BURLINGTON, MA, March 17, 2004,—Werner, the leader in the design, production, marketing and distribution of climbing products in the United States, has standardized on a business intelligence (BI) solution from Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN: TSX: CSN) the world leader in enterprise business intelligence (EBI) and corporate performance management solutions. Implemented by Cognos Pinnacle Partner John Daniel Associates, Cognos will enable faster, more reliable access to critical sales, marketing, and inventory management data housed in a variety of information systems, including IBM DB2 and PeopleSoft EnterpriseOne ERP.

By standardizing on Cognos PowerPlay and selecting Cognos ReportNet, Werner will replace a number of in-house querying, reporting, and analysis tools to enable more consistent and timely information delivery and access enterprise-wide. With Cognos, Werner decision makers will be able to better monitor and analyze business performance via the Web through a combination of personalized, managed reports and multidimensional cubes accessed via a secure portal.

"Cognos is allowing us to better drive our corporate performance because we now have a single version of the truth on our sales and manufacturing operations. Cognos has made it possible for my managers to easily understand the key metrics that they are responsible for so that the company as a whole can better respond to business needs as they arise," said Robert Rosati, CIO, Werner. "With Cognos ReportNet and PowerPlay, we will have a true self-service reporting and analysis environment that will allow us to leverage the rich information housed in IBM and PeopleSoft solutions."

"Werner is an industry leader that requires a scalable, BI solution to grow with the organization - Cognos is the answer," said Janet Amos Pribanic, vice president, sales and marketing, John Daniel Associates. "Cognos and John Daniel share a common vision of providing measurable value to our customers. The powerful blend of our consulting expertise and Cognos' best-of-breed solutions provides our clients with the answers necessary to gain sustainable, competitive advantage."

The Cognos EBI Series solution allows Werner decision makers to access and evaluate business performance more quickly than ever before. Important sales and profitability metrics that used to be available only once monthly can be now updated and available on a weekly and sometimes daily basis allowing the company to be more responsive to immediate business needs. With Cognos, Werner will be able to better monitor the profitability of its sales categories and distribution channels over time, in addition to tracking critical inventory management information spanning its five manufacturing divisions and twelve warehouses.

"With Cognos, Werner has the benefit of quicker, easier access to information that allows them to evaluate problems as they arise," said Paul Hoy, director of manufacturing solutions, Cognos. "Cognos enables companies to create reports that give them insight into main metrics. This insight gives them the tools they need to make quick, informed business decisions that make an impact when and where it matters most."