Cognos has now ported its ReportNet Web-based enterprise reporting software to run on pSeries, which is a key part of IBM’s eServer Linux strategy.
It has also announced availability of ReportNet running on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform. Cognos says the product is now Red Hat Ready – meaning that users can more easily integrate reporting functionality into their Linux applications.
Both moves represent the first major Linux play by Cognos, said Caroline Seymour, director of product marketing at Ottawa-based Cognos.
Seymour expects strong initial uptake among its public sector (government) customers.
Cognos worked closely with IBM to develop the Linux support as part of a multi-year agreement that is intended to increase the momentum of business intelligence (BI) systems running on IBM’s Linux systems.
IBM has made a huge push and investment around Linux and we hope to ride on that momentum to make Linux a viable platform for deploying enterprise BI applications, she said.
Seymour said that both companies would be kicking off a global seminar series later this month themed around the Changing Economics of BI.
Linux will be a extensive piece of that, she said.
Seymour did not comment on Cognos’ growth projections for its Linux business but said to expect more Linux and open source announcements around the Intel platform next year.
More and more BI vendors are eyeing Linux’s price-performance advantages to accelerate BI implementations. There was a flurry of Linux (Red Hat) and open source announcements made by Business Objects SA and Actuate Corp this summer.
