The Business Intelligence Landscape: How Will the IBM Purchase of Cognos Impact End-Users?
The last megavendor snatches up the independent BI company Cognos. What will it mean for you?
Hostmann, on the other hand, expects the integration of the two companies to be nearly seamless. "It's a sign of a mature organization to handle those competitive pressures," he says, adding he thinks IBM has a sophisticated support model. "I think they're buying into the marketplace to deliver the 'last mile' of their on-demand strategy, they don't need to break their partnerships to deliver it."
He believes the most significant changes for end users will be changes in the organizational touchpoints—sales and support. There may be changes in pricing or packaging and who companies will negotiate with, but neither IBM nor Cognos will likely comment on such issues until the acquisition is closed.
The acquisition is subject to Cognos shareholder and regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions, but is expected to close in the first quarter of 2008.
