PRISM SOLUTIONS AND COGNOS ANNOUNCE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE TO SIMPLIFY DATA
WAREHOUSE MANAGEMENT

Product Integration Provides Users with Single Source of Integrated Meta
Data; Addressing Biggest Challenge to Data Warehouse Implementation

SUNNYVALE, Calif. and BURLINGTON, Mass.-February 6, 1996-Prism Solutions, a
leading provider of data warehouse management software solutions, today
announced that it has formed a strategic alliance with Cognos, the leading
provider of business intelligence tools, to link their product
technologies. As a result, Prism Directory Manager 2.2 will create a link
for sharing mete data-business or technical "road map" information about
the data in a data warehouse-with Cognos' Impromptu database reporting
tool. 

Prism Directory Manager provides a customizable environment for integrating
and managing the proliferation of both business and technical mete data
into a single Information Directory-analogous to a library's card catalog
system-for the data warehouse environment. This unique integration allows
corporate business analysts to navigate data warehouses easily and
independently, reducing the need for IS support and increasing the quality
of business decisions. By establishing a common layer of consistent and
accurate mete data between the two products, Prism and Cognos now allow
joint customers to more effectively locate and use warehouse information
and better understand changes to the information over time. 

In addition to their joint development work, these two key data warehouse
vendors have also aligned their marketing efforts. 1996 plans include
co-hosting a series of data warehouse seminars nationwide, featuring their
integrated product solution. Additionally, both Prism and Cognos are
involved in the Metadata Coalition, a consortium of vendors and users
interested in defining standards for mete data access and interchange
between different types of enterprise data management tools. 

"For Citibank, the partnership between Prism and Cognos is very exciting
because it will provide a series of benefits for the users of our first
corporate data warehouse," said Ken Shapiro, a vice president with
Citibank N.A. "Our users will have the potential to fully understand the
information in the warehouse with little or no IS involvement. From the
end-user perspective, the business definitions and technical mete data,
such as transformation rules, will be tightly integrated with the
application's data and will be a point-and-click away from Impromptu. This
type of functionality is a first for Citibank." 

According to Jim Ashbrook, president of Prism Solutions, "Among the
challenges data warehouse users face is understanding what data exists in
the warehouse, where to find the data, what queries can be used to access
the data and what underlying business assumptions have been made about the
data over time. Prism Directory Manager provides the mete data to answer
these questions. By developing mete data links with the industry's key
data warehouse vendors, we ensure that data warehouse users can access a
single source of consistent and accurate mete data for more confident
analysis and decision making. We are pleased to partner with Cognos, a
pivotal player in the decision support arena, to jointly develop a real
solution for integrating and sharing data." 

"This is a strategic alliance for Cognos," said Jean-Pierre Jauvin, Cognos'
director of business development and strategic alliances, Business
Intelligence Products. "By partnering with Prism, we are able to provide
our customers access to shared mete data and deliver an integrated data
warehousing solution." 

Data Warehouse Benefits

Companies across multiple industries are building data warehouses as a
solution for more effective management of their information assets. The
data warehouse addresses the fundamental differences in operational and
informational processing by extracting and integrating data from legacy
systems to create a separate database of historical business 

information in support of management decisions. The data warehouse
architecture empowers end users with direct access to corporate-wide
information that is critical for accurate financial forecasting and
reporting, precise analysis of customers and sales channels, fine-tuning
marketing programs, manufacturing processes and improving customer
service-all of which have a direct impact on competitiveness and
profitability 

Prism Directory Manager

Prism Directory Manager provides a customizable environment for integrating
both business and technical mete data into a single Information Directory
for the data warehouse. It offers business analysts point-and-click launch
of query tools, a wide range of CASE tools from which to import data, and
a direct link to data warehouse analysis tools. These features enhance
users' ability to seamlessly integrate mete data from the key software
components used in data warehouse, including development tools, CASE
tools, query products and analysis tools. 

Cognos Impromptu

Impromptu 3.0 is a desktop data access and reporting tool that enables both
IS and end users to work directly on query results to build quality
reports. Impromptu features powerful query functions such as advanced
security and performance capabilities; ODBC support for access to a broad
assortment of mainframe, mini-, and micro-computer data sources including
DB2; and native support for dBase and Paradox in addition to Sybase,
Oracle, and MS SQL Server. 

Pricing/Avail ability

The next release of Prism Directory Manager, version 2.2, will include a
link to Cognos' Impromptu and will be available in March, 1996. 

Prism Directory Manager 2.2 is licensed for $60,000 for UNIX-based
databases and $75,000 for DB2, and includes the Information Directory, two
Directory Builder seats, ten Directory Navigator seats, and one CASE
import or mete data interface. 

Impromptu 3.0 is available in two versions. The user version is available
for $595 and the administrator version is $695. Significant discounts
apply for volume purchases and enterprise licensing. Impromptu 3.0
requires a minimum of Windows 3.1, an IBM PC or compatible 386, and 6 MB
of RAM. A 486 is recommended. 

About Cognos

Cognos (NASDAQ:COGNF:TSE:CSN) is the global leader in providing business
intelligence software to satisfy enterprise-wide data access and analysis
needs. With over 200,000 seats in thousands of companies worldwide,
PowerPlay and Impromptu consistently service the widest range of users
across corporate, departmental, workgroup, personal and mobile
applications. The products support over 100 relational and OLAP data
sources and are available in seven major languages. Cognos Business
Intelligence products are sold through the company's 40 sales offices and
over 350 resellers around the globe. Cognos develops, markets and supports
advanced client/server development and reporting tools on a wide range of
open and proprietary platforms. Cognos is a publicly held company with
dual headquarters in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Mass. Cognos' World
Wide Web address is http://www.cognos.com. 

About Prism Solutions

Prism Solutions is a leader in data warehouse management software for
building, maintaining and navigating data warehouses. Prism Solutions'
products and services enable a variety of projects, such as building
decision-support systems, implementing client/server architectures,
migrating and converting data between different computing platforms, and
reengineering legacy applications and business processes. Prism Solutions'
customers include leading companies in the finance, health care,
insurance, manufacturing, public utilities, retail, telecommunications,
transportation and technology industries. Prism Solutions' corporate
headquarters are located at 1000 Hamlin Court, Sunnyvale, Calif., 94089;
tel: (408) 752-1888; fax: (408) 752-1875. 
 
 =========================================================
 From the 'New Product News' Electronic News Service on...
 AOL (Keyword = New Products) and Delphi (GO COMP PROD)
 =========================================================
 This information was processed from data provided by the
 company/author mentioned. For additional details, please
 contact them directly at the address/phone# indicated.
 Trademarks are the property of their respective owners!
 =========================================================
 All submissions for this service should be addressed to:
 BAKER ENTERPRISES,  20 Ferro Dr,  Sewell, NJ  08080  USA
 Email:   rbakerpc@aol.com   --or--   rbakerpc@delphi.com
 =========================================================
