M&A continues....Cognos buys Applix

Ok, so there is plenty analyst stuff out there and plenty of commentary... you can see BPM Partners Blog (Craig Schiff at

http://www.b-eye-network.com/blogs/schiff/)

but what does it mean for us down here in Australia?

Well.... anyone currently in the market looking to buy will surely find this a bit 'grey' --- which technollogy is better for your particular needs? the choice of company between cognos and Applix becomes a moot point (and by the way you gotta say Cognos is a far more stable, less risky option as a software supplier overall than Applix was)

Locally Applix has a very small direct team and mostly work via their partners (who by the way are mostly also very good - need to know who they are? send me a question and I'll tell you)

I suspect that Cognos will simply 'fold' the Applix partners into their family so from an implementation point of view any Applix customers should still receive the best implementation and will now get Cognos direct support.

From a pure technology point of view, again I see this as positive --- Applix customers will in future have access to the Cognos8 BI suite which has many distinct advantages over Applix. I of course have no idea what the prices will be like.

A win-win for Applix and Cognos Australian customers? I reckon!

For those currently evaluating and deciding what to do? Hmm.... a little more tricky.. you really do first need to decide on which technology is best for you (Applix and Cognos are truly quite different) and then decide how to negotiate the pricing for each of the range of products...Cognos Planning, Applix (which will no doubt be rebranded into a Cognos xxxx, Cognos Controller, Cognos BI - of which by the way there are many areas of functionality)