FirePond and Cognos Partner to Provide BI Solution

FirePond, a leading global vendor of integrated e-business solutions for multi-channel selling, announced that it has chosen to partner with Cognos, one of the world's largest and most successful business intelligence companies. This partnership will provide joint customers with a comprehensive interactive selling platform for business-to-business e-commerce, incorporating valuable end-to-end enterprise business intelligence capabilities and supporting a company's multi-channel sales and marketing strategy.

By using customer information effectively and seamlessly across an extended enterprise, companies are better positioned with higher customer retention and shorter sales cycles, creating the potential for increased revenue. FirePond and Cognos' complementary technologies enable companies to implement and manage e-business initiatives across both e-commerce and traditional sales channels.

FirePond's Application Suite is used to create a personalized experience for each on-line customer and share the information gathered from that interaction throughout the company. Cognos' BI solutions are used to coordinate decisions across the extended enterprise. The combination of the FirePond Application Suite with Cognos' enterprise business intelligence software helps organizations capture, coordinate and utilize the maximum real-time customer information. Building upon FirePond's strength as an effective interactive selling platform for complex sales, the integration of Cognos' Web-based reporting and analysis solutions offer companies greater insights and flexibility with the information captured from the sales transaction.

"In today's highly competitive global marketplace, it is critical for companies to prioritize their businesses around the attraction, conversion and retention of customers," said Ted Jandl, Cognos area vice president of North American channel sales. "FirePond's solutions for business-to-business e-commerce fit well with the insight and decision-making abilities we offer through our e-business intelligence solutions. Our partnership with FirePond provides our combined customers with the effective sales, marketing and business intelligence platform necessary to dominate in quickly expanding markets."

"Success today is all about access to information and speed. Cognos' e-business intelligence solutions enable organizations to understand and manage the forces driving the business," said Joel Radford, FirePond's vice president of business development. "The combination of these two leading technologies allows companies to successfully capitalize on business opportunities and directly improve sales."

About Cognos

Cognos is one of the world's largest and most successful business intelligence companies. Founded in 1969, Cognos does business with 14,000 customers in more than 60 countries around the world. Cognos business intelligence solutions and services are also available from more than 2,800 worldwide partners and resellers. For more information, visit the Cognos Web site at www.cognos.com.

About FirePond

Headquartered in Waltham, Mass., FirePond www.firepond.com is a leading global provider of integrated e-business solutions focused on multi-channel sales success. Our award winning technology and sales process expertise enable companies to exceed revenue goals and increase margins by taking control of every selling interaction.

The FirePond Application Suite enables companies to standardize their enterprise e-business sales strategies on a single Internet-based solution, by applying consistent, consultative selling practices across all sales channels simultaneously. Capturing real-time customer information from automated selling interactions, companies can coordinate immediate, intelligent responses to every revenue opportunity.

Some of the world's most successful companies depend on FirePond solutions to help them sell and distribute their complex products and services, including Freightliner, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, Renault, Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Compaq, Ricoh Europe and Hitachi Construction Machinery.

Contact Stephen Greene, Brodeur Worldwide for FirePond, 617-587-2872, sgreene@brodeur.com or Tim Powers, Cognos, 781-313-2454, tim.powers@cognos.com.