BURLINGTON, MA , January 30, 2002—From OEMs who bundle Cognos^® technology into their products to consultants who provide services tailored to a customer's unique requirements, Cognos partners help make businesses more competitive, faster. Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN: TSE: CSN), the leading global provider of business intelligence solutions, presented the first Cognos Partner Achievement Awards to three partner-customer teams who are delivering, implementing, and using business intelligence solutions that demonstrate business value and return on investment.

John Daniel Associates and FreeMarkets; Stonebridge Technologies and The Oklahoma Publishing Company; and Initiatives Corporation and Sperry & Hutchinson, received the awards as part of Cognos Enterprise 2001 User Days, which kicked-off October 23rd, 2001 in North America. This series of one-day events, designed to provide Cognos customers and partners with information about Cognos' strategic direction, product developments, customer case studies, and more, has attracted over 8,000 customers worldwide

"We're committed to making Cognos customers the best decision-makers in the world. Our solution makes sharing answers and insights across business effortless so users can make informed decisions, turn strategy into action, and optimize business performance," said Ted Jandl, Cognos area vice president of North American partner channel sales. "We applaud our partners and their customers who have made business intelligence a strategic factor to enhance revenue, operational efficiency, and competitiveness."

Following is a description of this year's winning partner-customer implementations:

John Daniel Associates and FreeMarkets:
FreeMarkets is the leading global provider of e-sourcing software and service solutions and operates the world's largest sourcing market.

With Cognos Pinnacle Partner John Daniel Associates, FreeMarkets has implemented a Web-based business intelligence solution to provide up-to-the-minute analysis of strategic information. FreeMarkets uses the solution to measure resource utilization within business groups throughout its global organization, and to analyze online market and operational data to improve internal visibility and drive rapid business insights.

"Leveraging Cognos' technology allows us to analyze vast amounts of operational data quickly and easily," said Bryan Scheck, manager, business intelligence, FreeMarkets. "With dedicated support and expertise from John Daniel Associates, we implemented and deployed a powerful business intelligence solution that allows us to make sound strategic business decisions."

Stonebridge Technologies and The Oklahoma Publishing Company:
"The Oklahoma Publishing Company (OPUBCO) publishes The Daily Oklahoman newspaper, read by nearly a quarter of a million people each day. Using Cognos technology, OPUBCO implemented a Web-based business intelligence solution that, among other key benefits, enabled it to become one of the first newspaper publishers in the U.S. to expand its traditional advertising through database marketing.

With Cognos Pinnacle Partner Stonebridge Technologies, OPUBCO implemented a Web-enabled reporting and analysis system supporting three key profit centers: circulation, advertising, and a new database marketing service. This powerful business intelligence solution, built using Cognos PowerPlay®, provides knowledge workers in each function with rich, varied views of specialized data. The operational benefits are enhanced by the Cognos Upfront portal, which makes data available via OPUBCO's intranet.

"Using Cognos business intelligence solutions enabled us to implement a robust system that supports multiple business functions and allowed us to get our new database marketing service off the drawing board and in production," said Dan Barth, CIO, OPUBCO. "Stonebridge Technologies demonstrated its deep knowledge and experience with Cognos technology, and its consultants passed on their expertise to our staff to ensure that we are able to grow the value of our Cognos investment over time."

Initiatives Corporation and S&H Greenpoints:
S&H Greenpoints has been in the loyalty and rewards business for over 100 years and is the digital reincarnation of S&H Green Stamps, the most successful loyalty program in history. Benefits include loyalty program points that are redeemable for in-store or catalogue merchandise, coupons, recipes, and personalized shopper communications. S&H works with leading food retailers such as Lowes, Foodtown and Carters to market to their shoppers one-to-one, right at checkout and in real-time.

Working with Cognos partner Initiatives Corporation, S&H extended their loyalty program with a business intelligence element. With Cognos, S&H provides their retail customers with a powerful Web-based reporting tool. Using the Internet, retailers can build targeted marketing campaigns, analyze collected shopper data, and view trend reports by shopper, store, geography or promotion.

"Cognos enabled us to provide our customers with a powerful tool that transforms vast amount of data into meaningful, timely, and actionable business reports. The Cognos element of the greepoints solution is a critical component of the 'digital re-invention' of the S&H Green Stamps program," said Al Smith, chief operating officer, S&H Greenpoints Technology Center. "Working closely with Initiatives Corporation we have built a powerful, business intelligence solution from the ground up that is easy to use and easy to deploy across our customer base."