INFORMATION ADVANTAGE SOFTWARE INC
S-1/A, 1997-12-05
PREPACKAGED SOFTWARE
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<PAGE>
   
   AS FILED WITH THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION ON DECEMBER 5, 1997.
    
                                                      REGISTRATION NO. 333-37707
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                       SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
                             WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
                             ---------------------
   
                               AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO
                                    FORM S-1
                             REGISTRATION STATEMENT
    
                                     UNDER
                           THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933
                             ---------------------
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)
 
<TABLE>
<S>                          <C>                          <C>
         DELAWARE                       7372                 41-1718445
     (State or Other             (Primary Standard        (I.R.S. Employer
       Jurisdiction                  Industrial            Identification
   of Incorporation or          Classification Code            Number)
      Organization)                   Number)
</TABLE>
 
                     7905 GOLDEN TRIANGLE DRIVE, SUITE 190
                       EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA 55344-7227
                                 (612) 833-3700
 
    (Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code,
                  of registrant's principal executive offices)
                         ------------------------------
 
                               DONALD W. ANDERSON
                            CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
                     7905 GOLDEN TRIANGLE DRIVE, SUITE 190
                       EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA 55344-7227
                                 (612) 833-3700
 
 (Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code,
                             of agent for service)
                         ------------------------------
 
                                   COPIES TO:
 
   
<TABLE>
<S>                                       <C>                                       <C>
           JAY K. HACHIGIAN                          BRIAN D. WENGER                         THOMAS A. BEVILACQUA
            RENEE F. LANAM                          BRETT D. ANDERSON                            CURTIS L. MO
       WILLIAM E. GROWNEY, JR.                        LORI J. KETOLA                             ANNA A. RUIZ
       Gunderson Dettmer Stough                     Briggs and Morgan                          MICHAEL F. CYRAN
        Villeneuve Franklin &                    Professional Association              Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP
            Hachigian, LLP                           2400 IDS Center                        Two Embarcadero Place
        155 Constitution Drive                    80 South Eighth Street                        2200 Geng Road
         Menlo Park, CA 94025                     Minneapolis, MN 55402                    Palo Alto, CA 94303-0913
            (650) 321-2400                            (612) 334-8400                            (650) 424-0160
</TABLE>
    
 
                            ------------------------
 
    APPROXIMATE DATE OF COMMENCEMENT OF PROPOSED SALE TO THE PUBLIC:
AS SOON AS PRACTICABLE AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT.
                            ------------------------
 
    If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on
a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended, check the following box. / /
 
    If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering
pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box
and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier
effective registration statement for the same offering. / /______________
 
    If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c)
under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act
registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement
for the same offering. / /______________
 
    If delivery of the prospectus is expected to be made pursuant to Rule 434,
please check the following box. / /
                            ------------------------
 
   
    THE REGISTRANT HEREBY AMENDS THIS REGISTRATION STATEMENT ON SUCH DATE OR
DATES AS MAY BE NECESSARY TO DELAY ITS EFFECTIVE DATE UNTIL THE REGISTRANT SHALL
FILE A FURTHER AMENDMENT THAT SPECIFICALLY STATES THAT THIS REGISTRATION
STATEMENT SHALL THEREAFTER BECOME EFFECTIVE IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 8(a) OF
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, OR UNTIL THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT
SHALL BECOME EFFECTIVE ON SUCH DATE AS THE SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION,
ACTING PURSUANT TO SUCH SECTION 8(a), MAY DETERMINE.
    
 
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<PAGE>
INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS SUBJECT TO COMPLETION OR AMENDMENT. A
REGISTRATION STATEMENT RELATING TO THESE SECURITIES HAS BEEN FILED WITH THE
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION. THESE SECURITIES MAY NOT BE SOLD NOR MAY
OFFERS TO BUY BE ACCEPTED PRIOR TO THE TIME THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT BECOMES
EFFECTIVE. THIS PROSPECTUS SHALL NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL OR THE
SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY NOR SHALL THERE BE ANY SALE OF THESE SECURITIES
IN ANY STATE IN WHICH SUCH OFFER, SOLICITATION OR SALE WOULD BE UNLAWFUL PRIOR
TO REGISTRATION OR QUALIFICATION UNDER THE SECURITIES LAWS OF ANY SUCH STATE.
<PAGE>
   
                 SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED DECEMBER 5, 1997
    
 
                                     [LOGO]
 
                                3,334,000 SHARES
 
                                  COMMON STOCK
 
    All of the 3,334,000 shares of Common Stock offered hereby are being sold by
Information Advantage, Inc. ("Information Advantage" or the "Company"). Prior to
this offering, there has been no public market for the Common Stock of the
Company. It is currently estimated that the initial public offering price will
be between $7.00 and $8.00 per share. See "Underwriting" for information
relating to the method of determining the initial public offering price. The
Company has applied to have the Common Stock approved for quotation on the
Nasdaq National Market System under the symbol "IACO."
 
                                ----------------
 
   The Common Stock offered hereby involves a high degree of risk. See "Risk
                         Factors" commencing on page 6.
 
                                ----------------
 
    THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN APPROVED OR DISAPPROVED BY THE SECURITIES
       AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION OR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION NOR HAS
         THE COMMISSION OR ANY STATE SECURITIES COMMISSION PASSED UPON
      THE ACCURACY OR ADEQUACY OF THIS PROSPECTUS. ANY REPRESENTATION TO
                      THE CONTRARY IS A CRIMINAL OFFENSE.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                     UNDERWRITING
                                               PRICE TO             DISCOUNTS AND        PROCEEDS TO COMPANY
                                                PUBLIC               COMMISSIONS                 (1)
<S>                                     <C>                     <C>                     <C>
Per Share.............................  $                       $                       $
Total (2).............................  $                       $                       $
</TABLE>
 
   
(1) Before deducting expenses payable by the Company, estimated at $1,200,000.
    
 
(2) The Company has granted to the Underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up
    to an additional 500,100 shares of Common Stock solely to cover
    over-allotments, if any. If such option is exercised in full, the total
    Price to Public, Underwriting Discounts and Commissions, and Proceeds to
    Company will be $          , $         and $          , respectively. See
    "Underwriting."
 
                                ----------------
 
    The Common Stock is offered by the Underwriters as stated herein, subject to
receipt and acceptance by them and subject to their right to reject any order in
whole or in part. It is expected that delivery of such shares will be made
through the offices of BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, San Francisco,
California, on or about            , 1997.
 
BANCAMERICA ROBERTSON STEPHENS
           NATIONSBANC MONTGOMERY SECURITIES, INC.
                       PIPER JAFFRAY INC.
                                   FIRST ALBANY CORPORATION
 
                The date of this Prospectus is           , 1997
<PAGE>
                                   [GRAPHIC]
 
    [Narrative description of the "intelligent enterprise" in front of
background with the Company's logo.]
 
    [Graphic depicting the relationship between the Company's DecisionSuite
product and desktop applications, online analytical processing servers and
distributed data warehouses and data marts.]
 
