By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
In a recent business analytics study produced and published by Nucleus Research, Nucleus found that not only do midsize organizations turn to IBM business partners to implement business analytics projects, but also partners play a significant role in the business analytics deployment for organizations by reduced training costs, shorter project implementation times, lower software costs, and improved effectiveness – benefits delivered through out the entire project life cycle.

Specifically, Nucleus found that organizations were able to reduce project cycle times by an average of 50% when working with IBM business partners.

According to Nucleus Research, for every $1 invested in analytics, organizations get back $10.66. Implementation challenges can be solved by turning to IBM business partners who are experienced in implementing analytics tools, as well as creation of data warehouses and other infrastructure support solutions.

The benefits of working with IBM partners highlighted in the Nucleus study include:

• Increased project team productivity- partners have extensive knowledge of data assets and Cognos BI
• Reduced training costs- partners provide knowledge transfer through Cognos training
• Lower software costs- partners provide cost-efficient routes of deployment
• Increased end-user productivity- partners improve usability of reports and create analytical assets to fulfill business requirements
• Greater analytics benefits- partners improve usability of reports and create analytical assets to fulfill business requirements

 
Read the Nucleus Research Note Improving Analytics Deployments with IBM Partners in its entirety.

PerformanceG2 is proud to be an IBM Premier business partner and Authorized Software Value Plus Cognos business analytics provider. PerformanceG2 provides both technical and business experience to not only deliver and deploy business analytics applications such as IBM Cognos BI, Cognos Express and TM1, solutions and services to client organizations, but also to create and deliver project maps dedicated to meeting organizations’ data and analytics goals through skilled and experienced business intelligence and analytics consulting and training.

Learn more about PerformanceG2′s Premier IBM Cognos Business Analytics partnership.

 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
PerformanceG2 has been awarded as a Premier Business Partner by IBM for its successful client and partner work as well as market success with the IBM Cognos platform. IBM’s prestigious, top-level Premier Business Partner status is dedicated to organizations that demonstrated superior skills and market success while actively collaborating with IBM and clients to deliver innovative solutions.
 

 
“Becoming an IBM Premier Business Partner is a strong recognition to our company growth and to our commitment to the business analytics enterprise,” said Gary Frings, CEO of PerformanceG2. “We have worked hard to ensure our partnership with IBM in attaining certifications and continuing to expand our client solutions to provide the best technology in the industry. This achievement tops off a successful year for PerformanceG2, and allows us to develop stronger and closer relationships with IBM and industry partners.”

PerformanceG2 provides cross-industry organizations business intelligence and analytics solutions, services and software, and partners with leading organizations in the industry. PerformanceG2 is a reseller of Cognos products including Cognos 10, Cognos Express, Cognos TM1, and Cognos FSR. PerformanceG2′s top solutions and services including online and onsite Cognos training, Cognos support, performance management consulting, and business intelligence roadmapping.

Read the full news release for more information on PerformanceG2′s IBM Premier Business Partner status.
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
The 2011 IBM Information On Demand event has officially started, and this year, with more than 11,000 attendees, and 150 business partners, the event has been hosting a variety of networking events, informative sessions and keynotes, and business analytics demos.

Here are a couple of highlights, updates and conference feeds:
 
IBM Software Channel Live Stream – Straight from the Conference Floor: http://www.livestream.com/ibmsoftware
Live streaming videos, discussions and event sessions
 

 

IBM Software Blog – IBM’s Delany Turner, Jacqui Levy and More : http://ibm.com/blogs/software
 
Highlights, recap and summaries from each day sessions, as well as articles on each days activity from the conference.
 
EXPO Hall
Throughout the day, the EXPO is the home of our booth #1101 where we have active demos and giveaways.

 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
Nucleus Research recently published a Technology Value Matrix that evaluated global analytic vendors who provide the most usability and functionality in three core analytics areas:

(1) Business Intelligence (BI)
(2) Performance Management (PM)
(3) Predictive Analytics

Among the qualified vendors, Nucleus found that IBM Business Analytics leads the other three identified vendors, Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP. According to Nucleus, the “breadth of offering, application usability, and the ability to help organizations expand deployment scopes” are among the top reasons why IBM Business Analytics is the Technology Matrix leader. The placement of each vendor on the Matrix, results in usability and functionality scores that were assigned to the vendor based on Nucleus analysts and end user interviews.
 

