BURLINGTON, Mass., May 30, 2000—Cognos^® (NASDAQ:COGN; TSE:CSN), the world’s largest and most successful business intelligence company, today announced that The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) has deployed Cognos e-Business solutions to help its efforts in supporting safe and affordable housing for low and moderate-income residents in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Through the use of Cognos’ business intelligence software, the agency has dramatically strengthened its business practices for critical decision making and improved employees’ efficient use of budget and time.

Since October 1999, MHFA executives, senior managers and directors have used the agency’s Web-based Executive Information System, supported by Cognos, to quickly and easily access information across a wide variety of data sources. Cognos’ business intelligence solutions have eliminated tedious and time-consuming processes previously used by MFHA to rate management companies, evaluate its productivity and track its budgets and expenses. The agency’s management staff can now analyze data across multiple databases in a visual format with a common Web interface.

"Cognos has provided our executives with a way to view information that they never would have found before," said Carl Richardson, MHFA project manager. "Using the new system, we are better able to assist those in need because we can make faster, better-informed decisions. It has also led to more efficient allocation of costs and resources for our executive staff."

"We are pleased to provide organizations such as The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency with solutions that make them more successful in helping the huge number of people that rely on their services for a better quality of life," said Joanne K. Masingill, Cognos senior vice president of marketing. "Business intelligence does not simply apply to the Fortune 500 companies. Many customers in the non-profit, education and government fields have radically improved efficiencies, and saved significant time and money with Cognos."

Prior to the new system, MHFA managers would need to make a variety of ad hoc calls to other MHFA employees in order to gather critical information related to the quality of the management companies, a process that often took days. Senior managers and directors can now log onto the "Multiple Family Asset Management" component and use the portfolio at risk module to view a graph showing the overall rating of a management company.

The system enables managers to track employee cost and time allocations, and to view budgets and expenses. Managers can also simultaneously view graphs related to housing costs and loan expenditures for a given time in order to run animated comparisons and track co-relations. MHFA managers access a section within the system to view summary graphs, seek and analyze information, and review a series of standard reports on "Single Family Housing".

About MHFA
The Massachusetts Housing Finance Agency (MHFA) offers a variety of financial resources to promote decent, safe and affordable housing throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Since its creation in 1966, MHFA’s programs have generated $6 billion in loans to help tens of thousands of low and moderate-income people buy their first home or rent affordable apartments. MHFA’s programs also enable lenders to increase their investment in affordable mortgage and bond programs and developers to maximize new business opportunities in niche market areas.