CERTAIN PERSONS PARTICIPATING IN THIS OFFERING MAY ENGAGE IN TRANSACTIONS THAT
STABILIZE, MAINTAIN OR OTHERWISE AFFECT THE PRICE OF THE COMMON STOCK OF THE
COMPANY, INCLUDING STABILIZING BIDS, SYNDICATE COVERING TRANSACTIONS AND THE
IMPOSITION OF PENALTY BIDS. FOR A DISCUSSION OF THESE ACTIVITIES, SEE
"UNDERWRITING."
<PAGE>
    NO DEALER, SALES REPRESENTATIVE OR ANY OTHER PERSON HAS BEEN AUTHORIZED TO
GIVE ANY INFORMATION OR TO MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS IN CONNECTION WITH THIS
OFFERING OTHER THAN THOSE CONTAINED IN THIS PROSPECTUS, AND IF GIVEN OR MADE,
SUCH INFORMATION OR REPRESENTATIONS MUST NOT BE RELIED UPON AS HAVING BEEN
AUTHORIZED BY THE COMPANY OR ANY UNDERWRITER. THIS PROSPECTUS DOES NOT
CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SELL, OR A SOLICITATION OF AN OFFER TO BUY, ANY
SECURITIES OTHER THAN THE REGISTERED SECURITIES TO WHICH IT RELATES OR AN OFFER
TO, OR A SOLICITATION OF, ANY PERSON IN ANY JURISDICTION WHERE SUCH AN OFFER OR
SOLICITATION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. NEITHER THE DELIVERY OF THIS PROSPECTUS NOR ANY
SALE MADE HEREUNDER SHALL, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, CREATE AN IMPLICATION THAT
THERE HAS BEEN NO CHANGE IN THE AFFAIRS OF THE COMPANY SINCE THE DATE HEREOF OR
THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN IS CORRECT AS OF ANY TIME SUBSEQUENT TO
THE DATE HEREOF.
 
    UNTIL            , 1998 (25 DAYS AFTER THE DATE OF THIS PROSPECTUS), ALL
DEALERS EFFECTING TRANSACTIONS IN THE REGISTERED SECURITIES, WHETHER OR NOT
PARTICIPATING IN THIS DISTRIBUTION, MAY BE REQUIRED TO DELIVER A PROSPECTUS.
THIS DELIVERY REQUIREMENT IS IN ADDITION TO THE OBLIGATION OF DEALERS TO DELIVER
A PROSPECTUS WHEN ACTING AS UNDERWRITERS AND WITH RESPECT TO THEIR UNSOLD
ALLOTMENTS OR SUBSCRIPTIONS.
                                ----------------
 
                               TABLE OF CONTENTS
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                                    PAGE
                                                                                                    -----
<S>                                                                                              <C>
Summary........................................................................................           4
Risk Factors...................................................................................           6
Use of Proceeds................................................................................          16
Dividend Policy................................................................................          16
Capitalization.................................................................................          17
Dilution.......................................................................................          18
Selected Consolidated Financial Data...........................................................          19
Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations..........          20
Business.......................................................................................          29
Management.....................................................................................          42
Certain Transactions...........................................................................          51
Principal Stockholders.........................................................................          54
Description of Capital Stock...................................................................          57
Shares Eligible for Future Sale................................................................          59
Underwriting...................................................................................          61
Legal Matters..................................................................................          63
Experts........................................................................................          63
Additional Information.........................................................................          63
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements.....................................................         F-1
</TABLE>
 
                                ----------------
 
    The Company intends to furnish to its stockholders annual reports containing
audited consolidated financial statements examined by its independent public
accountants and quarterly reports containing unaudited financial statements for
each of the first three quarters of each fiscal year.
 
    As used in this Prospectus, each fiscal year of the Company is identified by
the calendar year in which it ends. Thus, references to "fiscal year 1997" or
"fiscal 1997" shall mean the fiscal year ended January 31, 1997.
 
    DecisionSuite Server-TM- and the Company's logo are trademarks of the
Company and DecisionSuite-Registered Trademark- and Information
Advantage-Registered Trademark- are registered trademarks of the Company. All
other trademarks, service marks or trade names referred to in this Prospectus
are the property of their respective owners.
 
    The address of the Company's principal executive offices is 7905 Golden
Triangle Drive, Suite 190, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344-7227 and its telephone
number is (612) 833-3700. Unless otherwise indicated, all references in this
Prospectus to the "Company" or "Information Advantage" refer to Information
Advantage, Inc., a Delaware Corporation, and its predecessor Information
Advantage, Inc., a Minnesota Corporation.
 
                                       3
<PAGE>
                                    SUMMARY
 
    THE FOLLOWING SUMMARY IS QUALIFIED IN ITS ENTIRETY BY THE MORE DETAILED
INFORMATION, INCLUDING "RISK FACTORS" AND THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
AND NOTES THERETO, APPEARING ELSEWHERE IN THIS PROSPECTUS. THIS PROSPECTUS
CONTAINS FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS THAT INVOLVE RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES. THE
COMPANY'S ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER MATERIALLY FROM THE RESULTS DISCUSSED IN THE
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. FACTORS THAT MIGHT CAUSE SUCH A DIFFERENCE INCLUDE,
BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, THOSE DISCUSSED IN "RISK FACTORS" AND ELSEWHERE IN THIS
PROSPECTUS.
 
                                  THE COMPANY
 
    Information Advantage, Inc. (the "Company") develops, markets and supports
enterprise scalable on-line analytical processing ("OLAP") software that is
designed to allow a large number of users to access and analyze large amounts of
data to make quicker and more informed business decisions. The Company's
server-based solution, DecisionSuite, provides powerful, robust and flexible
analysis processing capabilities that transform raw data into meaningful
information from a wide range of desktop and Internet platforms. Through the use
of an advanced architecture, the Company designed DecisionSuite to accommodate
terabytes of data and thousands of active users, although to date, only a
limited number of customers have deployed DecisionSuite in such environments.
DecisionSuite enables organizations to push effective decision making to all
levels of users thereby creating an "intelligent enterprise," one capable of
quickly identifying and reacting to market opportunities. DecisionSuite supports
many popular UNIX operating systems and employs relational database technology,
allowing it to access most popular databases, data warehouses and data marts.
 
    In order to compete effectively in today's global environment, businesses
must quickly identify and respond to changing market conditions and are,
therefore, dependent upon their ability to rapidly collect, organize, access and
analyze large amounts of data. Organizations are now collecting not only
internal financial and operational data, but are also collecting large amounts
of historical data on their customers, suppliers and other external sources. At
the same time, to more quickly react to changing business conditions, many
organizations have been flattening their organizational structures and
empowering employees at all levels to make decisions, creating a need by more
people to access the vast amounts of business data collected each day and to
perform complex computational analysis on this data. To meet these challenges,
organizations have implemented a number of technology solutions, including data
warehouses and data marts, query and reporting tools and OLAP applications.
According to IDC, an independent industry analyst, the information access
segment of the data warehousing market alone is estimated to be growing from
$664 million in 1996 to $1.4 billion in 2000.
 