 
According to past Nucleus reports on the value of BI and Analytics within organizations, there is an expected investment in analytics for midmarket organizations who have yet to deploy analytics, and for organizations who have implemented analytics but would like to further expand analytics solutions to achieve new productivity and decision making goals.

The result of the Matrix – that IBM provides the most usable and functional analytics products in the world, compared to other vendors in its class – is yet another reason why we are proud to be an Advanced IBM Business Partner and reseller of Cognos Business Analytics software.

While we strive to focus on the specific needs and goals of our clients, we also strive in providing the best analytics and BI software in the industry, so we can guarantee success for our clients, work with them on providing the tools they need to make the best decisions for their company, and ultimately deliver an ROI on their technology investment.

In the end, the implementation of BI and analytics in any organization is crucial for better decision making and improved productivity. Is your organization analytics-driven?

 
For more information on the Nucleus report, visit the Nucleus Research Analytics Technology Matrix site.

For more information on PerformanceG2′s Business Intelligence and Analytics solutions, services and software, visit performanceg2.com/solutions, or connect with us at info@performanceg2.com.
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
Event details are already in place for the IBM Information On Demand and Business Analytics Forum 2011 – the premier conference for information and analytics. This year, register early using the exclusive PerformanceG2 code, G11PERFG2, and save $400 off registration! Follow the instructions below to register.

Register before August 31, 2011, follow the instructions below and use the exclusive PerformanceG2 registration code to save a total of $400 off your registration:
 
1. Visit the IBM Information On Demand 2011 Web site registration page
2. Enter your email address and choose the registration type
3. Under the ‘Promotion Code Information’ section, enter the PerformanceG2 code G11PERFG2 to save a total of $400
4. Click ‘Continue’ and complete the remaining fields on the enrollment form clicking ‘Continue’ at the bottom of each section
5. Click ‘Submit Registration’ to finalize your registration process
 
For more information, or questions on how to register, contact me at candace.taylor@performanceg2.com. Don’t miss out on the year’s premier Cognos and business analytics conference! And visit our booth during the event on October 23 – 27 at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, for free demos, to hear the latest and greatest in BI and much more!
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
 
Cognos 10 – What’s New, Upgrading, Demos and More On-Demand Webinar
 

 
In this on-demand Webinar video, learn the ins and outs of Cognos 10 including:

• What’s new in Cognos 10 – new features and new capabilities including collaboration and social networking offerings, the new unified BI workspace, and mobile and real-time analytics
• How to upgrade from Cognos 8 to Cognos 10
• Cognos 10 demos – includes demos on Business Insight Advanced, Active Reports and more
• How to integrate MotioCI with Cognos 10 from an upgrade scenario, and how to integrate MotioCI with Business Insight Advanced, a new BI workspace capability in Cognos 10

Register to access a recording of this Cognos 10 Webinar for on-demand viewing.

Questions about Cognos 10 software? Call us at 877.742.4276, or email us at info@performanceg2.com.
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
 
New Cognos Online Training Courses by PerformanceG2 Includes Cognos 10 What’s New, OLAP Modeling, Business Insight and More

 
PerformanceG2 is now offering new Cognos ONLINE training courses in addition to the current two-day Report Studio online course, and two-day Framework Manager online course. The new courses, taught by PerformanceG2 Cognos certified trainers through our easy-to-use, remote classroom, are scheduled for dates throughout the months of March and April and include: one-day Cognos 10 What’s New course (March 24) , one-day Cognos Business Insight course (April 7), and two-day Cognos OLAP Modeling with Transformer course (April 5/6).

Information for these new courses, including course descriptions and rates can be found on the PerformanceG2 Online Cognos Training catalog site.
 

