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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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
It’s official IBM Information on Demand and Business Analytics Forum 2010, (#iodgc, #baforum) the premier business analytics conference of the year, has finally arrived. Last night’s kick-off and grand ceremony opening party started off with a college band playing outside of the EXPO hall, and Cognos 10 supporters – people dressed from head-to-toe in Cognos 10 gear – handing out Cognos 10 stickers and pins to remind everyone that Cognos 10 is coming. The night’s events continued with the opening of the EXPO hall where almost 7,000 attendees networked with IBM business partners, fellow colleagues and business analytics professionals. All in all, the night was a huge success as professionals prepare for a variety of information on demand sessions and conferences for the week.

Some of those who were not able to attend last night’s ceremony, or who is not able to attend IOD this year, check out our live streaming videos below to watch some of the night’s events unfold right from the EXPO hall carpet. And of course, stay tuned this week on our blog, G2 Live, the PerformanceG2 Twitter page and our Facebook page for access to some of the top highlights of the week. Questions, comments, or would like to meet us at the event? Email me and we can chat.
 
 

 
 

 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
There is only one more week left until the IBM Information On Demand and Business Analytics Forum event in Las Vegas (#iodgc, #baforum). Whether you are attending the event or not, we are providing a long list of resources for you to stay connected including EXPO information, virtual resources and links, must-attend sessions, and more. Learn more here, or click on the image below to access valuable event resources so you are fully prepared for the information and analytics event of the year.

Don’t forget to stop by the PerformanceG2 booth #020 in the business analytics section to meet with us face-to-face, chat with us about our innovative business intelligence solutions, and enter in a chance to win a free iPad. Download the EXPO map to locate our booth.

Have questions about the event, or do you have videos or blog posts that you would like to see us feature during the event? Email us and tell us what you think.
 

 
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
IBM announced this week that Cognos 10 Intelligence, the updated Cognos software that is dedicated to help organizations see more and do more to make smarter decisions, will be unveiled at the 2010 IBM Information on Demand Business Analytics Forum in Las Vegas on October 25, 2010. General Manager of IBM Business Analytics, Rob Ashe, will deliver the news live from the forum in a keynote that will include news of innovations for the coming year.
 

 
Sign up for the live simulcast to ensure you hear about what Cognos 10 has to offer. Also, visit our booth #020 in the business analytics section at IOD to learn more about Cognos 10 and the next steps you can take to ensure you and your organization is ready for new business analytics innovations. And of course, connect with us at anytime to learn more Cognos software,

For more information about Cognos 10 and its unveiling, watch the Cognos 10 Intelligence video by IBM.

 

 
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
While Q4 is right around the corner, so are some of the industry’s must-attend Business Intelligence, performance management and Cognos events. To make things easy, here is a list of those events with information on how to register. Most of these are free events, that you don’t want to miss – the events will increase your knowledge in the world of business analytics, will provide industry trends and what to expect for the rest of the year, as well as Cognos tips and tricks, and upcoming Cognos training courses – take advantage of these valuable events today.
 

FREE Virtual Summit: IBM Cognos Midsize Business Analytics Virtual Summit
Date: Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Time: 6:00 AM EST, 12:00 PM EST or 8:00 PM EST
Location: Virtual
Cost: Complimentary

Description: If you’re interested in learning how technology can help your organization turn data into insight, to help manage costs and drive business growth, then join us on Wednesday, September 15 for the third quarterly virtual summit. IBM Cognos will be unveiling the newest capabilities of IBM Cognos Express reporting, analysis and planning software that’s purpose-built for midsize companies.

Through this online simulated conference and expo, you will:
* Learn how adopting integrated business planning increases the accuracy, agility and adaptability that midsize companies need to compete in today’s volatile global economy
*Hear how Everlink Payment Services Inc. implemented BI for quick benefits and is now adding planning capabilities for a totally integrated environment
*See IBM Cognos Express in action, featuring the newest product capabilities for easy to use planning, budgeting and forecasting
*Network and chat live with peers, colleagues and industry experts
*Visit the PerformanceG2 virtual booth to download rich resources, connect with PerformanceG2′s expert team members and more

Whether you’re a technical, financial or business manager, you won’t want to miss this event! Register today – thousands have participated in the previous events. See what it’s all about on Wednesday, September 15.