    Although many of today's query and reporting tools, desktop OLAP solutions
and non-relational server-based OLAP solutions successfully address some of the
market requirements, these technologies fall short of effectively delivering
enterprise scalable OLAP capabilities. The Company's relational server-based
OLAP solution, DecisionSuite, supports large data sets, thousands of active
users, and simple as well as complex analysis. Moreover, DecisionSuite is
designed for efficient and cost effective deployment and maintenance, and
compliance with industry standards, thereby enabling integration with hardware
and software from a variety of vendors.
 
    Substantially all of the Company's revenues are derived from sales of
DecisionSuite and related services. The Company licenses DecisionSuite to
customers primarily in targeted industries such as retail, consumer packaged
goods, financial services, insurance, telecommunications and healthcare. The
Company sells its products primarily through direct sales. The Company has
direct sales offices in twelve states, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany,
and has established strategic relationships in South Africa, the Netherlands and
Japan. The Company also utilizes strategic partners to sell its products,
including solution development partners, such as IBM and DynaMark, sales
affiliates, such as EDS and Cambridge Technology Group, and marketing partners,
such as HP and Sun. The Company was formed in 1992 and, accordingly, has a
limited operating history and capitalization.
 
    To complement its advanced product offerings, the Company offers worldwide
training, consulting and support services to its customers directly through its
customer services group and indirectly through its solution development partners
and sales affiliates. The Company's training and consulting services consist of
technical support, education, implementation, prototyping workshops and other
advanced services. The Company also provides its customers with an extensive
array of ongoing support services, including software updates, documentation
updates, telephone support and product maintenance.
 
                                       4
<PAGE>
                                  THE OFFERING
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
Common Stock Offered by the Company..........  3,334,000 shares
<S>                                            <C>
Common Stock to be Outstanding after
  the Offering...............................  14,989,359 shares(1)
Use of Proceeds..............................  For repayment of certain indebtedness,
                                               general corporate purposes (primarily working
                                               capital and, to a lesser extent, expansion of
                                               the Company's sales, marketing and customer
                                               support infrastructure), and potential
                                               acquisitions. See "Use of Proceeds."
Proposed Nasdaq National Market Symbol.......  IACO
</TABLE>
 
                      SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
                     (in thousands, except per share data)
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                         PERIOD FROM                                                    NINE MONTHS
                                       APRIL 14, 1992                                                      ENDED
                                       (INCEPTION) TO            YEARS ENDED JANUARY 31,                OCTOBER 31,
                                         JANUARY 31,    ------------------------------------------  --------------------
                                            1993          1994       1995       1996       1997       1996       1997
                                       ---------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
<S>                                    <C>              <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
  DATA:
  Revenues...........................     $   1,751     $   4,348  $   3,817  $   5,642  $  11,746  $   8,414  $  17,501
  Loss from operations...............        (2,326)       (1,147)    (4,312)    (3,795)    (8,380)    (4,980)    (5,867)
  Net loss...........................        (2,377)       (1,201)    (4,395)    (3,789)    (8,476)    (5,020)    (5,956)
 
  Pro forma net loss per share (2)...                                                    $   (0.83)            $   (0.51)
  Shares used in computing pro forma
    net loss per share (2)...........                                                       10,208                11,622
</TABLE>
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                      OCTOBER 31, 1997
                                                                           ---------------------------------------
                                                                                                          AS
                                                                            ACTUAL    PRO FORMA(3)    ADJUSTED(4)
                                                                           ---------  -------------  -------------
<S>                                                                        <C>        <C>            <C>
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET DATA:
  Working capital........................................................  $    (615)   $    (615)     $  20,601
  Total assets...........................................................     12,965       12,965         31,915
  Total liabilities......................................................     12,238       12,238          9,088
  Convertible redeemable preferred stock.................................     24,410       --             --
  Stockholders' equity (deficit).........................................    (23,683)         727         22,827
</TABLE>
 
- ----------------
 
   
(1) Based on the number of shares outstanding as of October 31, 1997. Excludes
    (i) 2,257,113 shares subject to outstanding options as of October 31, 1997
    at a weighted average exercise price of approximately $1.55 per share, (ii)
    warrants to purchase 143,419 shares of Common Stock at a weighted average
    exercise price of $2.91 per share, and (iii) 1,307,871 shares reserved for
    issuance under the Company's stock plans. See "Management--1997 Equity
    Incentive Plan,"
    "--1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan" and Notes 8 and 9 of Notes to
    Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
 
(2) See Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for an explanation
    of the method used to determine the number of shares used in computing pro
    forma net loss per share.
 
(3) Reflects the conversion of outstanding Preferred Stock into Common Stock and
    the exercise of warrants to purchase 491,599 shares of Common Stock upon
    completion of the offering.
 
(4) Adjusted to reflect the sale of shares of Common Stock by the Company at an
    assumed initial public offering price of $7.50 per share and the application
    of the estimated net proceeds therefrom. See "Use of Proceeds" and
    "Capitalization."
 
                                ----------------
 
   
    UNLESS OTHERWISE INDICATED, THE INFORMATION IN THIS PROSPECTUS (I) ASSUMES
NO EXERCISE OF THE UNDERWRITERS' OVER-ALLOTMENT OPTION, (II) REFLECTS A
1-FOR-2 1/2 REVERSE STOCK SPLIT THAT WAS EFFECTED ON DECEMBER 3, 1997 AND, (III)
REFLECTS, EXCEPT IN THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS, THE CONVERSION OF ALL
OUTSTANDING SHARES OF PREFERRED STOCK INTO COMMON STOCK AND THE EXERCISE OF
WARRANTS TO PURCHASE 491,599 SHARES OF COMMON STOCK UPON COMPLETION OF THE
OFFERING.
    
 
                                       5
<PAGE>
                                  RISK FACTORS
 
    In addition to the other information in this Prospectus, the following risk
factors should be considered carefully in evaluating the Company and its
business before purchasing shares of the Common Stock offered hereby. This
Prospectus contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. The Company's actual results may differ materially from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause
such a difference include, but are not limited to, those discussed in "Risk
Factors" and elsewhere in this Prospectus.
 
