COGNOS RELEASES POWERPLAY 4.1 MULTIDIMENSIONAL DATA ANALYSIS FOR THE DESKTOP.

BURLINGTON, MA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--APRIL 18, 1995--Cognos (NASDAQ:COGNF; TSE:CSN) today released PowerPlay 4.1, the company's multidimensional data analysis software for managers. Produced by Cognos' Business Intelligence Group, PowerPlay gives managers the ability to quickly and easily explore and understand corporate data to reach decisions faster and gain competitive insight.

Ideal for managers and MIS professionals alike, PowerPlay can be used without the need for programming and can be deployed with little administrative overhead throughout an organization PowerPlay 4.1 includes several new and improved features for a broad array of users and applications:

o Built-in support for Arbor Software Corp.'s EssBase multidimensional server. Developed through a cooperative development agreement between Cognos and Arbor Software, PowerPlay's EssBase support delivers an On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP) solution that is tuned for large, multi-user and mobile user server environments;

o An enhanced Portfolio* module that creates an executive information briefing book without the need for custom programming and can also be used to automatically distribute PowerPlay reports across the enterprise;

o The ability to perform incremental updates of data files with only new data. This is especially important for remote and mobile users because it significantly reduces connection times to the server;

o Automatic updating of standard reports with ranking and lowest details, as well as faster suppression and undo features; and,

o Support for Cognos' Impromptu 3.0 scheduler and encrypted security features for added flexibility and control.

"PowerPlay's installed base makes it the number one OLAP client," said Alan Rottenberg, Senior Vice President of Cognos' Business Intelligence Group. "Managers learn PowerPlay so easily and find answers so quickly, that it rapidly becomes the preferred tool for "self-service" decision support."

Leveraging the increased use of Business Intelligence solutions, PowerPlay's multidimensional technology allows managers to view multiple data perspectives, providing them with an instant view of what is driving their business that was previously available only to dedicated analysts. PowerPlay's built-in data compression capabilities allow managers to make queries directly from the desktop or laptop, making calculations and analyzing data on the fly.

Other features in PowerPlay 4.1 include access to additional local data sources such as Paradox, dBASE, Foxpro, and Clipper; intelligent time or relative time choices such as Prior Year-to-Date which are automatically updated as new data appears; and batch running and printing of PowerPlay reports.

PowerPlay was first released in January 1990 and is used widely in Fortune 1000 companies. It also is distributed by numerous software applications vendors as part of their products.

Pricing and Availability

PowerPlay 4.1 is available for $695. This single-copy price includes: PowerPlay Transformer, the administrative software for creating and packaging multidimensional information; the PowerPlay Explorer and Reporter user components; and PowerPlay Portfolio, for assembling report collections using standard Windows OLE. Significant discounts apply for volume purchases and enterprise licensing. PowerPlay 4.1 requires Windows 3.1, an IBM PC or compatible 386, and 4 MB. A 486 PC is recommended.

Cognos' Business Intelligence Group is the leading provider of desktop data access, reporting, and analysis tools for enterprise computing. Its interactive products -- Impromptu and PowerPlay -- are used by organizations of all sizes worldwide to reach decisions and produce results faster, and to satisfy user needs for simple access to critical business data while delivering among the lowest costs of ownership in the industry.

Cognos is uniquely positioned to deliver business intelligence software to satisfy enterprise-wide data access and reporting needs. With over 100,000 seats in more than 5,000 companies, PowerPlay and Impromptu consistently service the widest range of users across corporate, department, workgroup, personal, and mobile applications. The products support over 100 relational and OLAP data sources and are translated in eight languages. Cognos products are available through the company's 45 sales offices and over 250 resellers worldwide. Cognos is a publicly held company with dual headquarters in Ottawa, Canada, and Burlington, MA.

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COGNOS, IMPROMPTU, POWERPLAY, PORTFOLIO, REPORTER, and EXPLORER are registered trademarks of Cognos Incorporated. Other products mentioned in this document are registered, trademarked, or service marked by their respective owners.

CONTACT: Roberta J. Carlton

Cognos, 617-229-6600

or

Rich Nagle or Larry Bouchie

LNS Communications, 617-577-9777