Cognos introduces new PowerHouse Client 2.0; Stepping Stone to Client/Server Architecture.

BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 5, 1995--Cognos (NASDAQ:COGNF;TSE:CSN) today announced the immediate availability of PowerHouse Client Version 2.0, with improved graphical capabilities and enhanced user productivity. PowerHouse Client is the graphical user interface for PowerHouse applications that gives users an integrated environment on the desktop. PowerHouse is Cognos' flagship 4GL. PowerHouse applications are used by over 12,000 organizations worldwide.

"This is a significant relaunch of this important PowerHouse tool," said Rob Ashe, vice president, application development tools. "We listened to what our customers told us, and we put their requests into our latest version. Whether you want to give your application a rich, Windows-compliant graphical look, or start preparing for full-scale, distributed client/server applications with our Axiant development environment, PowerHouse Client is an efficient solution." Ashe added.

Users today want integrated PC access to all their applications. PowerHouse Client lets customers deliver that capability almost instantly because it bolts onto existing PowerHouse applications. The product also supports automatic forms distribution, so that when a new form is created it can be automatically downloaded to all users. Applications based on PowerHouse Client 2.0 can be the bridge to Axiant, Cognos' second-generation client/server application development environment.

"This latest version of PowerHouse Client delivers a very efficient flow of data and commands, which means increased productivity," states Geoffrey Andrew, vice president of advanced technology at Visibility, Inc. "The new shortcut keys, for example, make it easier for experienced users to maximize the power of the keyboard. The DDE functions result in a tighter integration with the Microsoft desktop, allowing us to perform more application functions simultaneously."

The Idaho State Tax Commission is also using PowerHouse Client. "Both end user and developer productivity will increase with PowerHouse Client," said Paul Jenkins, a programmer at the Commission. "The hot keys in particular are great for our end users." PowerHouse Client's support of the Windows Socket API was important to the Commission's decision to extend its Tax Discovery application using PowerHouse Client. Fifteen Tax Discovery specialists will use the application to cross reference tax records and tax filings.

PowerHouse Client

PowerHouse Client 2.0 will include the following new capabilities:

Windows Sockets - The use of this industry standard, which is similar to ODBC, allows network drivers to be independent of the application. This permits easier interfacing of applications to the network.

3D "etched" graphics - Version 2.0 provides PowerHouse users with the latest 3D graphic look, reflecting the look and feel of Windows applications.

DDE support - Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) is an industry standard for linking applications under Windows. DDE allows PowerHouse users to have live linkage between PowerHouse Client and other desktop applications, for improved integration at the desktop.

Shortcut keys - New shortcut keys enhance user productivity by allowing users to jump instantly between screens and navigate menus much more quickly.

Extended Help - Version 2.0 will allow developers to create integrated, sophisticated Help facilities for PowerHouse applications. The product will support imported text files and indexing of Help menus to assist users.

The Bridge to Client/Server Technology

While PowerHouse Client is a significant upgrade in its own right, it is also a way to prepare for true, distributed client/server computing with Axiant. PowerHouse Client forms can be read into Axiant with no change whatsoever. All of the PowerHouse Client user-interface work is 100% upgradable to Axiant. By selecting the upgrade option on the Axiant menu, PowerHouse Client forms are automatically loaded into the Axiant repository.

Axiant

Axiant is the only application development tool which allows users to deliver comprehensive client/server business applications -- automatically. Unlike other development tools, Axiant incorporates both a robust 4GL engine and the Cognos client/server reporting and analysis products, Impromptu and PowerPlay. This enables developers to build both high-performance transaction processing applications, as well as the highly interactive decision support environments that users are demanding.

In addition, Axiant allows users to deploy their applications on PCs only (the "fat client" model), servers only (the "fat server" model), across both client and server ("functional partitioning"), or for remote mobile clients. Developers can also build complex applications very quickly, by simply accepting Axiant's rich library of application-building rules, and letting Axiant create the interface definitions and processing logic automatically.

Pricing and Availability

PowerHouse Client 2.0 is available directly from Cognos at 1-800- 426-4667, extension 2071. Pricing for both users and developers is $250 (US) per seat. Volume discounts are available.

Cognos develops, markets and supports -- both directly and through resellers world-wide -- advanced client/server development and reporting tools on a wide range of open and proprietary platforms, including UNIX and the Microsoft Windows desktop. Cognos is a publicly-held company with dual headquarters in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, MA. Cognos can be reached through the World Wide Web at http://www.cognos.com. -0-

Cognos, Impromptu, PowerPlay, and PowerHouse are registered trademarks of Cognos Incorporated. Axiant and PowerHouse Client are trademarks of Cognos Incorporated. Other products mentioned in this document are registered, trademarked or service marked by their respective manufacturers.

CONTACT: Roberta J. Carlton

Cognos

[phone] x2446

or

Anne Lampert

Makovsky & Co.

[phone]