Check out this FREE virtual summit event to learn more about business analytics and Cognos Express!

FREE: Query Studio Online Training Course
Date: September 16, 2010
Time: 12:30 PM to 3:30 PM CST
Cost: Complimentary
 

Description: The Cognos 8 Query Studio course is designed for business authors who want to learn how to create, modify and organize ad hoc reports. This covers how to use different report capabilities and the appropriate use of each, how to graphically display the data and how to create reports with the same look and feel through the use of templates. The course also covers basic administrative tasks, such as scheduling reports and delivering reports in different formats (HTML, PDF, Excel, etc.). Sign up for this complimentary online training course today!*

*Space is limited
*Only one registrant per company available

Two-Day Report Studio Online Cognos Training Course
Date: Wednesday, September 29 and Thursday, September 30, 2010
Time: 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM CST
Location: PerformanceG2 Online Classroom
Cost: $795 p/person

Description: The C8 Report Studio Course starts with an introduction to Cognos Connection, report management through Cognos Connection, basic and intermediate report building techniques, and ways of enhancing, customizing and managing professional reports in Report Studio. Through hands-on demos, you will also learn advanced techniques for creating, modifying and distributing professional reports using Report Studio and Cognos Connection. In addition, you will learn the proper techniques for creating Cognos 8 Dashboards.

Sign up for this two-day Report Studio training course.

Two-Day Report Studio Online Cognos Training Course
Date: Wednesday, October 20 and Thursday, October 21, 2010
Time: 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM CST
Location: PerformanceG2 Online Classroom
Cost: $795 p/person

Description: The C8 Report Studio Course starts with an introduction to Cognos Connection, report management through Cognos Connection, basic and intermediate report building techniques, and ways of enhancing, customizing and managing professional reports in Report Studio. Through hands-on demos, you will also learn advanced techniques for creating, modifying and distributing professional reports using Report Studio and Cognos Connection. In addition, you will learn the proper techniques for creating Cognos 8 Dashboards.

Sign up for this two-day Report Studio training course.

IBM Information On Demand/Business Analytics Forum 2010
Date: October 24 – 28, 2010
Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, NV
Cost: Use PerformanceG2′s Conference Code, G10PERFG2, and Save $800

Description: Join PerformanceG2 at this year’s premier conference for information and analytics – IBM’s Information On Demand and Business Analytics Forum 2010 – and use our exclusive discount code to save a total of $800 off registration!

Register before August 31, 2010 to receive an instant $500 off registration, follow the instructions below and use the exclusive PerformanceG2 registration code to save a total of $800 off your registration:

1. Visit the IBM Information On Demand 2010 Web site registration page
2. Enter your email address and choose the registration type
3. Select the sessions and activities you are primarily interested in attending and continue to the next page
4. Select the relevant attendee type and complete the requested attendee information
5. Under the ‘Promotion Code Information’ section, enter the PerformanceG2 code G10PERFG2 to save an additional $300
6. Complete the remaining fields on the enrollment form clicking ‘Continue’ at the bottom of each section
7. Click ‘Submit Registration’ to finalize your registration process

For more information or questions on registering, please contact Candace Taylor at candace.taylor@performanceg2.com.

For more information on these Business Intelligence events, or other events, visit http://performanceg2.com/events/.
 
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
For many years, Cognos Enterprise Planning has been made the market choice for budgeting and forecasting – providing users with a powerful alternative to spreadsheet-based financial modeling. However, the core of the EP application was built more than a decade ago, and lacks the scalability and flexibility necessary to deal effectively with the increasing volumes of financial data that are now common in most organizations. The result is that EP is often difficult to change and costly to manage.   

