Cognos' e-Applications package has been customized for the J.D. Edwards applications, providing the same look and feel. It also uses similar terminology. Cognos debuted a version of e-Applications for SAP's R/3 suite last year, and versions for other ERP applications are in the works, says Alan Rottenberg, Cognos' senior VP of E-business intelligence apps.

The e-Applications suite extracts data from OneWorld and WorldSoftware for analysis. With the sales-analysis application, for example, users can examine customers' buying patterns, forecast future demand, and identify sales opportunities. The inventory-analysis tool can be used to analyze material usage rates and forecast inventory levels. The analytical applications include prebuilt reports and can be used in conjunction with Cognos' PowerPlay multidimensional analysis tool and Impromptu reporting software.

GNB Technologies Inc., an Atlanta battery maker and recycler, is installing the Cognos software and OneWorld sales apps. CIO Don Curt says the company determined that using the pre-configured Cognos e-Applications would be "the fastest, least-expensive way" to implement a sales reporting and analysis system.

"The immediate value is the quicker time-to-analysis," says Bob Moran, an analyst with the Aberdeen Group. By using analytical tools already linked to the J.D. Edwards software, e-Applications users can skip time-consuming chores such as mapping the data in the ERP environment to the analysis tools and developing the analytical models, he says.

Another benefit is that use of a product such as e-Applications on a companywide basis imposes common definitions, metrics, and methodologies--such as how to define a "profitable customer"--across an organization.

Cognos will ship the e-Applications sales analysis software for J.D. Edwards systems by late May, with the inventory-analysis software to follow within 30 days. Rottenberg says the financial analysis software for the J.D. Edwards applications will be ready later this year.

Each application starts at $30,000; Web server versions of PowerPlay and Impromptu are priced at $30,000 and $20,000, respectively.