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Unite Group houses Cognos technology to support growth

~ student accommodation provider standardises on Cognos for complete performance management ~

August 09, 2007

Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN; TSX: CSN), the world leader in business intelligence and performance management solutions, has announced that Unite Group, the student accommodation and hospitality company, is investing in Cognos 8 Business Intelligence and Cognos Performance Blueprints to support ambitious business growth.

Unite Group houses 34,000 students across 124 different sites, in university cities such as Bristol, Edinburgh, London and Newcastle. Following an assessment of the main vendors in the space, Cognos 8 BI was chosen to replace a cumbersome spreadsheet reporting system. Once implemented, all employees will easily access up-to-date and accurate information about each property on the web-based solution.

Reports will include details on where student demand is high or low, levels of student satisfaction or if any repairs are needed. The finance module of Cognos Performance Blueprints will support planning and property investment appraisals. They provide ‘what-if’ capabilities that allow the property development team to accurately test the potential of multiple locations for new student properties. They will be able to quickly decide which locations are best for the business, as well as comfortable for the student.

“When you are investing in the fast-moving property market, you can’t afford to be slow or make a mistake,” said Mark Mayler, head of business information at Unite Group. “However, as the company grew rapidly, spreadsheets became more difficult to use, creating silos of information and slowing the decision-making process down.”

“Cognos’ performance management technology will ensure all our employees have easy access to one version of relevant management information. We will be able to make better decisions and maximise the performance of our existing properties, while planning effectively for our future growth,” he continued.

The finance-focused Blueprint was a key factor in Unite Group’s decision to choose Cognos ahead of other vendors.
“80 per cent of the planning model was already defined and built, so it will be simple and cost-effective to implement. Also, the technology is already proven as it incorporates best practice experience from other organisations around the world.”

“Cognos will be key to helping Unite Group maintain quality accommodation for students, at the same time as helping us achieve our goal of establishing 67 more student properties in the next five years,” concluded Mayler.

“All companies need to be able to make good decisions quickly, but this can’t be left to guesswork,” said Graham Walter, vice president of Cognos UK, Middle East and South Africa. “Organisations need to be able to look back at historic data, understand what is happening now and predict the future trends to know the best path to take in the future. By using performance management technology, Unite Group is making this a reality.”

(466 words)

Executive quote

“All companies need to be able to make good decisions quickly, but this can’t be left to guesswork,” said Graham Walter, vice president of Cognos UK, Middle East and South Africa. “Organisations need to be able to look back at historic data, understand what is happening now and predict the future trends to know the best path to take in the future. By using performance management technology, Unite Group is making this a reality.”

Customer quote

“When you are investing in the fast-moving property market, you can’t afford to be slow or make a mistake,” said Mark Mayler, head of business information at Unite Group. “However, as the company grew rapidly, spreadsheets became more difficult to use, creating silos of information and slowing the decision-making process down.”

“Cognos’ performance management technology will ensure all our employees have easy access to one version of relevant management information. We will be able to make better decisions and maximise the performance of our existing properties, while planning effectively for our future growth,” he continued.

The finance-focused Blueprint was a key factor in Unite Group’s decision to choose Cognos ahead of other vendors.
“80 per cent of the planning model was already defined and built, so it will be simple and cost-effective to implement. Also, the technology is already proven as it incorporates best practice experience from other organisations around the world.”

“Cognos will be key to helping Unite Group maintain quality accommodation for students, at the same time as helping us achieve our goal of establishing 67 more student properties in the next five years,” concluded Mayler.

About the company

UNITE is the UK’s leading student hospitality company. Listed in the FTSE 250 index of the London Stock Exchange and managing a property portfolio of £1.6 billion located across the UK, the Group focuses on the provision and management of high quality, well-located student accommodation and hospitality services in strong higher education markets. UNITE delivers the real student experience, whilst at the same time helping to regenerate cities as part of the community and contributing to the improvement of the country’s housing. It undertakes the planning, development and management of sites, often working closely with the universities and colleges, to deliver accommodation for students across all ages and nationalities. UNITE developments typically show high occupancy levels and robust rental growth as demand continues to rise for places in UK Higher Education and for safe, high quality accommodation for students.
Further information on UNITE is available at www.unite-group.co.uk

Cognos, the world leader in enterprise business intelligence and corporate performance management, delivers software and services that help companies drive, monitor and understand corporate performance. Cognos delivers the next level of competitive advantage – corporate performance management (CPM) – achieved through the strategic application of business intelligence (BI) on an enterprise scale. Our integrated CPM solution helps customers drive performance through planning; monitor performance through scorecarding; and understand performance through business intelligence. Cognos serves more than 23,000 customers in over 135 countries. Cognos enterprise business intelligence and performance management solutions and services are also available from more than 3,000 worldwide partners and resellers.
For more information, visit the Cognos Web site at http://www.cognos.com.

Contact details

For further information about Cognos:
Steve George or Tulna Shah at LEWIS PR
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7802 2626
Fax: +44 (0) 20 7802 2627
cognos@lewispr.com
Internet: http://www.lewispr.com

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