OTTAWA, October 26, 2000—Cognos^® (Nasdaq:COGN; TSE:CSN), the world's largest and most successful business intelligence company, today announced the opening of a new office in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The office will serve as a beachhead for Cognos' sales and operations in the fast-growing Brazil market, targeting companies native to Brazil as well as multi-national organizations with operations in the country. From the Sao Paulo office, Cognos will deliver direct and channel sales, support and service coverage to Cognos' rapidly expanding partner and customer base, in the customer's native language.

Cognos has been operating in Brazil since 1989 through indirect channels, and presently has more than 150 customers. Cognos customers, such as Banco Itau, Bradesco and Unibanco, and multi-national accounts with Brazilian operations such as Dresner Bank, FleetBoston Financial, and Glaxo Wellcome, will benefit from the enhanced level of service offered locally. Cognos will sustain relationships with existing partners and recruit new partners to fuel its market growth.

Cognos is a global software company with 61 offices located in 20 countries. Cognos' strategy is to expand its global reach in support of customer requirements and market growth, and to provide a direct-sales presence to service customers and partners locally. Direct and channel sales teams will also contribute to Cognos' objective to gain market share outside of North America with sales to new international customers. Cognos is the market leader in sales of business intelligence software licenses, with market share of 34 percent and fiscal 2000 revenue of $386 million. Business intelligence is one of the software industry's fastest growing market segments.

"The market for business intelligence solutions is thriving, as evidenced by our 45 percent growth rate in business intelligence license revenue in our last fiscal quarter," said Terry Hall, Cognos chief operating officer. "Our proven success in two of Brazil's key industries, financial services and manufacturing, will give Cognos a distinct advantage that will allow us to achieve significant success in this new market."