLAP tools with IBM's data warehouse creates a solution for storing, accessing and intelligently analyzing information. The deal combines the complementary strengths of both companies' product offerings, added Janet Perna, GM of Data Management at IBM Software Solutions. Specifically, the deal calls for the introduction of: IBM's DB2 OLAP Server, for multidimensional analysis; Intelligent Miner for Data Version 2.0, for the intelligent searching of information in data marts and data warehouses; and extended agreements and further partnerships through IBM's Business Partner Initiative. Cognos has also announced support for IBM's DB2 OLAP server by all versions of its PowerPlay software. With this integration, Cognos now supports the entire line of IBM DB2 products, including DB2 and DB2 Universal Database. "It makes sense to ensure users have access to that data [stored in data warehouses or data marts] in a meaningful way,"said Paul Hill, Cognos VP of Strategic Partners and Marketing Programs.