Cognos Honors Public Sector Customers for Exceptional Achievement in Performance Management: - Leading Customers Recognized at Cognos Government

BURLINGTON, Mass. (Business Wire EON) April 24, 2008 -- The Department of the Navy, Office of Civilian Human Resources (OCHR) (https://www.donhr.navy.mil/) received the Cognos Award for Excellence in Public Sector, which recognizes a public sector organization that has deployed a solution that is a benchmark of how performance management software can significantly impact an organization. OCHR consolidated seven regional employee databases to a single primary data source, called the Datamart, and developed standard business processes across over 100 local HR offices using LEAN Six Sigma. The organization was then able to establish meaningful, top-down metrics to track progress towards strategic human capital goals and measure the effectiveness of HR management and programs at the operating level. To support these organizational processes, OCHR identified IBM Cognos BI as its primary tool to provide managers and HR staff across the enterprise with accurate workforce reports, measures and dashboard metrics as well as HR program performance indicators and metrics.

"Federal agencies are mobilizing efforts to more effectively deal with significant human resources issues such as the graying workforce, impending skills gap, and increased market competition for talent. The Department of the Navy, Office of Civilian Human Resources, serves as a best practices example of how federal departments can transform themselves into performance-driven organizations to get the most out of their critical human capital management," said Susan Gold, vice-president of industry marketing & solutions at Cognos.

Other awards presented at the Cognos Government Forum included:

-- Cognos Recognition Award for Increasing Organizational Performance in the Public Sector, which distinguishes an IBM Cognos customer who has developed an application to deliver such significant value to the organization that it is now considered a critical system. Cognos recognized the United States Army, Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center

-- Cognos Recognition Award for Enhancing Mission Effectiveness in the Public Sector, which honors an IBM Cognos customer who has developed a mission-critical application that has enabled front-line staff to work more effectively. This year's award went to the United States Office of Personnel Management, Personnel Systems Management Group, Center for Workforce Information and System Requirements

-- Cognos Recognition Award for Enhancing Operational Readiness in Defense, which recognizes an IBM Cognos customer in defense who has developed an application that increases visibility and insight into the organization's 'state of readiness.' Cognos presented the award to the United States Fleet Forces Command, Navy Training Information Management System

-- Cognos Recognition Award for Building the Performance Culture in the Public Sector, which honors an IBM Cognos customer who demonstrates commitment to adopting a performance management culture across the agency. This year, Cognos honored the United States Department of Defense, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller)

"Government organizations that use IBM Cognos performance management are able to achieve significant results in their fields," added Gold. "These awards distinguish those particular customers who have embodied the Cognos philosophy and represent examples of how to successfully get more out of their information and take performance to the next level."

About the Cognos Government Forum:

The Cognos Government Forum is a premier event that brings together speakers and delegates from across federal civilian, defense, and state/local agencies. This year's event - held April 16, 2008 in Washington D.C. - attracted hundreds of delegates and featured keynotes addresses from The Honorable Tom Ridge, former Homeland Security Secretary and current president and CEO of Ridge Global LLC, as well as The Honorable Tina W. Jonas, Under Secretary of Defense and Chief Financial Officer at the U.S. Department of Defense. The event also showcased breakout sessions that demonstrated how IBM Cognos performance management software helps public sector officials improve visibility into performance across agencies, tie program success to budget allocation, and increase responsiveness and organizational effectiveness.

About Cognos, an IBM company:

Cognos, an IBM company, is the world leader in business intelligence and performance management solutions. It provides world-class enterprise planning and BI software and services to help companies plan, understand and manage financial and operational performance. Cognos was acquired by IBM in January 2008. For more information, visit http://www.ibm.com/software/data/ and http://www.cognos.com.

Cognos and the Cognos logo are trademarks of Cognos ULC (formerly Cognos Incorporated) in the United States and/or other countries. IBM and the IBM logo are trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, or other countries, or both. Other company, product, or service names may be trademarks or service marks of others.

Note to Editors: Copies of previous Cognos press releases and Corporate and product information are available on Cognos' Web site at http://www.cognos.com