LIMITED OPERATING HISTORY; LACK OF PROFITABILITY
 
    The Company was formed in 1992. Accordingly, the Company's prospects must be
considered in light of the risks and difficulties frequently encountered by
companies in the early stage of development, particularly companies in new and
rapidly evolving markets. To address these risks, the Company must, among other
things, respond to competitive developments, continue to attract, retain and
motivate qualified personnel, and continue to enhance and improve its products.
The Company has incurred net operating losses in each quarter since inception
and it is possible that the Company will not generate sufficient net income to
fully utilize its net operating loss carryforwards before they begin to expire
in 2007. As of October 31, 1997, the Company had an accumulated deficit of $26.4
million. The Company expects to incur additional net losses. The Company's
operating losses have been due in part to the commitment of significant
resources to the Company's technical support, research and development and sales
and marketing organizations. The Company expects to continue to devote
substantial resources in these areas and as a result will need to recognize
significant quarterly revenues to achieve profitability. In particular, the
Company intends to continue hiring a significant number of sales and research
and development personnel over the balance of fiscal 1998 and beyond. Future
operating results will depend on many factors, including, among others, demand
for and acceptance of the Company's products and services, including ongoing
acceptance of maintenance and other services purchased by existing customers,
the level of product and price competition, the ability of the Company to
control costs and to develop, market and deploy new products, the ability of the
Company to expand its direct sales force and indirect distribution channels both
domestically and internationally, the Company's success in attracting and
retaining key personnel, market acceptance of OLAP products and the ability of
the Company to successfully integrate technologies and businesses it may acquire
in the future. Although the Company's revenues have increased in recent periods,
there can be no assurance that the Company's revenues will grow in future
periods or, if they do grow, that they will grow at past rates, or that the
Company will ever become profitable. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis
of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
 
FLUCTUATIONS IN OPERATING RESULTS
 
    The Company's limited operating history and the susceptibility of the
Company's operating results to significant fluctuations makes the prediction of
future operating results unreliable and the Company believes that
period-to-period comparisons of its operating results are not necessarily
meaningful and should not be relied upon as indications of future performance.
The Company's operating results have in the past, and will in the future, vary
significantly due to factors such as demand for the Company's products, the size
and timing of significant orders and their fulfillment, the number, timing and
significance of product enhancements and new product announcements by the
Company and its competitors, changes in pricing policies by the Company or its
competitors, customer order deferrals in anticipation of enhancements or new
products offered by the Company or its competitors, the ability of the Company
to develop, introduce and market new and enhanced versions of its products on a
timely basis, changes in the Company's level of operating expenses and its
ability to control costs, budgeting cycles of its customers, product life
cycles, software defects and other product quality problems, hiring needs and
personnel changes, changes in the Company's sales incentive plans, changes in
the mix of domestic and international revenues, the level of international
expansion, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, performance of indirect
channel partners, changes in the mix of indirect channels through which the
Company's products are offered, the impact of consolidation by competitors and
indirect channel partners
 
                                       6
<PAGE>
and general domestic and international economic and political conditions. A
significant portion of the Company's revenues have been, and the Company
believes will continue to be, derived from a limited number of orders placed by
large organizations. The timing of such orders and their fulfillment have
caused, and are expected to continue to cause, material fluctuations in the
Company's operating results, particularly on a quarterly basis. A significant
portion of the Company's revenues are derived from existing customers. To the
extent that such customers no longer require new licenses or ongoing support,
the Company's business, financial condition and operating results could be
materially adversely affected. The Company has, from time to time, often
recognized a substantial portion of its revenues in the last month of a quarter,
with these revenues frequently concentrated in the last two weeks of a quarter.
In addition, the Company does not operate with a large order backlog because its
software products are typically shipped shortly after orders are received, which
makes product revenues in any quarter substantially dependent on orders booked
and shipped throughout that quarter. Accordingly, revenues for any future
quarter are difficult to predict. The Company expects that as international
sales increase as a percentage of total sales it will experience weaker demand
for DecisionSuite during the summer months. Product revenues are also difficult
to forecast because the market for OLAP applications is rapidly evolving, and
the Company's sales cycle, which may last from six to twelve months or more,
varies substantially from customer to customer. The Company's expense level and
plans for expansion, including its plan to significantly increase its sales and
marketing and research and development efforts, are based in significant part on
the Company's expectations of future revenues and are relatively fixed in the
short-term. Consequently, if revenue levels are below expectations, operating
results are likely to be adversely and disproportionately affected. In addition,
the Company expects that sales derived through indirect channels, which are more
difficult to forecast and generally have lower gross margins than direct sales,
will increase as a percentage of total revenues. See "--Expansion of Indirect
Channels."
 
   
    Based upon all of the factors described above, the Company believes that its
quarterly revenues, expenses and operating results are likely to vary
significantly in the future, that period-to-period comparisons of its operating
results are not necessarily meaningful and that, in any event, such comparisons
should not be relied upon as indications of future performance. Accordingly, the
Company has limited ability to forecast future revenues, and it is likely that
in some future quarter the Company's operating results will be below the
expectations of public market analysts and investors. In the event that
operating results are below expectations, or in the event that adverse
conditions prevail or are perceived to prevail generally or with respect to the
Company's business, the price of the Company's Common Stock would be materially
adversely affected. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial
Condition and Results of Operations."
    
 
LENGTHY SALES AND IMPLEMENTATION CYCLES
 
   
    The licensing of the Company's products by its customers typically involves
a significant commitment of capital and other resources, and are therefore
subject to delays frequently associated with customers' internal procedures to
approve large capital expenditures and to test and accept new technologies that
affect key operations. For these and other reasons, the sales cycle associated
with the licensing of the Company's products is typically six to twelve months
and subject to a number of significant risks that are beyond the Company's
control, including customers' budgetary constraints and internal acceptance
reviews. Because of the lengthy sales cycle and the large size of customers'
orders, if revenues forecasted from a specific customer for a particular quarter
are not realized in that quarter, the Company's operating results for that
quarter could be materially adversely affected. In addition, the time required
to deploy the Company's products can vary significantly with the needs of each
customer and the complexity of a customer's data processing needs. Accordingly,
deployment of the Company's products is generally a process that extends for
several months and may involve a pilot implementation, successful completion of
which is typically a prerequisite for full-scale deployment. In situations
involving a pilot implementation, revenue recognition is deferred until
execution of a final license and the other prerequisites for revenue recognition
have been fulfilled. The Company has experienced difficulty implementing
DecisionSuite in the past due to the complexity of customer requirements. The
Company generally relies upon internal resources to implement its products.
There can be no assurance that the Company will not experience delays in the
implementation of orders in the future or that third parties will be able to
    
 
                                       7
<PAGE>
   
successfully install the Company's products. Any delays in the implementation of
DecisionSuite could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business,
operating results and financial condition. In addition, any significant delay in
the implementation of DecisionSuite could cause a customer to reject the
Company's software, which could impair the Company's reputation and have a
material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results and
financial condition. See "--Fluctuations in Operating Results," "--Dependence on
Service Revenues," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition
and Results of Operations," "Business--Sales and Marketing" and "--Customer
Support."
    
 
COMPETITION
 
    The market in which the Company competes is intensely competitive, highly
fragmented and characterized by rapidly changing technology and evolving
standards. The Company's current and prospective competitors offer a variety of
planning and analysis software solutions and generally fall within three
categories: (i) vendors of desktop OLAP software such as Cognos and Business
Objects; (ii) vendors of multidimensional OLAP software such as Oracle
(Express), Arbor Software, Seagate (Holos) and SAS; and (iii) vendors of
OLAP/relational database software such as MicroStrategy and Platinum Technology
(Prodea). The Company has experienced and expects to continue to experience
increased competition from current and potential competitors, many of whom have
significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than
the Company. Such competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or
emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements or devote greater
resources to the development, promotion and sales of their products than the
Company. Also, certain current and potential competitors, including companies
such as Microsoft, IBM, Sybase and Informix, may have greater name recognition
or more extensive customer bases that could be leveraged. These companies could
integrate competing OLAP/relational database software with other widely accepted
products resulting in a loss of market share for the Company. The Company
expects additional competition as other established and emerging companies enter
into the OLAP software market and new products and technologies are introduced.
Increased competition could result in price reductions, fewer customer orders,
reduced gross margins, longer sales cycles and loss of market share, any of
which would materially adversely affect the Company's business, operating
results and financial condition.
 