Cognos TM1 is designed to fix many of the current EP challenges. The time is now to make your Cognos EP to TM1 conversion, and with IBM’s limited time offer of an EP license trade-in promotion, you can receive a TM1 Contributor license for every EP Contributor license you currently own, making the process easier and cost-efficient for your organization.
 

 
Why convert to Cognos TM1? Here are just some reason why your organization should make the move:

1. TM1 allows for a more scalable solution which provides for easier handling of increased volumes of data, unlike its predecessors
2. TM1 functions in real-time, providing on-demand updates and forecasting capabilities
3. TM1 incorporates the breadth of Cognos 8 Studios for optimal reporting capabilities
4. TM1′s cutting edge financial analysis and reporting capabilities is backed by its powerful database engine that delivers comprehensive views of your organization’s financial picture
5. Migrating Cognos EP to TM1 could never be easier and more cost-efficient with IBM’s limited time conversion offer

Read more about the TM1 Advantage, TM1′s new features and how you can start your EP to TM1 migration by downloading our EP to TM1 Fact Sheet. Learn more about how you can save and get started with your migration, also get all of your questions about the process answered - connect with one of our TM1 experts today by emailing us at info@performanceg2.com or call 877.742.4276.
 
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Ken Davenport, President of PerformanceG2
 
If your company is struggling to match the promise of BI and Performance Management (CPM) technologies with the reality of day-to-day work flow and implementation challenges, take heart: you are not alone. According to a recent Ventana Research study of BI and CPM, customer that examined the maturity and direction of technology adoption strategies, a significant percentage of customers face considerable obstacles.

• A mere 9 percent of research participants are very satisfied with their organization’s BI efforts. They have only basic BI capabilities, such as querying sources for specific data (74 percent), generating reports from data (74 percent) and accessing data from a spreadsheet for further analysis (70 percent).
• The capabilities organizations are currently working to deploy are only somewhat more sophisticated: communicating data in the right format (27 percent), searching for data (26 percent), presenting data effectively (25 percent) and creating measures and metrics (24 percent).
• The research also found a small but growing desire to provide mobile device support for BI and performance management as well as what-if scenario analysis and collaboration.

As Julie Langenkamp at Information Management Online notes in a post on the Ventana study, the findings “indicate that most organizations revealed they’re still in early stages of development, with only 15 percent at the highest innovation level of maturity in the Ventana Research Maturity Index. Size of the organization was a relevant factor, and organizations with 10,000 or more employees, or more than $10 billion in revenue, found to be more mature. There is growth in advancing BI into performance management in the areas of operations, finance and customer management in more than half of organizations, and a strong desire to improve in 41 percent of them.”

“The market for BI has been advancing for decades, but organizations have not achieved the value of deployments with lack of sophistication use of technologies and overuse of spreadsheets,” says Mark Smith, CEO and EVP Research of Ventana Research. “But making BI efficient is not sufficient, as helping organizations enable performance management is just as important. Both BI and performance management are not as mature as you think, as this research found that we are at an inflection point of improvement.”

More than anything, the Ventana study shows that effective performance management initiatives require a substantial investment in time and resources – beyond the capital invested to acquire the technology. At PerformanceG2, we have seen many customers make substantial investments in software and services, only to fail to grasp the challenges of user-adoption, change management and end-user training required to ensure long-term success. This is why all of our service engagements include a post-implementation training program that ensures that both administrative and business users are sufficiently trained to get the most out of the new technology. In our experience, effective user-adoption is ofter the key variable in the success or failure of any CPM or BI initiatives.

For more information on CPM and BI services and solutions that can help your organizations, connect with us at (877) 742-4276 or email us at info@performanceg2.com
 
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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 
Are you a Business Intelligence Admin looking for more transparency in your BI environment? This awesome app by Motio, MotioPI FREEware for IBM Cognos, allows you to investigate your BI environment’s components, users, content, report details, schedules, dependencies and more. It is the perfect tool to become familiar with a new environment, identify constraints, monitor usage behavior and ensure that your IBM Cognos BI environment is aligned with your resources and infrastructure for optimal performance.

