Cognos to Add Alerts in Upcoming Release

Cognos Inc. is planning to introduce a new event monitoring technology as part of its Cognos Series 7 release next week that company officials say will round out its business intelligence offerings.

The new product, NoticeCast, monitors transactions and business events and sends alerts to users based on information theyve requested, according to company officials. It will be integrated with the Cognos Series 7 framework.

NoticeCast sends alerts to decision makers about issues with customer relationships, supply chain activity, sales and financial performance, and other business events. Information can be personalized to an individual or groups area of responsibility. NoticeCast also sends business intelligence reports, as well up-to-the-minute event information from operational systems, to users via e-mail, digital cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA).

NoticeCast can send notice of changes or updates in reports, new business risks and opportunities detected, and variances in performance measures, company officials said.

With the release, Cognos joins rival Microstrategy Inc. in offering technology that pushes information out to users.

The Ottawa, Canada-based Cognos acquired the technology when it bought NoticeCase Software Ltd., of Twickenham, U.K., a deal first announced in September 2000.

Both Cognos NoticeCast and Cognos Series 7 will be available in January, officials said. Other features in Series 7 include scalability for up to 100,000 users and centralized application, security and configuration management for administrators.

With the addition of NoticeCast, company officials said they will for the first time be able to offer customers an all-in-one business intelligence solution.