   
    Current and potential competitors may make strategic acquisitions or
establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties,
thereby increasing their ability to address the needs of the Company's
prospective customers. The Company's current or future indirect channel partners
may establish cooperative relationships with current or potential competitors of
the Company, thereby limiting the Company's ability to sell its products through
particular distribution channels. Accordingly, it is possible that new
competitors or alliances among current and new competitors may emerge and
rapidly gain significant market share. Such competition could materially
adversely affect the Company's ability to obtain new licenses, and maintenance
and support renewals for existing licenses, on terms favorable to the Company.
Further, competitive pressures may require the Company to reduce the price of
DecisionSuite, which would materially adversely affect the Company's business,
operating results and financial condition. There can be no assurance that the
Company will be able to compete successfully against current and future
competitors, and the failure to do so would have a material adverse effect upon
the Company's business, operating results and financial condition.
    
 
DEPENDENCE ON GROWTH OF MARKET FOR OLAP APPLICATIONS AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE WEB
 
   
    Although demand for DecisionSuite has grown in recent years, the market for
OLAP software applications is still emerging and there can be no assurance that
it will continue to grow or that, even if the market does grow, businesses will
adopt the Company's products. Because a significant portion of the Company's
revenues are derived from existing customer upgrades, the failure of such
upgrades to occur due to the lack of continued adoption of OLAP applications by
its installed customer base, would have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition. The Company has
spent, and intends to continue spending, considerable resources educating
potential customers about DecisionSuite and its functions and on-line analytical
processing generally. However, there can be no assurance that such expenditures
will enable
    
 
                                       8
<PAGE>
DecisionSuite to achieve any additional degree of market acceptance, and if the
market for DecisionSuite fails to grow or grows more slowly than the Company
currently anticipates, the Company's business, operating results and financial
condition would be materially adversely affected. Historically, the software
industry has experienced significant periodic downturns, often in connection
with, or in anticipation of, declines in general economic conditions during
which management information systems budgets often decrease. As a result, the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition may in the future
reflect substantial fluctuations from period to period as a consequence of
patterns and general economic conditions in the software industry.
 
    In addition, the success of the Company may be dependent on the acceptance
of the use of the World Wide Web as a means to disseminate information. The
Company has had limited large-scale deployment of its products for use on the
Web. If customers determine that the Company's products are not scalable or are
otherwise inadequate for Web-based use, or do not provide adequate security for
the dissemination of information over the Web, or if for any other reason
customers fail to accept the Company's products for use on the Web, the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition could be
materially adversely affected. See "Business--Industry Background," "--Customers
and Applications," "--Products and Technology" and "--Sales and Marketing."
 
LIMITED LARGE-SCALE DEPLOYMENT
 
    The Company believes that DecisionSuite can accommodate terabytes of data
and thousands of active users; however, to date, the Company has had only a
limited number of customers who have deployed DecisionSuite in such
environments. If the Company's customers cannot successfully implement
large-scale deployments or determine for any other reason that the Company's
products cannot accommodate large-scale enterprise applications, or that such
products are not required or appropriate for such widespread use, the Company's
reputation and competitive advantage will be materially adversely affected,
which would, in turn, have a material adverse affect on the Company's business,
operating results and financial condition.
 
RAPID TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE AND NEW PRODUCTS
 
    The market for the Company's products is characterized by rapid
technological change, frequent new product introductions and enhancements,
uncertain product life cycles, changing customer demands and evolving industry
standards. The introduction of products embodying new technologies and the
emergence of new industry standards can render existing products obsolete and
unmarketable. The Company has focused its efforts on products that run on UNIX
operating systems and has not developed a product that runs on Windows NT or any
other operating system. As more of the Company's customers adopt Windows NT for
their businesses, the Company will need to develop a Windows NT version of
DecisionSuite. The development of a Windows NT product would require a
substantial investment of resources by the Company, and there is no assurance
that such a product could be introduced on a timely or cost effective basis or
at all. The Company believes that its future success will depend in large part
on its ability to support popular operating systems and databases, and on its
ability to maintain and improve its current product line and to develop new
products on a timely basis that achieve market acceptance, maintain
technological competitiveness and meet an expanding range of customer
requirements. As a result of the complexities inherent in OLAP, major new
products and product enhancements can require long development and testing
periods. In addition, customers may delay their purchasing decisions in
anticipation of the general availability of new or enhanced versions of the
Company's products. As a result, significant delays in the general availability
of such new releases or significant problems in the installation or
implementation of such new releases could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition. There can be no
assurance that the Company will be successful in developing and marketing, on a
timely and cost effective basis, product enhancements or new products that
respond to technological change, evolving industry standards or customer
requirements, that the Company will not experience difficulties that could delay
or prevent the successful development, introduction or marketing of these
enhancements or that the Company's new products and product enhancements will
achieve market acceptance. See "Business--Research and Development."
 
                                       9
<PAGE>
PRODUCT AND CUSTOMER CONCENTRATION
 
   
    Substantially all of the Company's revenues to date have been attributable
to the DecisionSuite line of products and related services and are currently
expected to account for substantially all of the Company's revenues for the
foreseeable future. The Company's future operating results are dependent upon
continued market acceptance of DecisionSuite and enhancements to these products.
Consequently, a decline in the demand for, or market acceptance of,
DecisionSuite as a result of competition, technological change or other factors,
would have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating
results and financial condition. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Business--Products and
Technology."
    
 
    A relatively small number of customers have accounted for a significant
percentage of the Company's revenues. In fiscal 1996, MasterCard International
Incorporated accounted for 13.6% of total revenues. In fiscal 1997, Tandy
Corporation accounted for 10.3% of total revenues. The Company expects that it
will continue to be dependent upon a limited number of new and existing
customers for a significant portion of its revenues in future periods, and such
customers are expected to vary from period to period. As a result, the failure
by the Company to successfully sell its products or services to one or more
targeted new or existing customers in any particular period, or the deferral or
cancellation of orders by one or more of these customers, could have a material
adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results and financial
condition. The loss of a major customer, or any reduction in orders by such
customer, including reductions due to market or competitive conditions, would
have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results and
financial condition.
 
