IBM Cognos Express is the first and only integrated business intelligence (BI) and planning solution purpose-built to meet the needs of midsize companies. It delivers the essential reporting, analysis, dashboard, scorecard, planning, budgeting and forecasting capabilities that midsize companies need at a price they can afford. Everything is included in a pre-configured solution that is easy to install, easy to use and easy to buy.

Wayne Eckerson, Director of The Data Warehousing Institute said of Cognos Express:

"Instead of just repackaging its enterprise product with a different license model, IBM Cognos has thought long and hard about what mid-market customers need and subsequently created an entirely new end-to-end product designed suit those requirements. IBM Cognos Express borrows IBM and Cognos technologies to deliver a product that is easy to buy, simple to install, easy to use, and easy to maintain.

Cognos Express offers integrated modules for query, reporting, analysis, visualization, dashboarding, and planning. Once installed, the product essentially creates a local data mart (via TM1) behind the scenes. The product supports a maximum of 100 users running a single server."

IBM Cognos Express provides midsize companies with consistent, reliable information to answer three critical business questions: How are we doing? Why? and What should we be doing? With insights drawn from answering these questions, managers can make better, faster decisions to drive greater efficiencies, reduce costs and identify new growth opportunities.

For organizations that are beginning to embark or expand on a BI and planning strategy, IBM Cognos Express includes everything needed to get started right away. It offers powerful yet easy-to-use capabilities for both novices and advanced users to encourage broad adoption throughout a company.

To be agile and compete with larger rivals, managers and business users at midsize companies need targeted, timely and accurate information − information that can successfully drive strategic business decisions. BI and planning applications provide this information. They increase visibility into key metrics to improve business processes and decision-making throughout an organization.

Cognos Express is broken into three components that collectively manage:

1. self service reporting and ad hoc query,
2. free form analysis and visualisation, and
3. excel based planning and business analysis.

Everything is included in a pre-configured solution that is easy to install, easy to use and easy to buy.

IBM Cognos Express Reporter

Self-service reporting and ad hoc query

IBM Cognos Express Reporter delivers complete, self-service reporting and ad hoc query capabilities.

IBM Cognos Express Reporter empowers business users to access, modify or create reports quickly and easily. It meets all of your reporting needs with a self-service design that helps reduce the cost and time needed to share information throughout an organization.

• Delivers the full breadth of reporting capabilities, including financial, production, operational, transactional, managed or ad hoc reports.
• Provides a complete, consistent view of information throughout a company so users work with the same accurate data at all times.
• Offers flexible reporting capabilities and access to all corporate data in any combination for comprehensive, accurate reporting.
• Can be used with other IBM Cognos Express modules as part of a single, integrated BI and planning solution purpose-built for midsize companies.

Cognos Express Advisor

Freeform analysis and visualization

IBM Cognos Express Advisor quickly translates raw data into sophisticated analysis with rich visual presentations.

IBM Cognos Express Advisor gives business users and analysts at midsize companies the ability to quickly analyze complex data and easily share business insights with high-impact visualization. Its write-back capabilities enable users to take immediate action for the most effective business outcomes.

• Includes a fast and powerful in-memory analytics server that quickly connects to operational data sources and creates a dimensional view of your business.
• Uses simple drill-down and drill-up capabilities and flexible graphic displays to analyze key areas, such as customers, products and geographies.
• Provides freeform analysis of any combination of data, which eliminates reliance on overstretched IT resources.
• Provides flexible delivery throughout the company using intuitive Web-based dashboards and interactive reports that encourage wide user adoption.
• Can be used with other IBM Cognos Express modules as part of a single, integrated BI and planning solution purpose-built for midsize companies.

Cognos Express Xcelerator

Excel-based planning and business analysis

IBM Cognos Express Xcelerator transforms common spreadsheets for real-time planning and business analysis.

IBM Cognos Express Xcelerator extends and transforms the familiar Excel front-end with a powerful in-memory analytics engine. It’s perfectly suited for multidimensional analysis and strategic planning tasks, enabling a new level of insight and action, as well as speed.

• Build and test business scenarios with powerful “what if” modeling.
• Update plans immediately using write-back capabilities.
• Take advantage of existing Excel skills and investments while overcoming the risks and limitations of spreadsheet-only processes.
• Use with other IBM Cognos Express modules for a single, integrated BI and planning solution purpose-built for midsize companies.

Cognos Express Prices

Please click here for Cognos Express pricing.

Please click here to compare Cognos Express and Cognos 8