Cognos Ships Impromptu 3.0

BURLINGTON, Mass.--May 22, 1995--Cognos (NASDAQ:COGNF; TSE:CSN) Business
Intelligence business unit today announced that shipments of the general
release version of Impromptu 3.0, the company's enterprise-wide
interactive database reporting tool will begin on May 31, 1995.
Impromptu's intuitive user interface gives "self-service" database
querying and reporting to all levels of users in an enterprise. Its new
features benefit users by giving them fast and simple access to corporate
data, and "instant" reports.

Impromptu 3.0 provides several new benefits to database administrators
including:

* a true object-oriented architecture that treats Impromptu's information
catalogs as database-independent objects. Catalogs are LAN-based
repositories of business knowledge and database access rules. This enables
companies to develop catalogs on a single local database and then deploy
them across the entire organization regardless of the target databases.
Any changes in business rules or user permissions made to a master
catalog, are carried automatically to all sub-catalogs and reports;

* database-independent templates that greatly speed the deployment of
report generation. Templates range from formatted headstarts to
sophisticated logic based reports. Administrators simply create standard
report formats for the entire enterprise. Users can add data easily by
pointing to the target database and clicking, then dragging data columns
to the report, such as dragging name and address data to a mailing label
template;

* complete Windows integration as an OLE 2.0 client and server, including
OLE automation, allowing users to automate cross-application functions.

Impromptu 3.0 also incorporates a number of new features for end-users
including:

* support for any combination of lists, crosstabs or graphs in the
  same report;

* the ability to run queries in background while accomplishing other
  tasks;

  advance notice of how long it will take a report to run and,
  a report scheduler for running reports at selected times; and

* instant multidimensional data analysis access via an Explorer launch
  button, for one-button transfer to Cognos' PowerPlay, where
  Impromptu reports and data can be explored and further analyzed.

"The new features in Impromptu translate directly into faster and better
decisions, improved competitiveness for its users, and significant cost
and time savings for MIS management," said Alan Rottenberg, senior vice
president, Cognos Business Intelligence products.

The executive information services group of the National Securities
Clearing Corp. (NSCC) has chosen Impromptu 3.0 as its standard environment
for data access for end users in its marketing and finance groups. The
NSCC provides clearance, settlement, and information services for the
transactions of equity, bond, and mutual funds around the world.

"The amount of data we deal with on a daily basis is staggering," said
Arthur Phidd, the NSCC vice president, executive information services
group. "We are implementing a data warehouse project, combining the data
from several different databases, Oracle, DB2, Sybase and the NetWare NLM
for SQL Server included. Using Impromptu we can easily interact with our
data on an enterprise-wide basis. Impromptu's ReportWise templates will
provide us with virtually every form we need. The precise administrative
control and password security is especially important in our business.

"The concept of treating forms and Frames as objects is what really won me
over," he continued. "Impromptu's object paradigm provides us with the
efficiency we desperately need in an access and reporting tool."

Impromptu 3.0 is available, in two versions. The user version is available
for $495, and the administrator version is $595. Significant discounts
apply for volume purchases and enterprise licensing. Impromptu 3.0
requires a minimum of Windows 3.1, an IBM PC or compatible 386, and 6 MB
of RAM. A 486 is recommended.

Cognos is uniquely positioned to deliver business intelligence software to
satisfy enterprise-wide data access and reporting needs. With over 100,000
seats in thousands of companies, PowerPlay and Impromptu consistently
service the widest range of users across corporate, department, workgroup,
personal, and mobile applications. The products support over 100
relational and OLAP data sources and are translated in eight languages.
Cognos Business Intelligence products are available through the company's
45 sales offices and over 250 resellers worldwide.

Cognos develops, markets and supports -- both directly and through
resellers world-wide -- advanced client/server development and reporting
tools on a wide range of open and proprietary platforms, including UNIX
and the Microsoft Windows desktop. Cognos is a publicly-held company with
dual headquarters in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, MA.

Cognos
Burlington, MA
617-229-6600

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