BURLINGTON, MA, October 15 2002—Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN; TSE: CSN), the world leader in business intelligence (BI), today announced that the Cognos European Customer Support teams have achieved certification under the prestigious Support Center Practices (SCP) Certification program. Cognos achieved certification after an extensive audit of its United Kingdom, German and French support sites. SCP Certification quantifies the effectiveness of customer support based upon a stringent set of performance standards and represents best practices in the industry.

"By passing the rigorous requirements necessary to achieve SCP Certification, Cognos has made it clear they are committed to delivering world-class support to their customers," said Ben Stephens, SCP auditor. "During the SCP Certification audit, Cognos demonstrated a strategic focus on customer satisfaction and continuous improvement."

SCP Certification is an internationally recognized standard created by the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) and a consortium of IT companies to create a recognized quality certification for Support Centers, and to provide a method of benchmarking for Support Center practices. SCP Certification requires comprehensive on-site audits to confirm that companies meet the requirements of over 100 business elements defined in the SCP program. SCP Certification measures factors such as corporate commitment and strategic direction, customer satisfaction, performance metrics, research and development interface, and other strategic areas of the support operation. Certified companies must continue to demonstrate their commitment to excellence and high performance standards through annual re-certification audits.

"SCP Certification has established itself as the global standard for service quality and is being rapidly adopted by leading technology companies," said Bill Rose, founder and executive director of the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA). "Cognos' European customer support centers can be proud to be placed among the industry leaders in service excellence through their attainment of SCP Certification."

Cognos' European customer support centers join the ranks of leading technology companies that have achieved SCP Certification. Currently, over 200 technology support organizations worldwide are participating in the program. Participants include industry leaders such as Xerox Corporation, Lockheed Martin Inc., Mentor Graphics Corporation, Network Appliance Inc., McKesson Corporation, and Stream International among others.

"Cognos is committed to delivering world class support to our customers, wherever they are in the world and whenever they need it," said Dave Achtemichuk, vice president, worldwide customer services. "This certification builds on the SCP certification our North American support centers received earlier this year, and is further evidence of our mission to deliver the strongest customer support in the business intelligence industry."

About Support Center Practices (SCP) Certification
The Support Center Practices (SCP) Certification program was developed to address service quality issues that affect the rapidly growing technology support industry. The SSPA and thirty-five of its member companies created the program along with Service Strategies Corporation. These companies contributed their insight and perspective into defining the key elements required for delivering World Class support. Service Strategies Corporation is responsible for administering the SCP Certification program and conducting on-site certification audits. For more information about SCP Certification, contact Service Strategies Corporation at 858.674.4864, email info@servicestrategies.com or visit www.scpcertification.com

Founded in 1989, The SSPA represents over 18,000 service professionals in over 2200 support centers worldwide. SSPA gives service and support professionals opportunities to share ideas, discuss developing trends and network with their peers. SSPA offers its members conferences, seminars, specialized training, executive forums, certification programs and a variety of publications. The SSPA resides at the web portal of www.thesspa.com.