COGNOS' NEW POWERPLAY DELIVERS BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ON DESKTOP

PowerPlay 4.0 Provides Critical Data To Managers And Users Across The
Enterprise

BURLINGTON, MA -- MAY 16, 1994 -- Cognos (NASDAQ:COGNF;TSE;CSN) today
announced PowerPlay 4.0, the new version of its Windows-based Business
Intelligence software used to provide corporate data to managers and
executives. PowerPlay is a multidimensional reporting tool that presents
data in the organizational context critical to understanding what's
happening in a manager's area of responsibility.

PowerPlay 4.0 is the first Business Intelligence product targeting all
managers in every aspect of business. Managers can probe and explore data
in graphical or numerical format, producing key reports on factors that
drive the business. The market has been previously limited to EIS and DSS
products which require more expensive, individually programmed solutions
for every target group.

New features in PowerPlay 4.0 include:

* Easy ranking of best sellers and top performers across various
  time periods;
* Exception highlighting and hiding of values based on
  value-ranges selected by users;
* A new briefing book called Portfolio which is used to assemble
  report collections to communicate results with other managers
  via standard Windows OLE (Object Linking and Embedding)
  functions;
* A unique data compression algorithm that expands the desktop
  multidimensional data capacity; and
* New administrative capabilities to subset, secure and
  distribute multidimensional information within departments
  and workgroups.

"By 1996, use of Business Intelligence solutions will shift dramatically
away from dedicated analysts to all managers and professionals as the
preferred way of understanding the dynamics of the business -- .9
probability," says Howard Dresner, program director, Office Information
Systems Service at Gartner Group (Stamford, CT), a leading industry
analyst group.

Multidimensional technology, or the ability to view multiple data
perspectives, is critical in addressing the way managers need to analyze
information. Managers must be able to easily navigate the data
representing their organization, quickly distinguishing or separating each
particular entity and its impact on the bottom line.

"With PowerPlay 4.0, we've made it possible for managers and executives to
quickly understand what's happening in their area of responsibility," said
Alan Rottenberg, Cognos' vice president of desktop products. "PowerPlay is
faster than any alternative -- including query tools, spreadsheets, or
asking support staffs. Managers accept PowerPlay because they can
instantly see the interplay between the factors driving their business."

The Mobile Professional Needs More Data on the Desktop

As notebook and laptop computers become more prevalent, the expectation of
instant answers is climbing. Managers must be able to tap into their data
whether they are in the office or out on the road. PowerPlay's data
compression allows managers to keep their important business information
close at hand at all times on a notebook computer, also decreasing network
and server traffic while in the office. "Some vendors advocate
pre-calculating the totals to improve query speed," explained Rottenberg.
"This expands the data, making a true mobile data base impossible. With
PowerPlay's new compression capabilities, managers can drive queries
directly from the desktop or laptop, making calculations on the fly."

Executive reports and presentations are an important part of an end user's
job. With the new Portfolio portion of PowerPlay 4.0, managers can cut and
paste PowerPlay reports or other OLE objects into multi-page presentations
for distribution to other users, eliminating the need for programming.
Portfolio can present "live" or static views from PowerPlay or other
Windows applications.

Other features in PowerPlay 4.0 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 is also distributed by numerous software application
vendors as part of their products.

Pricing, Availability and System Requirements

PowerPlay 4.0 is available immediately 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 4.0 requires Windows
3.1, an IBM PC or compatible 386, and 4 MB. A 486 PC is recommended.

Cognos develops, markets and supports -- both directly and through
resellers worldwide -advanced client/server development tools and
reporting applications on a wide range of open and proprietary platforms,
including UNIX and Microsoft Windows desktop. Cognos is a publicly held
company with dual headquarters in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, Mass.

Cognos can be reached at: 617-229-6600

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