Corporate Cost Controls Push Up Cognos Profit

Expanding use of business-intelligence tools is boosting the bottom line at Cognos Inc., which last week reported a 62% increase in net income for the quarter ended May 31. Revenue for the period rose 15% from a year earlier.

Cognos chief strategy officer Rob Rose says more companies are undertaking big IT projects as the economy improves. Many companies are implementing business-intelligence and financial-planning applications to control costs, but Rose says an increasing number use reporting and analysis software to identify new business opportunities.