Cognos Readies New Reporting Tool And Partner Program

The key to Cognos' push to move beyond its root as a provider of online analytic processing (OLAP) tools into CPM, is its release next month of ReportNet, a Web-based reporting tool that supports standard interfaces. ReportNet, which succeeds Cognos' Windows-based Impromptu reporting tool, has been quietly in development for several years, according to company officials.

ReportNet, which is J2EE-based and supports Web services standards such as XML and SOAP, is more suited to solution providers than Impromptu because the new tool is more customizable, said Ron Zambonini, Cognos CEO during a recent interview "Thanks to technology like XML and Web [services], this product is very embeddable," Zambonini said. "I think it will really help our attack our VAR channels better than we did before."

Currently solution providers account for 30 percent of Cognos' sales, but Zambonini said he's gunning to get that number up to 40. Cognos partners welcome that development but said Zambonini has been promising that for over a year. While the understanding with Cognos is that it will sell directly to large enterprises and allow solution providers to target mid-market customers, that doesn't come without channel conflict, says Matt Reedy, CEO if IntelliSolve Group, a Cognos solution provider partner. "They do work with us but they step over their line in the interest of making their quotas," Reedy says. "I for one would like to see them push a little more business our way."

For its part, Cognos says that's coming, notably with the new Global Partner Program. The company's beefed up partner program includes the addition of two new levels of partnerships--Consulting Partners and Technology Partners, aimed at providing more focused services surrounding CPM. The new program will include new training, centralized partner support, new marketing, tools and an improved extranet, said Patrick O'Leary, Cognos' vice president of strategic allianced. The goal says Cognos--to lower costs of selling and expanded business opportunities.

" I think that was the piece that was missing before," Reedy says. "I think this new initiative will allow for partners like us that really want to make most of our revenue with services, augmenting them with some product sales. I'll still have to see the proof in the pudding on this, but if Cognos follows through, this will definitely help build their partner channel."

Cognos is also looking to add partners with expertise in key vertical industries as well as some large global integrators. So far, Cognos has signed on Accenture and Deloitte Consulting to the new program. O'Leary said the plan is to try to add more higher-caliber partners that are not just resellers but systems integrators. Asked if that will come at the expense of current partners, O'Leary said not necessarily. "I expect we will see some of the partners will transition rather than be eliminated," O'Leary said.

The move comes while Cognos two key rivals,Business Objects and Hyperion,have recently announced plans to acquire two major suppliers of reporting tools: Crystal Decisions and Brio respectively.

Until the mergers were announced in late July, Hyperion had bundled Crystal tools with its Essbase analytic server. Now that Crystal is being acquired by a rival, and Hyperion is acquiring Brio, many Crystal partners are looking to establish new relationships. "Firms like ours are being courted by all the BI vendors, and we want to be treated well by the vendor(s) with whom we choose to work," Reedy said.