BSP Software

Press Releases

BrightStar Partners Deliver Migration Utility to Aid the Move to IBM Cognos 8 BI

- Combined Technology Expertise and Professional Services Experience facilitates migration for customers worldwide -

CHICAGO, IL, July 2008 - BrightStar Partners (BSP), a charter member of the Cognos Global Partner program, announced today their joint development effort with Cognos, an IBM Company, to develop and release a migration utility that extends the current offering for customers moving from Series 7 to the IBM Cognos 8 BI platform.

To accelerate time to value and success for customers migrating to IBM Cognos 8 BI, BrightStar Partners and Cognos have collaborated to produce the Validator for Series 7 PowerPlay. This utility will validate all existing PowerPlay content and generate a resulting report indicating the location, validation results, and detailed information on those reports in error. The utility includes:

Content validation of PowerPlay reports in PowerPlay Client, TOC, Upfront and Cognos Connection
Error Reporting to isolate issues prior to migration

All supported Series 7 customers will greatly benefit from the free release of the Validator for Series 7 PowerPlay, developed by BrightStar Partners for Cognos and being made available with the release of Cognos 8.4.

Cognos customers around the globe looking to migrate from the Series 7 platform to the Cognos 8 platform will benefit significantly from this freely available release. Prior to migration, users will be able to easily validate any and all existing PowerPlay 7 cubes and reports (both client and web) in an automated fashion to determine their current status. Any problems will be identified and can be resolved prior to migration.

"Through our long tenure working with the Cognos suite of products, we were thrilled to leverage our implementation and product development expertise to develop a free migration utility for Cognos customers around the globe," said Andrew Rachmiel and Neil Morgan, founding partners of BrightStar Partners, Inc. "The effort lends itself well to our partnering and relationship model with Cognos and our joint customers, facilitating the process of migrating to the IBM Cognos 8 platform. This utility will be free to all customers and available through our website."

BrightStar Partners (BSP) is an IBM Cognos Gold Reseller partner, Gold Technology partner and member of the Powered by IBM Cognos solution group. With a team of very senior Professional Services and Product Development resources, BSP through its partnership with Cognos, extends the reach of Cognos’ Professional Services and Product Development staff.

About BrightStar Partners, Inc.
BrightStar Partners, a professional services and implementation-based solutions company, utilizes a proven methodology and best-practice approach to deliver tangible business benefit and assist clients in achieving competitive advantage, all the while shortening the time to market for implementations. Through our product development initiatives, we enhance existing IBM Cognos Performance Management solutions, streamlining the usability, maintenance, administration and deployment of an IBM Cognos environment. For more information, please visit http://www.brightstarpartners.com and http://www.bspsoftware.com.

BrightStar Partners and the BrightStar Partners logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of BrightStar Partners, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries. All other names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

BrightStar Partners and Cognos Team on Implementation-Based Software Use

Arrangement enables IBM Cognos to utilize BrightStar Partners' Products

CHICAGO, IL, MAY 12, 2008 - BrightStar Partners, a charter member of the IBM Cognos Global Partner program, announced today that Cognos, an IBM company, has obtained a world-wide, non-exclusive license for BrightStar Partners' MetaManager solution.

MetaManager simplifies and streamlines many of the complexities associated with metadata, security and data management at the developer, administrator and consumer level. The product modules are designed to help administrators and developers manage and maintain metadata, perform impact analysis of any modifications on end user content, and automatically resolve any issues that may occur from the impact analysis. As well, administrators and developers can generate detailed audit trail and other compliance-based documentation with the click of a button, perform full or selectable content backups and restores, easily apply report standardization, migrate and deploy content across environments, control and manage portal tab distribution, and greatly ease the process of administering security.

"We have worked closely with the BrightStar Partners team for many years, as they possess tremendous credibility with their implementation experience and extraordinarily deep knowledge of the IBM Cognos products. MetaManager, one of the many solutions in their product portfolio, greatly streamlines the development and administrative side of an IBM Cognos deployment," said Bradley Jeffers, Director, Industry and Technology Alliances at Cognos.

"Through our long tenure working with the entire IBM Cognos suite of products as a Platinum partner, we are thrilled to have IBM Cognos benefit from these solutions," said Andrew Rachmiel, co-CEO of BrightStar Partners, Inc. "MetaManager customers have experienced ROI upwards of 600% and higher within the first year of use."

BrightStar Partners is an IBM Cognos Platinum Reseller partner, Gold Technology partner and member of the Powered by IBM Cognos Software program. With a team of very senior Professional Services and Product Development resources, BrightStar Partners provides professional services offerings and implementation-based solutions to IBM Cognos customers worldwide.

For more information on MetaManager and our other implementation-based solutions and professional services offerings, please visit http://www.bspsoftware.com and http://www.brightstarpartners.com.

Note to Editors:
BrightStar Partners will be showcasing MetaManager as well as other products and services at the 2008 Cognos Forum, Performance World Booth 15, Las Vegas, Nevada, May 13-15, 2008.

BrightStar Partners and the BrightStar Partners logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of BrightStar Partners, Inc., in the United States and/or other countries.

BSP SOFTWARE INTRODUCES POWERED BY COGNOS SOLUTION

MetaManager allows administrators to simplify many of the complexities associated with metadata management, both at the modeling and consumer level.

Chicago IL, April 4, 2007 - Today BSP Software LLC, a Cognos software development company focused on Cognos solutions, announced that it has become a member of the Powered by Cognos program with the introduction of MetaManager.

