Cognos tightens planning software integration

Analytics and reporting software vendor Cognos announced the latest version of its Enterprise Planning Series suite last week, boosting the integration between Cognos' flagship applications and its newer additions based on technology the company acquired last year from Adaytum.

Cognos released last year a branded version of Adaytum's software, but last week's release of Enterprise Planning Series 7.2 is the first edition to fully connect Cognos Consolidation (formerly called Cognos Financial) with the Adaytum-based Cognos Enterprise Planning software.

One customer, Murray Financial Systems Manager Rose Melillo, says the difference between the early integration and that offered in the 7.2 release is "night and day."

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Analytics and reporting software vendor Cognos announced the latest version of its Enterprise Planning Series suite last week, boosting the integration between Cognos' flagship applications and its newer additions based on technology the company acquired last year from Adaytum.

Cognos released last year a branded version of Adaytum's software, but last week's release of Enterprise Planning Series 7.2 is the first edition to fully connect Cognos Consolidation (formerly called Cognos Financial) with the Adaytum-based Cognos Enterprise Planning software.

One customer, Murray Financial Systems Manager Rose Melillo, says the difference between the early integration and that offered in the 7.2 release is "night and day."

"Now it's really usable," Melillo says. "For someone like us, with [Cognos Consolidation] set up, we did not want to reinvent the wheel over on the planning side. Now we can pull up Consolidation information and push small parts of that out to planning, so we can run real-time what-if scenarios, which are wonderful."

Murray is a Brentwood, Tenn., maker of lawn mower and snowblower products. The company has used Cognos' financial reporting software for several years and has helped the business cut its monthly financial closing time from two weeks to three days, Melillo says. What Murray didn't have until now was the real-time ability to examine the effects of changing sales forecasts on its bottom line.

Enterprise Planning Series is one of several software suites in Cognos' portfolio. In addition to tighter links among products within the suite, the new version adds interoperability with other Cognos products, including its ReportNet and PowerPlay business intelligence, and its Metrics Manager scorecarding tool. Version 7.2 also adds to the Enterprise Planning Series a link to the single sign-on system found throughout Cognos' products.

Pricing for Cognos' Enterprise Planning Series varies by configuration, but a 50-user license starts at about $75,000, the company says.

Cowley is a correspondent with IDG News Service's New York bureau.

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