IBM Delivers Cognos Services

In the first software and services release related to its acquisition of Cognos, IBM has announced a blended human capital management services and software offering that helps customers more effectively analyze key work force trends and metrics to get the most from their talent investment.

The new offering provides human resource officers with easy access to information generated with the same rigor as the financial or operational data available to the CEO, CFO or CIO, IBM officials said. IBM completed its $5 billion acquisition of Cognos in January 2008.

The new IBM WFA (Workforce Analytics) service package, announced on Sept. 15, provides information regarding key work force measures such as demographics, compensation, attrition and costs in the context of business strategies and goals. WFA consists of a set of modular components and services, including IBM Cognos 8 Workforce Performance software pre-mapped to leading enterprise human resources information systems such as Oracle, PeopleSoft and SAP.

"Today's economic and global marketplace pressures mean organizations have to find new ways to compete and thrive," said Tim Ringo, vice president and global leader, Human Capital Management, IBM, in a statement. "The fact is, what is not measured is not managed, which is a waste of the substantial investment that organizations put into their human capital. But while organizations recognize the importance of work force data, many have limited experience in using work force analytics and treat this key process as an occasional snapshot rather than an ongoing part of business as usual. IBM's Workforce Analytics packaged services and software answer that need."

Steve Lukens, global Cognos executive, IBM, said, "Cognos helps companies optimize their business. Cognos can drive analytics on the most valuable resource companies have--their people."

IBM officials said the prepackaged WFA service represents a departure from the traditional approach of using tools to build custom analytic applications. "This announcement underscores IBM's unique capabilities in delivering services and software," Ringo said. "The blending of software assets into services will create an entirely new class of offerings--offerings that can't be created on labor alone."