COGNOS FORUM, ORLANDO, FLA. JUNE 29, 2004—Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN; TSX: CSN), the world leader in business intelligence (BI) and corporate performance management, today at Cognos Forum 2004 announced analysts and customers are speaking out on its new Microsoft Excel® Add-In. This release expands Cognos' leadership in enterprise planning by embracing Excel to provide users with a familiar work environment with added functionality. By delivering plans using a Browser and now Excel, Cognos Enterprise Planning provides complete enterprise management and control by leveraging easy to use, broadly deployed tools available to every user.

In organizations today, spreadsheets have historically been used to communicate financial plans. They can be used effectively for confidential plans by a small number of expert users, but they represent a critical failure point in highly collaborative planning processes. For true enterprise planning, however, the goal is to use optimized planning capabilities from Cognos Enterprise Planning Series for distribution, collaboration, and data management. With the ability to start incorporating existing spreadsheet systems and with Cognos to manage security, workflow, and data management, organizations can easily and comfortably move at a pace that uniquely suits them into driver-based planning that effectively engages all users in delivering higher levels of organizational performance.

Some of the organizations speaking out on Cognos Enterprise Planning's new Microsoft Excel® Add-In include the META Group, Z-Tel Communications, Inc., and Premier Foods.

THE META GROUP:
"Although Excel offloads reliance on IT for reporting and analysis, it is often misused as a "system of record," and when it is used as a primary vehicle for financial systems such as reporting or planning, critical control required for Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance is compromised," said John Van Decker, vice president of META Group, a leading provider of information technology research, advisory services, and strategic consulting. "Leading BPM tools such as those from Cognos target initially the inclusion of Excel within the BPM environment and ultimately the replacement of disparate Excel-only-based processes that do not leverage common data, providing 'one version of the truth.'"

PREMIER FOODS:
"Familiarity, accessibility, functionality, and usability - all practical reasons why the spreadsheet lives on today within our organization," said Stacey Anklam, applications manager, Premier Foods, a leading UK food manufacturer. "As a major manufacturer, however, with numerous plants, the spreadsheet can become extremely cumbersome to gather and add all the necessary information - with users spending hours and hours entering and preparing the data for reporting. The new spreadsheet interface allows our users of Excel to link their personal models and supporting details directly into the enterprise plan. The enterprise plan is continually updated as information in spreadsheets change, thus linking in sophisticated spreadsheet models and easing migration to an enterprise-wide standard for planning and forecasting."

Z-TEL COMMUNICATIONS, INC.:
"When your employees - including the CEO - can easily perform sophisticated analysis, modeling, and planning without having to know anything other than Excel, that completely changes the game of true, enterprise-wide planning," said Russell Pennington, vice president, Planning and Budgeting, Z-Tel Communications, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Z-Tel Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of enhanced wireline and broadband telecommunications services. "The powerful 'breakback' feature in the new Excel interface is allowing users to conduct 'what-if' scenarios in real time, which is a critical advantage. We also anticipate higher frequency and higher participation in the planning process now that users can plan where they are more comfortable and familiar with the spreadsheet environment."