MetaManager, allows administrators to simplify many of the complexities associated with metadata management, both at the modeling and consumer level. The various modules of the product are designed to help administrators manage and maintain metadata, perform validation on end user content after modifications are made to the metadata, and automatically resolve any issues that occur. In addition, detailed model and content store documentation can be generated with a click of a button, full or selectable content backups and restores can be performed, and changes can be reverted back at any time to previous state.

“As a division of BrightStar Partners, one of our platinum reseller partners, BSP Software has substantial front-line expertise in deploying Cognos Performance Management solutions to some of our largest customers, and we are proud to extend our relationship with them with by including their MetaManager solution into Powered by Cognos” said Richard Luciano, Director, Partner Development and Recruitment.

At BrightStar Partners, success is measured by the ability to deliver highly innovative solutions on time and within budget, and then drive that solution through to the user adoption phase of the project. By combining our leading edge methodology, best practices, products and solutions coupled with our passion and drive for success, BrightStar Partners is uniquely qualified to deliver the highest quality Performance Management solutions in the market.

“We are honored to be recognized as a member of an elite group of partners who are leaders and innovators in the Cognos Performance Management community", said Andrew Rachmiel, President of BSP Software LLC. “We have received an overwhelmingly positive response to the launch of our flagship product, MetaManager, and look forward to continuing to build on the product’s solid foundation in our upcoming 2.0 release”.

Powered by Cognos is an elite program for partners who deliver performance management solutions that combine Cognos technology with their deep domain expertise. These partners deliver solutions focused on key areas, including industry groups, enterprise performance and system infrastructure, all with the objective of enabling and engaging their customers’ to better manage company performance . Members of Powered by Cognos are integral players in delivering fast, proven performance management solutions to Cognos customers.

About BSP Software LLC - BSP Software LLC provides product development solutions that enhance existing Cognos Performance Management solutions. We focus on easy to use applications that add tremendous value to technology and business users alike.

About BrightStar Partners, Inc. - At BrightStar Partners, we help clients move their organizations to a new level of competitiveness by delivering industry thought leadership combined with an impressive range of innovative Cognos performance management products and solutions.

Chicago IL, February 2007 - BrightStar Partners, Inc., a Corporate Performance Management consulting and solution provider, today announced their Silver Sponsorship for Cognos Forum 2007 in Orlando. Join us on May 14 – 17, 2007 as customers from around the globe descend on Cognos’ premier customer conference for Business Intelligence, Enterprise Planning, and Performance Management. Attending Cognos Forum is your single best opportunity to gain a wealth of know-how that you can apply today… and tomorrow.

BrightStar Partners will be showcasing our flagship product, MetaManager, in the Performance World Showcase. Stop by our booth to see how this revolutionary technology allows you to simplify many of the complexities associated with metadata management, both at the modeling and consumer level. With MetaManager, developers can:

Easily manage metadata within Framework Manager models
Automatically apply Framework Manager model changes to all impacted reports
Carry metadata through to end-user reports in the form of screen tips
Find and replace text within selectable report objects
Automate report validation when changes to the underlying packages are made
Document the contents of Framework Manager models and the Content Store database to PDF, XLS, TXT, or HTML

Cognos Forum shows you how! How to implement Cognos solutions. How to address organizational, strategic, and cultural changes. How to maximize the value of your deployment. Choose from a rich pool of over 120 breakout sessions with topics on Performance Management, Business Intelligence, and Enterprise Planning. You’ll find sessions dedicated to current business trends and issues that are impacting your business today.

About BSP Software LLC BSP Software LLC provides product development solutions that enhance existing Cognos Performance Management solutions. We focus on easy to use applications that add tremendous value to technology and business users alike.

About BrightStar Partners, Inc. BrightStar Partners, a professional services and solutions integration company, utilizes a proven methodology and best-practice approach to deliver tangible business benefit and assist clients in achieving competitive advantage, all the while shortening the time to market for implementations.

Chicago IL, December 2006 – BSP Software LLC, a Cognos software development company, today announced the release of MetaManager. BSP Software's MetaManager, allows administrators to simplify many of the complexities associated with metadata management, both at the modeling and consumer level. With MetaManager, administrators can…

Easily manage metadata into Framework Manager models
Carry metadata through to end-user reports in the form of screen tips
Document the contents of Framework Manager models to PDF, XLS, TXT or HTML
Find and Replace text within selectable report objects
Perform global name changes within the content store database
Automate report validation when changes to the underlying packages are made

"Accurately modeled and documented metadata is the foundation to successful implementations. Cognos Framework Manager serves as the metadata layer to the entire Cognos deployment, and it is important to leverage the metadata attributes of the various elements in order to improve the end user experience", said Dariusz Danielewski, Chief Information Officer of BSP Software LLC.

Chicago IL, October 2006 - BrightStar Partners, Inc., a Corporate Performance Management consulting and solution provider, today announced the opening of BSP Software LLC, a software company dedicated to product development initiatives designed to enhance value and increase return on investment in Cognos software solutions.

"As companies make investments in capturing data through ERP, CRM, Supply Chain Management, and other systems, ROI and business value is achieved through the effective reporting and analysis of the information assets. Leveraging the Cognos platform, we provide technical, functional, and product expertise in the software development initiatives we undertake to extend the value to Cognos customers", said Andrew Rachmiel, President of BSP Software LLC.