 
Other upcoming online training courses to look for that will be scheduled in the coming months include: Cognos 10 Business Insight Advanced course, Cognos Query Studio/Analysis Studio course, and TM1 courses. For more information on all of our Cognos Online Training visit http://performanceg2.com/solutions/online-cognos-training/, and for more information on our customized, on-site Cognos training, visit http://performanceg2.com/cognos-training-classes/.
 
Questions about our Cognos Training solutions? Call us at 877.742.4276, or email us at training@performanceg2.com.
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Manager for PerformanceG2
 
PerformanceG2 is proud to announce a new Cognos training course offering to our ONLINE training course service – a Framework Manager Online Training class. This two-day Framework Manager online training course is taught by one of our expert Cognos trainers and consultants, in a personalized, easy-to-use remote training classroom. This course provides participants with the knowledge on how to model metadata with Framework Manager using Cognos modeling recommendations as a modeling strategy. Initially, participants will review generic modeling structures and techniques as a foundation for the rest of the course. They will be introduced to basic modeling concepts and naming conventions in the Framework Manager environment, followed by more complex concepts and techniques to resolve reporting traps. Throughout the course, participants will model both operational and star schema metadata for predictable results, as well as create a dimensional model to be used for OLAP style querying. This course also includes access to the Cognos environment for up to a month after the course ends, as well as a book of course materials mailed directly to your home or office. The course is only $995 p/person, for two-days of training, complete access to the Cognos environment and course materials.

Learn more about this course, register for the course to reserve your spot (space is limited), or connect with us if you have any questions.

Also, our 2011 Cognos Training course catalogue is now available. Check out the new course catalogue with courses now focusing on Cognos 10 – download it here.
 

 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
By now, you have probably heard about the new IBM Cognos 10, and you may be wondering if it’s really as groundbreaking as some say it is. I think we may be underselling this new BI solution. IBM Cognos 10 will change how your organization makes decisions, allocates resources and predicts and plans for the future. Ultimately, it will help accelerate your competitive advantage.

But don’t take my word for it, see for yourself. Watch this brief demo on the new BI workspace of Cognos 10 Business Insight. This user interface is so simple and intuitive, it enables all types of users to confidently find accurate answers to key business questions. This is analytics that truly everyone can use. I think that’s one reason why Ventana Research has said: “Cognos 10 is a dramatically improved release and currently sets the standard for end-to-end integrated business intelligence products.”
 
Watch the Business Insight Demo and see for yourself why IBM Cognos Business Insight will give all your users the freedom to think and make smarter decisions.
 
 

 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
With less than 2 months left of the year, it is time to take advantage of some end of the year business intelligence software offers available for you and your organization. IBM Cognos and PerformanceG2 are offering Q4, 2010 sales for Cognos 10 and for Cognos Express, and are not to be missed:
 

 

Free Financing on Q4 Cognos 10 Pricing

IBM Global Financing is now offering no interest financing that will enable you to put Cognos 10 to work for your organization in Q4 of 2010. With this offer, your organization can: turn on Cognos 10 by making 12 monthly payments or 4 quarterly payments with no interest, depending on location, preserve case for other strategic business initiatives in 2011, and realize the benefits of Cognos 10 before you finish paying for it. For more information on this limited time offer, connect with us at info@performanceg2.com, call (877) 742.4276 and ask about the Cognos 10 0% financing offer, or click on the Cognos 10 picture above.
 

Limited Time Discount on Cognos Express

Affordable reporting just got even more affordable. Drive growth, market share, revenue and compete effectively against local competitive products and seeding programs and gain a fast foothold leveraging global success and penetration. From now until December 31, 2010, IBM and PerformanceG2 are offering a limited time discount on a 5-user license starter kit of IBM Cognos Express Reporter software for self-service reporting and ad hoc query capabilities. For more information on this Cognos Express limited time offer, connect with us at info@performanceg2.com or call (877) 742.4276.
 
Don’t miss out on these valuable Cognos offers while they last. Start your business intelligence and analytics initiatives off strong in 2011 with IBM Cognos innovative software.
 
 
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