IBM Unveils New Business Analytics Offerings for Midsized Clients

Recent IBM Study of Midmarket CIOs Shows Making Better Use of Data is Top Competitive Priority

UAE, Dubai - September 15, 2009 - As part of IBM's ongoing investment in business analytics, IBM (NYSE:IBM) today launched a suite of mid market offerings including IBM Cognos Express, an all-in-one business intelligence and planning solution specifically built and priced for midsized clients. Deployed in just a matter of hours, the new solution offers clients a low-cost and low-risk, integrated approach to planning, analyzing and reporting performance, identifying trends, and ultimately helping them make smarter business decisions.

In addition IBM Mashup Center, Lotus Live Engage, IBM Storage Optimization and Integration Services - transformation strategy - rapid, the IBM System Storage DS5020 Express, and the SurePOS 500 Express point-of-sale solution were launched to the mid market to enable small businesses to analyse and utilise the massive amounts of data at their disposal.

"A large number of businesses across the region simply don't have access to the information they need to make critical business decisions even though a recent IBM Global CIO Study found that over 80 percent of midmarket executives felt that 'business intelligence and analytics' was their number one priority for improving competitiveness," said Derek Morrison, GM for Business Intelligence and Performance Management at IBM MENA. "Faced with limited budgets and overstretched IT resources, midsized organizations need to find more affordable business analytics solutions that can help them cope with information overload and improve reporting enabling them to gain the insight needed to make smarter business decisions."

The new IBM Cognos Express solution provides pre-configured business intelligence and planning capabilities in a single offering, enabling midmarket executives to quickly launch their business analytics strategy and then evolve it as their needs grow. The solution easily plugs into an organization's existing infrastructure and can be up and running in just a few hours. New capabilities can then be added over time as business requirements change.

The new solution also offers a centralized, Web-based console that manages all administrative aspects of installation, deployment and ongoing management, minimizing the need for any IT staff assistance.

Through its self-service environment, IBM Cognos Express allows clients to easily build reports, analyses, dashboards and multi-dimensional plans on their own, saving time and ensuring they remain responsive to competitive pressures.

For instance, instead of waiting for the IT department to funnel reports that are often outdated by the time they are received, individual retail store managers can now immediately tap into IBM Cognos Express to build their own daily store sales reports.

This enables them to forecast sales against corporate objectives, and adjust promotions and inventory levels accordingly. This immediate access to critical business information better positions them to maximize revenues and stay one step ahead of their competitors.

The solution also comes with an in-memory analytics server that allows clients to centrally manage data, business rules, and calculations. By ensuring business information is accurate and consistent across an organization, IBM Cognos Express gives midmarket managers the confidence to focus their efforts on managing the business, instead of questioning the data.

"With the barriers to start-ups in the UAE and the rest of region steadily dropping, the SMB sector is an important segment in leading the global and indeed regional economies back to previous growth levels. Being able to analyse businesses to ever more granular levels enables companies to react quickly to changes in volatile markets and capitalize on changing business demands, ultimately making smart decisions to further their business," said Bashar Kilani, Manager of IBM Software Business - Middle East. "We're committed to developing solutions that cater to the specific demands of the SMB sector enabling them to harness the power of analytics and better understand the value in their businesses. Such solutions will allow them to capitalize on the innovation within their businesses and develop their core business revenue generators."

IBM Cognos Express is part of a broader family of new software and hardware offerings being launched today through IBM General Business Express Advantage program.

Availability:
All products will be available in mid-September 2009, either direct from IBM or its network of resellers worldwide. While market and credit conditions are evolving, IBM Global Financing continues to lend to qualified customers. IBM Financing Advantage offers a comprehensive portfolio of financing solutions to help address the requirements of midsized businesses to fund their IT agendas, maximize working capital, recover technology value and manage risk.

Virtual Launch Event:
IBM will be hosting an IBM Cognos Express Virtual Launch event on Tuesday September 29, 2009 from 9:45 am - 4 pm Eastern. The event will feature product demonstrations and technical overviews on BI and analytics for the midmarket, as well as an Expo Area and Communications Lounge where participants can chat live with IBM representatives and business partners.

To register, please go to http://www.ibm.com/cognos/cognos-express

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About IBM:
For more information on IBM, please visit www.ibm.com

For more information about IBM Information Management, please visit http://www-01.ibm.com/software/data/

For more information about IBM midsized business solutions and offerings, please visit http://www-304.ibm.com/businesscenter/smb/us/en/

Midsize businesses now have access to IBM and third party subject matter experts on infoBOOM, an interactive community that is run jointly by IBM and CIO.com. infoBOOM is a place to discuss industry trends, to gain insights that can help companies improve the way they do business, and to find relevant and timely information to solve business problems and address the unique challenges facing midsize companies. You can visit the infoboom site on CIO.com, or join the Facebook infoBOOM group, or join the infoBOOM group on LinkedIn.

Follow developments on IBM Business Analytics at IBM Business Analytics & Optimization Online Press Kit, IBM Business Analytics & Optimization:

Smarter Planet on Tumblr and IBM Business Analytics on Twitter. An IBM video, "Analytics: How it Works," is available on YouTube.