Cognos Tools to Support GE Employers Reinsurance Corp

Cognos Inc, a leading supplier of software used to retrieve and analyze corporate data, said it has struck a multi-million dollar deal to sell analysis tools to General Electric Co's Employers Reinsurance Corp.

Cognos did not disclose the value of the deal with Employers Reinsurance, the third-largest reinsurer in the world, which provides financial protection to insurance companies.

Cognos said the contract is part of a trend toward large-scale sales, as firms looking for a competitive edge install corporate-wide Cognos systems that run on the Internet.

In its first quarter results, reported in June, Cognos said orders of more than $50,000 each rose more than 48 percent from the year-earlier period. It also struck four deals for more than $1 million.

Employers Reinsurance Corp will use Cognos tools for online analysis and reporting to support a quality improvement system called Six Sigma, which is used to reduce product or service failure rates, Cognos said.

Employees ranging from underwriters to executives will use Cognos software to review such corporate data as premium volumes and renewal rates to determine where productivity and quality can be improved.

Employers Reinsurance will also provide some data to customers and business partners for analysis on an external network.

"What's happening is the market is hot -- it's really heated up because of the Web and because of the absolute demand for companies to really become more competitive," said Joanne Musingly, Cognos senior vice president of marketing.

"It's really moved down to the desktop of everyone in a corporation -- right down to administrative people -- and that's where we're seeing a real increased demand: for corporations to make this enterprise-wide."

The deal marks Ottawa-based Cognos' first sale to Overland Park, Kansasbased Employers Reinsurance, but follows sales to GE Aircraft Engines, GE Capital, and GE Lighting.