DEPENDENCE ON SERVICE REVENUES
 
    The Company licenses software and provides related services, which consist
of maintenance, support, training, consulting and implementation. Total license
revenues and service revenues have increased from year to year. Service revenues
represented 52.2%, 52.4% and 44.7% of total revenues for the fiscal years ended
January 31, 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and 43.1% and 48.1% for the
nine-month periods ended October 31, 1996 and 1997. The Company anticipates that
service revenues will continue to represent a significant percentage of total
revenues. To a large degree, the level of service revenues is dependent upon the
ongoing acceptance of maintenance contracts by the Company's growing installed
customer base. If service revenues are less than anticipated, the Company's
operating results could be materially adversely affected. The Company's ability
to increase its service revenues will depend in large part on its ability to
increase the scale of its services organization, including its ability to
successfully recruit and train a sufficient number of qualified service
representatives. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to
successfully expand its service organization. In addition, there can be no
assurance that the Company will be successful in implementing its strategy or
that such products will achieve market acceptance, the failure of which could
have a material adverse effect on its business, operating results and financial
condition. See "--Dependence on Key Personnel" and "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
 
EXPANSION OF INDIRECT CHANNELS
 
    The Company intends to expand its relationships with strategic partners and
to increase the proportion of the Company's customers licensed through these
indirect channels. The Company's indirect channels have accounted for less than
25% of total revenues to date. There can be no assurance that the Company will
continue to be represented by any of its indirect channels. The Company is
currently investing, and intends to increasingly invest in the future,
significant resources to develop this channel, which could adversely affect the
Company's operating results if the Company's efforts do not generate significant
license revenues. There can be no assurance that the Company will be able to
attract strategic partners that will be able to market the Company's products
effectively and will be qualified to provide timely and cost-effective customer
support and service. The failure to recruit strategic partners could adversely
affect the Company's results of operations. The Company's ability to achieve
revenue growth in the future will depend in large part on its success in
maintaining
 
                                       10
<PAGE>
and establishing additional relationships with strategic partners. In addition,
if it is successful in selling products through this channel, the Company's
gross margins will be negatively affected due to the lower unit prices that the
Company expects to receive when selling through indirect channels. See
"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations--Overview" and "Business--Sales and Marketing."
 
RISKS ASSOCIATED WITH INTERNATIONAL SALES AND OPERATIONS
 
    During fiscal years 1995, 1996 and 1997, the Company derived 24.8%, 10.7%
and 9.5% of its total revenues, respectively, from sales outside the United
States. The Company anticipates that for the foreseeable future a significant
portion of its revenues will be derived from sources outside the United States.
The Company intends to continue to expand its sales and support operations
outside the United States and to enter additional international markets. In
order to successfully expand international sales, the Company must establish
additional foreign operations, expand its international channel management and
support organizations, hire additional personnel, recruit additional
international resellers and increase the productivity of existing international
resellers. To the extent that the Company is unable to do so in a timely and
cost-effective manner, the Company's growth, if any, in international sales will
be limited, and the Company's business, operating results and financial
condition could be materially adversely affected. The Company also expects to
commit additional resources to customizing its products for selected
international markets and developing international channel sales and support
organizations. In addition, even if international operations are successfully
expanded and the Company's products are successfully customized, there can be no
assurance that the Company will be able to maintain or increase international
market demand for its products. See "Business--Sales and Marketing."
 
    The Company's international operations are generally subject to a number of
risks, including costs of customizing products for foreign countries,
protectionist laws and business practices favoring local competition, dependence
on local vendors, compliance with multiple, conflicting and changing government
laws and regulations, longer sales and payment cycles, import and export
restrictions and tariffs, difficulties in staffing and managing foreign
operations, greater difficulty or delay in accounts receivable collection,
foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, multiple and conflicting tax laws
and regulations and political and economic instability. To date, a majority of
the Company's revenues and costs have been denominated in U.S. dollars. However,
the Company believes that an increasing portion of the Company's revenues and
costs will be denominated in foreign currencies. Although the Company may from
time to time undertake foreign exchange hedging transactions to cover a portion
of its foreign currency transaction exposure, the Company does not currently
attempt to cover any foreign currency exposure. See "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
 
MANAGEMENT OF GROWTH; NEED FOR ADDITIONAL QUALIFIED PERSONNEL
 
    The Company has recently experienced a period of significant revenue growth
and an expansion in the number of its employees, the scope of its operating and
financial systems and geographic area of its operations. From January 31, 1995
to October 31, 1997, the Company has increased its headcount from 75 to 219.
Further significant increases in the number of employees are anticipated in
fiscal 1998 and beyond. For example, the Company currently plans to expand its
sales and marketing services and research and development efforts by, among
other things, significantly increasing the number of employees dedicated to
those areas. This growth has resulted, and will continue to result, in new and
increased responsibilities for management personnel and may place a strain upon
the Company's management, operating financial systems and resources. The Company
expects that planned expansion of international operations will lead to
increased financial and administrative demands, such as increased operational
complexity associated with expanded facilities, administrative burdens
associated with managing an increasing number of relationships with foreign
partners and expanded treasury functions to manage foreign currency risks. The
Company's future operating results will also depend on its ability to further
develop indirect channels to penetrate different and broader markets and expand
its support organization to accommodate growth in the Company's installed base.
The failure of the Company to manage its
 
                                       11
<PAGE>
expansion effectively could have a material adverse effect on the Company's
business, operating results and financial condition. See "Management's
Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,"
"Business--Sales and Marketing" and "Management."
 
DEPENDENCE ON KEY PERSONNEL
 
   
    The Company's success depends to a significant degree upon the efforts of
certain key management, technical support, sales, marketing, customer support
and research and development personnel. The loss of key personnel could
adversely affect the Company. The Company believes that its future success will
depend in large part upon its continuing ability to attract and retain highly
skilled managerial, sales, marketing, customer support and research and
development personnel. Like other software companies, the Company faces intense
competition for such personnel, and the Company has at times experienced and
continues to experience difficulty in recruiting qualified personnel. There can
be no assurance that the Company will be successful in attracting, assimilating
or retaining qualified personnel in the future. The loss of the services of one
or more of the Company's key individuals, or the failure to attract and retain
additional qualified personnel, could have a material and adverse effect on the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition. See
"Business--Employees" and "Management."
    
 
RISK OF SOFTWARE DEFECTS
 
   
    Software products as complex as those offered by the Company may contain
errors or defects, particularly when first introduced, when new versions or
enhancements are released or when configured to individual customer computing
systems. The Company has in the past encountered system configuration problems
at certain customer sites. Although to date the Company has not experienced
material adverse effects resulting from any such defects or problems, there can
be no assurance that, despite testing by the Company, defects and errors will
not be found in current versions, new versions or enhancements of its products
after commencement of commercial shipments, resulting in loss of revenues or
delay in market acceptance, which could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition. See "Business--
Research and Development."
    
 
LIMITED PROTECTION OF PROPRIETARY TECHNOLOGY; RISKS OF INFRINGEMENT; USE OF
  LICENSED TECHNOLOGY
 
    The Company relies primarily on a combination of copyright and trademark
laws, trade secrets, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to
protect its proprietary technology. For example, the Company licenses its
software pursuant to signed license agreements, which impose certain
restrictions on licensees' ability to utilize the software. In addition, the
Company seeks to avoid disclosure of its trade secrets, including requiring
those persons with access to the Company's proprietary information to execute
confidentiality agreements with the Company and restricting access to the
Company's source code. The Company seeks to protect its software, documentation
and other written materials under trade secret and copyright laws, which afford
only limited protection.
 
