Sydney, Australia, March 3rd, 2003—Cognos, the world leader in business intelligence (BI) and performance management, today announced the opening of a new office in Brisbane. The office will serve as a beachhead for Cognos' sales and operations in the fast-growing Queensland market, targeting companies native to Brisbane as well as multi-national organisations with operations in the region. Cognos has also appointed Kim Andrews as Senior Account Manager, responsible for managing prospect and customer accounts in Queensland as well as generating new business revenue within the state.

Cognos has been operating in Queensland since 1986, mainly through indirect channels, and presently has more than 100 customers in the region including Suncorp Metway, Boral Construction Materials Group, Anglo Coal, Virgin Blue, Jupiters Limited and Port of Brisbane Corporation. Fueling market growth through partnerships will continue to be a focus for Cognos, ensuring unprecedented levels of service to Queensland organisations.

Mr. Andrews joins Cognos with over 18 years of IT industry experience with a strong emphasis on the business intelligence and knowledge management sectors. Prior to joining Cognos, Mr. Andrews spent four years at SAS Institute where he held a variety of sales and management roles. He has also held a number of business analyst, accounting and management roles at leading Australian organisations including Australia Post, Suncorp Metway and AMP. Mr. Andrews holds a Bachelor of Business degree in Accounting and Business Systems from Queensland University of Technology.

"The market for business intelligence and performance management in Queensland is thriving, as evidenced by the range of existing Cognos customers," commented Jack Thomas, vice president, Asia Pacific and Offshore. "Our proven success in some of Queensland's key industries will give Cognos a distinct advantage that will allow us to achieve further success in this region. This, coupled with Kim's invaluable knowledge of the Queensland business, vendor and partner community puts us in an ideal position to dominate the market."