BPM solutions.

• Position: TechnologyTOOLS - Business performance management, Cognos Inc.'s Planning 3.0 released

Cognos Inc., a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) and corporate performance management (CPM), has released Cognos Planning Series 7 Version 3, which the company says "extends a customer's ability to connect global operational and financial planning processes in real-time for immediate visibility into resource plans and future business performance."

"New distributed administration capabilities allow customers to securely share responsibility for plan administration across functions, geographies and business units in a single, unified planning environment," the Ottawa-based Cognos said in an announcement.

Cognos says that customers are aware of the delays, management control issues and performance risks associated with spreadsheet-based planning. As a result, the company is addressing this "connected planning challenge" by implementing cross-functional, enterprise-scope planning that links models for important operational plans such as headcount and compensation, sales forecasting or cost center budgeting. "This approach to connected planning efficiently and effectively supports the participation of thousands of front-line business managers in an intuitive, relevant driver-based plan process," the company said.

Planning Series 7 Version 3 streamlines key...