The best part about this app, is that it is a free tool, designed with IBM Cognos BI admins in mind. Watch this short MotioPI demo to learn more about the app and what it can do. Or to start using the free tool, click here to download it.
 

Motio and PerformanceG2, together provide complete and comprehensive solutions and products for organizations to achieve maximum return on their BI and Financial Planning investments. For more information on the Motio and PerformanceG2 partnership, visit performanceg2.com/about/partners/
 
 
And if you are interested in learning how PerformanceG2 can help meet your needs with BI solutions, email us at info@performanceg2.com or call 877.742.4272. Or for complete access to BI, CPM and Cognos industry news, updates and tips and techniques, follow us on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, watch our YouTube Videos or connect with us on LinkedIn.
 
 
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Ken Davenport, President of PerformanceG2
 
Last week’s $5.8 billion purchase of Sybase by SAP, sent shockwaves through the industry, and made smaller by one of the few truly “independent” technology providers in the market. The acquisition of Sybase follows the 2007 purchase of Business Objects by SAP, and comes on the heels of a 24 month consolidation spree that saw Cognos swallowed up by IBM and Hyperion becoming part of Oracle.

So what will the impact of the SAP/BO/Sybase mashup be?

An interesting take can be found on Boris Evelson’s blog at Information Management. Boris is a principal analyst at Forrester Research, and is a leading expert in the BI marketplace. Here’s a snippet of his take on the Sybase deal:

“The Obvious:

• SAP Gets its own relational (Sybase ASE) and analytical (Sybase IQ) DBMS. Why is this a positive since SAP already has tight partnerships with major DBMS and DW vendors such as: Oracle, IBM, Microsoft, Teradata and HP? Simple. First, SAP can now control the code. Second, SAP can now potentially reduce reliance on DBMS partners, most of whom (Oracle, IBM, Microsoft) have their own full software stacks and therefore compete, often putting a strain on partnership relationships.
• SAP also gets highly relevant (for low latency BI) and currently missing CEP technology from the Sybase Aleri acquisition and on OEM version of Coral8.
• Sybase gets badly needed BI front end on top of its Sybase IQ analytical DBMS. While Sybase is leading the market in the columnar DBMS, it is somewhat challenged selling and positioning the products with the business buyers, since they can’t really see, feel or touch it.

The Not-So Obvious:

• Will SAP BW be now certified on ASE, IQ or both? IQ is probably a better choice, since BW is mostly analytical and not transactional. But first, that would require giving IQ an MDX interface which it does not have…”

To read Boris’ full-blog on the deal, click here.

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By Candace Taylor, Marketing Coordinator for PerformanceG2
 

Clark County Nevada, the United States’ 15th largest county and home to the world-famous Las Vegas Strip, provides regional services to its more than 2 million residents and employs more than 8,000 people in 38 departments. Clark County Family Services Department is the local public agency whose role is to help keep children safe, as required by the Federal Adoption and Safe Families Act. The department runs numerous services – from child protective services to foster care services to adoption services – all of which require a large amount of data input and access via a case management system. Executive management, BI analysts and child welfare staff all use the system frequently to run ad hoc and daily reports.

Clark County Family Services Department needed to implement a BI solution that would not only streamline reporting, but also help comply with new state regulations. IBM Cognos 8 BI worked with the statewide system to improve the department’s reporting process, benchmark new services and measure business performance.

“In light of a fast-growing state population and struggling economic climate, we were able to not only boost our quality of service, but also generate about $4 million in new revenue. The IBM Cognos solution, with its ability to help identify bottlenecks and improve business processes, was instrumental in these successes – so much so that other county departments are now implementing the solution and mirroring our BI infrastructure.” – Eboni Washington, QA/QI Supervisor, Family Services Department, Clark County
 

 
To read more on this client success story and how IBM Cognos and PerformanceG2 were able to help Clark County, click here.

And if you are interested in learning how PerformanceG2 can help meet your needs with BI solutions, email us at info@performanceg2.com or call 877.742.4272.
 
 
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