    Despite the Company's efforts to protect its proprietary rights,
unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of the Company's products or to
obtain and use information that the Company regards as proprietary. Policing
unauthorized use of the Company's products is difficult, and while the Company
is unable to determine the extent to which piracy of its software products
exists, software piracy can be expected to be a persistent problem. In addition,
the laws of many countries do not protect the Company's proprietary rights to as
great an extent as do the laws of the United States. There can be no assurance
that the Company's means of protecting its proprietary rights will be adequate
or that the Company's competitors will not independently develop similar
technology.
 
    To date, the Company has not been notified that the Company's products
infringe the proprietary rights of third parties, but there can be no assurance
that third parties will not claim infringement by the Company with respect to
current or future products. The Company expects that data warehouse and data
mart software product
 
                                       12
<PAGE>
developers will increasingly be subject to infringement claims as the number of
products and competitors in the Company's industry segment grows and the
functionality of products in different industry segments overlaps. Any such
claims, with or without merit, could be time-consuming, result in costly
litigation, cause product shipment delays or require the Company to enter into
royalty or licensing agreements. Such royalty or licensing agreements, if
required, may not be available on terms acceptable to the Company or at all,
which could have a material adverse effect upon the Company's business,
operating results and financial condition.
 
YEAR 2000 COMPLIANCE
 
    Many currently installed computer systems and software products are coded to
accept only two digit entries in the date code field. These date code fields
will need to accept four digit entries to distinguish 21st century dates from
20th century dates. As a result, in less than three years, computer systems and
software used by many companies may need to be upgraded to comply with such
"Year 2000" requirements. Although the Company's products are Year 2000
compliant, the Company believes that the purchasing patterns of customers and
potential customers may be affected by Year 2000 issues as companies expend
significant resources to correct or patch their current software systems for
Year 2000 compliance. These expenditures may result in reduced funds available
to purchase software products such as those offered by the Company, which could
result in a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results
and financial condition.
 
PRODUCT LIABILITY
 
    Although the Company's license agreements with its customers typically
contain provisions designed to limit the Company's exposure to potential product
liability claims, it is possible that such limitation of liability provisions
may not be effective as a result of existing or future laws or unfavorable
judicial decisions. The Company has not experienced any product liability claims
to date, however the sale and support of the Company's products may entail the
risks of such claims which are likely to be substantial in light of the use of
the Company's products in business-critical applications. A product liability
claim brought against the Company could have a material adverse effect on the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition. See
"Business--Products and Technology" and "--Research and Development."
 
NO PRIOR TRADING MARKET FOR THE COMMON STOCK; POTENTIAL VOLATILITY OF STOCK
  PRICE
 
    Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the Common
Stock, and there can be no assurance that an active trading market will develop
or be sustained after this offering. The initial public offering price will be
determined by negotiation among the Company and the representatives of the
Underwriters, and may not be indicative of the price that will prevail in the
open market. See "Underwriting" for a discussion of the factors to be considered
in determining the initial public offering price.
 
    The market price of the Common Stock is likely to be highly volatile and may
be significantly affected by factors such as actual or anticipated fluctuations
in the Company's operating results, announcements of technological innovations,
new products or new contracts by the Company or its competitors, developments
with respect to copyrights or proprietary rights, conditions and trends in the
software and other technology industries, adoption of new accounting standards
affecting the software industry, changes in financial estimates by securities
analysts, general market conditions and other factors. In addition, the stock
market has from time to time experienced significant price and volume
fluctuations that have particularly affected the market prices for the common
stocks of technology companies. In the past, following periods of volatility in
the market price of a particular company's securities, securities class action
litigation has often been brought against such company. There can be no
assurance that such litigation will not occur in the future with respect to the
Company. Such litigation could result in substantial costs and a diversion of
management's attention and resources, which could have a material adverse effect
upon the Company's business, operating results and financial condition. See
"Underwriting."
 
                                       13
<PAGE>
CONTROL OF COMPANY BY EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS AND FIVE PERCENT
  STOCKHOLDERS
 
    Upon the consummation of this offering, the executive officers, directors,
five percent stockholders and their affiliates in the aggregate will
beneficially own approximately 49.44% of the outstanding Common Stock (47.89% if
the Underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full). As a result,
these stockholders will be able to exercise control over all matters requiring
stockholder approval, including the election of directors and approval of
significant corporate transactions. Such concentration of ownership may have the
effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of the Company. See
"Principal Stockholders."
 
EFFECT OF CERTAIN CHARTER PROVISIONS; ANTITAKEOVER EFFECTS OF CERTIFICATE OF
  INCORPORATION, BYLAWS AND DELAWARE LAW
 
   
    The Company's Certificate of Incorporation, as amended and restated (the
"Certificate of Incorporation"), and Bylaws, as amended ("Bylaws"), contain
certain provisions that may have the effect of discouraging, delaying or
preventing a change in control of the Company or unsolicited acquisition
proposals that a stockholder might consider favorable, including provisions
authorizing the issuance of "blank check" preferred stock, requiring the consent
of holders of at least 80% of the Company's capital stock to amend the
Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws, eliminating the ability of stockholders
to act by written consent or call a special meeting of stockholders and
providing for a Board of Directors with staggered, three-year terms. In
addition, certain provisions of Delaware law and the Company's 1997 Equity
Incentive Plan (the "Plan") may also have the effect of discouraging, delaying
or preventing a change in control of the Company or unsolicited acquisition
proposals. The antitakeover effect of these provisions may also have an adverse
effect on the public trading price of the Company's Common Stock. See
"Management" and "Description of Capital Stock-- Preferred Stock" and
"--Antitakeover Effects of Provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation,
Bylaws and Delaware Law."
    
 
SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE
 
    Sales of a substantial number of shares of Common Stock after the offering
could adversely affect the market price of the Common Stock and could impair the
Company's ability to raise capital through the sale of equity securities. Upon
completion of the offering, the Company will have outstanding 14,989,359 shares
of Common Stock (15,489,459 shares if the Underwriters' over-allotment option is
exercised in full), assuming no exercise of options after October 31, 1997. Of
these shares, the 3,334,000 shares offered hereby (3,834,100 shares if the
Underwriters' over-allotment option is exercised in full) will be freely
tradable without restriction or further registration under the Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), unless purchased by "affiliates" of the
Company as that term is defined in Rule 144 under the Securities Act ("Rule
144") described below. The remaining 11,655,359 shares of Common Stock
outstanding upon completion of the offering will be "restricted securities" as
that term is defined in Rule 144.
 
