IBM Cognos and Global Business Services Launch the Strategic Investment Management Blueprint

Cognos, an IBM company, together with IBM Global Business Services formed a new blueprint to help companies manage and evaluate cost containment, profit and capital programs, and associated funding alternatives aligned with short and long-term objectives. The Strategic Investment Management Blueprint, a pre-defined analytical model, blends software and services together, providing CFOs and senior finance executives with the analytical tools necessary to improve strategic investment management and decision support in an increasingly volatile business environment.

Finance departments are expected to define, manage, and optimize a portfolio of strategic initiatives that drive business outcomes within realistic internal funding constraints across the enterprise. For example, a shared service for finance and accounting will reduce annual general and administrative spending which in turn will help fund the purchase of new manufacturing equipment to reduce product cost and increase profits.

"Global organizations benefit immensely with increased long-term visibility into operations, especially when data they're viewing is actionable," said Steve Kowalke, advisor to the Cognos Innovation Center for Performance Management and former vice president and treasurer, Target Corporation, in a press release. "In a time when surprises are becoming increasingly common, senior finance officials need the most robust solutions like this blueprint to track progress of initiatives with respect to goals and objectives, and also to show what's in store for the long-term," he said. The IBM Cognos Strategic Investment Management Blueprint blends IBM Cognos 8 software including planning, dashboards, reporting, and analytical reports with services through the application of intellectual property assets from IBM Global Business Services.