Cognos, an Ottawa, Canada-based provider of performance management software for HR, finance, and other corporate services , is being acquired by IBM in an all-cash transaction at for $5 billion. The sale is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008. IBM is one of the largest providers of HRO and FAO services globally.
According to IBM, the acquisition supports its Information on Demand strategy, a cross-company initiative announced on last year that combines the company’s information integration, content and data management, and business consulting services. Cognos would be IBM’s 23rd acquisition in support of its Information on Demand strategy.
“Customers are demanding complete solutions, not piece parts, to enable real-time decision-making,” said Steve Mills, senior vice president and group executive, IBM Software Group. “IBM has been providing Business Intelligence solutions for decades. Our broad set of capabilities—from data warehousing to information integration and analytics—together with Cognos, position us well for the changing Business Intelligence and Performance Management industry. We chose Cognos because of its industry-leading technology that is based on open standards, which complements IBM’s Service Oriented Architecture strategy.”
IBM said the acquisition will enable it to become the leading provider of technology and services for business intelligence (BI) and performance management. Cognos provides a complete BI and performance management platform, fully integrated on an open-standards-based service oriented architecture (SOA).
