IBM Cognos Express delivers analysis, reporting and planning capabilities to help Hong Kong enterprises and SMEs gain first-mover advantage in the economic recovery
Hong Kong, September 15, 2009 – As part of IBM’s ongoing investment in business analytics, IBM (NYSE:IBM) today launched IBM Cognos Express, an all-in-one business intelligence and planning solution for Hong Kong large enterprises and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Deployed in just a matter of hours, the new low-cost, low-risk solution offers advanced analytics, helping businesses make smarter business decisions and gain first-mover advantage by seizing opportunities available during the economic recovery.
Analytics as top priority for midmarket CIOs
According to a recent IBM Global CIO Study, 86% of midmarket executives ranked “business intelligence and analytics” as their top priority for improving competitiveness and cutting cost. This is particularly so for Hong Kong SMEs, which have an ongoing need for faster and more affordable analytics solutions that can help them improve planning, analyzing and reporting performance, and identifying trends, but are constrained by limited budgets and overstretched IT resources.
“With the economy moving back into growth in the second quarter, Hong Kong businesses need to move quickly to gain first-mover advantage and seize opportunities available during the recovery, or risk losing market share to more nimble competitors. To retain their competitiveness, they will need business intelligence that allows them to respond promptly to market demand and inform their decisions on new products and services,” said Linda Young, Brand Manager of Information Management, Software Group, IBM China/Hong Kong Limited. “We are committed to helping large enterprises and SMEs to harness the power of analytics with immediate access to business insights for better, sharper, timelier decisions and not simply gut feel.”
Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers makes better decisions with IBM Cognos Express
“In the quick-service hamburger business, our success depends heavily on understanding what our customers want, then tailoring our operations accordingly to keep them coming back again and again. This is only achievable if you have the right access to information and fast and efficient means of communicating goals to the fields,” said James Irvine, financial controller with the 15-outlet Wendy’s Old Fashioned Hamburgers franchise chain in New Zealand. “IBM Cognos Express, with its deep analytics capabilities, is helping midsized companies like ours quickly glean daily sales, marketing and operations information and make the right business decisions to remain competitive.”
New all-in-one business intelligence and planning solution
The new IBM Cognos Express solution provides pre-configured business intelligence and planning capabilities, enabling businesses to quickly launch their business analytics strategy and then evolve it as their needs grow. The solution easily plugs into an organization’s existing infrastructure and new capabilities can be added over time as business requirements change. The new solution also offers a centralized, Web-based console that manages all administrative aspects of installation, deployment and ongoing management, minimizing the need for any IT staff assistance.
Through its self-service environment, IBM Cognos Express allows clients to easily build reports, analyses, dashboards and multi-dimensional plans on their own, saving time and ensuring they remain responsive to competitive pressures. For instance, instead of waiting for the IT department to funnel reports that are often outdated by the time they are received, individual retail store managers can now immediately tap into IBM Cognos Express to build their own daily store sales reports. This enables them to forecast sales against corporate objectives, and adjust promotions and inventory levels accordingly. This immediate access to critical business information better positions them to maximize revenues and stay one step ahead of their competitors.
IBM Cognos Express provides a complete spectrum of analytic capabilities – including reporting, analysis, dashboards, scorecards and scenario planning – across all industries. Built on an open platform, the IBM Cognos Express portfolio includes three products that can be purchased together or individually to meet a specific need:
IBM Cognos Express Reporter – 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 – offers 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
IBM Cognos Express Xcelerator – helps managers transform their common spreadsheets with an underlying in-memory analytics engine for real-time multidimensional analysis, planning, budgeting and forecasting
Availability:
IBM Cognos Express Reporter, IBM Cognos Express Xcelerator, and IBM Cognos Express Advisor will be available in mid-September 2009, either direct from IBM or its network of resellers in Hong Kong.
About IBM:
For more information about IBM Hong Kong, go to: www.ibm.com/hk