IBM aims new business intelligence offerings at the midmarket

A suite of solutions offering pre-configured business analytics and planning capabilities, is among group of offering tailored for mid size enterprises that IBM is unveiling this week at the Mid Size Enterprise Summit West in Los Angeles.

By Sidney Hill September 14, 2009

IBM Cognos Express, a suite of solutions offering pre-configured business analytics and planning capabilities, is among group of offerings tailored for mid size enterprises that IBM is unveiling this week at the Mid Size Enterprise Summit West in Los Angeles.

"These new offerings hit all the critical areas identified by midsize company CIOs, including technology that will help them more effectively use information to enhance competitiveness, improve collaboration, and increase efficiency," says Marc Dupaquier, IBM general manager of the global mid market.
Dupaquier says IBM developed these solutions after conducting a number of surveys-including one involving 2,500 CIOs from 78 countries. Eighty three percent of midmarket executives queried in that survey ranked "business intelligence and analytics" as their top priority for improving competitiveness and cutting costs. That figure prompted IBM to create the Cognos Express portfolio. The offering currently includes three products that can be purchased as a single suite or as individual components to address a company’s specific needs. The components are:
• IBM Cognos Express Reporter, which lets business users securely access any type of data to create detailed financial, operational, transactional production reports, and ad hoc queries using simple drag and drop authoring capabilities;
• IBM Cognos Express Advisor, offering sophisticated analysis and "what if" scenario planning for long- and short-term performance forecasting. Key metrics can then be shared among stakeholders using live dashboards; and
• IBM Cognos Express Xcelerator, which includes an in-memory analytics engine that can transform data held in spreadsheets into format that allows for real-time multidimensional analysis, planning, budgeting, and forecasting.

The solutions in the portfolio are designed for quick deployment and easy integration with a company’s existing IT infrastructure.
"IBM is the first to truly deliver a solution that is right-sized in terms of both cost to purchase and cost to implement without sacrificing capabilities," says Neil Morgan, president of BrightStar Partners, an IBM Business Partner. "IBM Cognos Express represents a terrific opportunity to help us provide our clients with a simple solution that will enable midmarket business executives and employees to make truly informed decisions based on data and not simply gut feel."
On Sept. 29, a virtual event will offer in-depth look-including product demonstrations-at IBM Cognos Express. You can register for the event here .