Burlington, MA, July 13, 2000—Cognos^® (Nasdaq:COGN; TSE:CSN), the world’s largest and most successful business intelligence company, today announced that it is working with Microsoft Corp. to drive business intelligence to the Application Service Provider (ASP) market with Microsoft .NET. Cognos is a Level One sponsor of this program. Cognos business intelligence combined with Microsoft Windows DNA 2000 provides ASP business partners and combined customers with a unique solution set for e-business initiatives.

This relationship expands and strengthens Cognos’ ASP delivery channel. Cognos continues to align itself with leading ASPs following the launch of its ASP model last November with a partnership with Corio, Inc., a San Carlos, Calif.-based ASP. With Cognos’ market-leading business intelligence solutions, ASPs can extend their business application services, increase the speed of business cycles, and deliver fast and high return on investment to their subscribers. By looking after key infrastructure requirements, like business intelligence solutions, ASPs keep their customers focused on their core business competencies.

"Cognos has had a long-standing and strategic relationship with Microsoft, and this initiative is important as Cognos continues to dominate the third-party channel. Partnering with the industry’s leading ASPs is a key ingredient for Cognos’ growth and our collective ability to deliver complete e-business intelligence solutions to customers who wish to outsource their IT requirements," said Ted Jandl, Cognos area vice president of North American partner channel sales. "Our enterprise business intelligence solutions offer major growth potential to our ASP partners and offer our combined customers a rapid return on corporate investment. By working together, Cognos and Microsoft .NET are positioned to provide cost-effective, intelligent solutions, that grow seamlessly with an organization’s needs."

"The ASP market represents a strong opportunity for Cognos and Microsoft and provides both companies with access to a growing user community otherwise unavailable to our channel partners," said Dwight Krossa, marketing director at Microsoft. "Cognos’ unique relationship with its solution providers has enabled it to develop creative and successful enterprise business intelligence solutions for our joint customers. Expanding its channel model to accompany ASPs through Microsoft .NET is a logical extension. By using Cognos and Microsoft, ASPs can provide a complete business intelligence solution and give their customers easy access to corporate data, while maximizing the value of data warehouse investments."

Cognos has invested in its ASP partners’ success by providing the software, tools, programs, consulting and resources necessary to deploy its solutions quickly and successfully. Cognos has also created an ASP start-up package that brings fast results in infrastructure deployment. Following is a list of leading ASPs who have recently selected Cognos’ market-leading business intelligence solutions for e-business:

• Corio, Inc.

• Infinium ASP

• Millennia Vision

• NetCommerce

• PlanetEBI

• Ruf Strategic Solutions

• Surebridge, Inc.

With Cognos’ business intelligence solutions, ASPs can make their customers even more successful and extend the value proposition by:

• Delivering a unified view of the customer’s business by harnessing information from disparate, traditional and e-business applications;

• Expanding access to world-class analysis and reporting on top of transactional systems without a high price tag; and,

• Sharing information with customers, suppliers and partners to facilitate more effective business-to-business relationships and customer retention.

By delivering a complete set of solutions for Microsoft Windows DNA 2000, Cognos ASP partners can offer Cognos’ e-business analysis and reporting solutions; Cognos e-Applications, a series of analytic applications that address key functional areas (sales, finance, e-commerce) of an organization; and Cognos Visualizer to explore, access and analyze corporate data in a secure Web environment. Cognos has also developed the necessary programs in sales, marketing, development, education, and services that new ASP partners need to support their business efforts, speed up the sales cycle, and maximize profits.