   
    Restricted Shares may be sold in the public market only if registered or if
they qualify for an exemption from the registration under Rule 144, 144(k) or
701 promulgated under the Securities Act. As a result of the contractual
restrictions described below and the provisions of Rules 144, 144(k) and 701,
additional shares will be available for sale in the public market as follows:
(i) 37,327 shares will be eligible for immediate sale on the date of this
Prospectus, (ii) 2,299 shares will be eligible for sale 90 days after the date
of this Prospectus, (iii) 11,181,743 shares will be eligible for sale upon
expiration of lock-up agreements between certain stockholders of the Company and
the representatives of the Underwriters 180 days after the date of this
Prospectus and (iv) 433,990 shares will be eligible for sale thereafter. In
addition to the foregoing, as of October 31, 1997, there were outstanding under
the Plan and its predecessor plan, options to purchase an aggregate of 2,257,113
shares of Common Stock. The shares underlying such options will be eligible for
sale upon expiration of the lock-up provisions contained in the Plan and its
predecessor plan (the "Plan Stand-off Agreements") beginning 180 days after the
date of this Prospectus, subject in certain cases to such shares underlying
outstanding options becoming eligible for sale more than 180 days after the date
of this Prospectus as such options vest. The Company has agreed not to release
shares from the lock-up provisions of the Plan Stand-Off Agreements without the
prior written consent of BancAmerica Robertson Stephens. In addition, the
    
 
                                       14
<PAGE>
   
Company intends to register, following this offering, approximately 3,564,984
shares of Common Stock subject to outstanding options or reserved for issuance
under the Company's stock and option plans. Further, certain stockholders
holding approximately 10,438,924 shares of Common Stock (assuming the exercise
of warrants to purchase 30,000 shares of Common Stock held by holders of
registration rights) are entitled to demand registration of their shares of
Common Stock. By exercising their demand registration rights, such stockholders
could cause a large number of securities to be registered and sold in the public
market, which could have an adverse effect on the market price of the Common
Stock. See "Description of Capital Stock" and "Shares Eligible for Future Sale."
    
 
IMMEDIATE AND SUBSTANTIAL DILUTION
 
    The initial public offering price is substantially higher than the book
value per share of the outstanding Common Stock. As a result, investors
purchasing Common Stock in this offering will incur immediate and substantial
dilution. In addition, the Company has issued options to acquire Common Stock at
prices significantly below the initial public offering price. To the extent such
outstanding options are exercised, there will be further dilution. See
"Dilution" and "Shares Eligible for Future Sale."
 
UNCERTAINTY AS TO USE OF PROCEEDS
 
    The primary purposes of this offering are to increase the Company's equity
capital, to create a public market for the Company's Common Stock and to
facilitate future access to public markets. As of the date of this Prospectus,
the Company has no specific plans to use the net proceeds from this offering
other than for the repayment of indebtedness to a bank, general corporate
purposes, including working capital and expansion of the Company's sales,
marketing and customer support infrastructure, and potential future acquisitions
of businesses, products and technologies that complement the Company's business.
Accordingly, the Company's management will retain broad discretion as to the
allocation of a substantial portion of the net proceeds from this offering.
Pending any such uses, the Company plans to invest the net proceeds in
investment-grade, interest-bearing securities. See "Use of Proceeds."
 
                                       15
<PAGE>
                                USE OF PROCEEDS
 
    The net proceeds to the Company from the sale of the 3,334,000 shares of
Common Stock offered hereby, assuming an initial public offering price of $7.50,
are estimated to be $22.1 million ($25.5 million if the Underwriters'
over-allotment option is exercised in full), after deducting underwriting
discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by the
Company. The primary purposes of this offering are to increase the Company's
equity capital, to create a public market for the Company's Common Stock and to
facilitate future access to public markets. As of the date of this Prospectus,
the Company has no specific plans to use the net proceeds from this offering
other than as set forth below.
 
   
    The Company intends to use a portion of the net proceeds for repayment of
all amounts outstanding under a $2.0 million revolving line of credit expiring
in September 1998. In October 1997, the Company borrowed $1.7 million under this
revolving line of credit, bearing an annual interest rate of 1.75% over the
bank's prime lending rate. The Company also expects to use a portion of the net
proceeds for repayment of a $400,000 term loan, bearing interest at 1.75% over
the bank's prime lending rate, undertaken to finance its capital expenditure
commitments. The Company also expects to use a portion of the net proceeds for
repayment of a subordinated promissory note, the outstanding principal balance
of which at October 31, 1997 was $1.1 million, and which bears interest at the
annual rate of 13.5%.
    
 
   
    The Company expects to use the remainder of the net proceeds for general
corporate purposes (primarily working capital and, to a lesser extent, expansion
of the Company's sales, marketing and customer support infrastructure).
Furthermore, from time to time the Company expects to evaluate the acquisition
of businesses, products and technologies that complement the Company's business,
for which a portion of the net proceeds may be used. Currently, however, the
Company does not have any understandings, commitments or agreements with respect
to any such acquisitions. Pending use of the net proceeds for the above
purposes, the Company plans to invest the net proceeds in short-term,
interest-bearing, investment-grade obligations. See "Management's Discussion and
Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."
    
 
                                DIVIDEND POLICY
 
    The Company has never declared or paid any cash dividends on its Common
Stock and does not expect to do so in the foreseeable future. The Company
anticipates that all future earnings, if any, generated from operations will be
retained by the Company to develop and expand its business. Any future
determination with respect to the payment of dividends will be at the discretion
of the Board of Directors and will depend upon, among other things, the
Company's operating results, financial condition and capital requirements, the
terms of then-existing indebtedness, general business conditions and such other
factors as the Board of Directors deems relevant. In addition, the terms of the
Company's credit facility prohibit the payment of cash dividends without the
lender's consent.
 
                                       16
<PAGE>
                                 CAPITALIZATION
 
   
    The following table sets forth the total capitalization of the Company as of
October 31, 1997, (i) on an actual basis after giving effect to a subsequent
1-for-2 1/2 reverse stock split, (ii) on a pro forma basis to reflect the
conversion of all outstanding shares of Preferred Stock into Common Stock and
the exercise of warrants to purchase 491,599 shares of Common Stock upon the
closing of this offering and (iii) on such pro forma basis as adjusted to
reflect the sale of the shares of Common Stock offered hereby (assuming an
offering price of $7.50 per share) and the application of the net proceeds
therefrom. See "Use of Proceeds." This table should be read in conjunction with
"Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations" and the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto
appearing elsewhere in this Prospectus.
    
 
   
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                      OCTOBER 31, 1997
                                                                            -------------------------------------
                                                                             ACTUAL      PRO FORMA    AS ADJUSTED
                                                                            ---------  -------------  -----------
                                                                                            (IN
                                                                                        THOUSANDS)
<S>                                                                         <C>        <C>            <C>
Long-term debt, less current portion......................................  $   1,135    $   1,135     $     251
Convertible redeemable preferred stock; $0.01 par value; 22,066,396 shares
  authorized, 9,483,334 shares issued and outstanding actual; no shares
  authorized, issued or outstanding pro forma and as adjusted.............     24,410       --            --
Stockholders' equity (deficit):
  Preferred stock: $0.01 par value, no shares authorized, issued or
    outstanding, actual; 5,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or
    outstanding, pro forma and as adjusted................................     --           --            --
  Common stock: $0.01 par value, 60,000,000 shares authorized, 1,680,426
    shares issued and outstanding, actual; 60,000,000 shares authorized,
    11,655,359 shares issued and outstanding, pro forma, and 14,989,359,
    as adjusted (1).......................................................         17          117           150
  Additional paid-in capital..............................................      2,665       26,975        49,042
  Accumulated deficit.....................................................    (26,382)     (26,382)      (26,382)
  Cumulative translation adjustment.......................................         17           17            17
                                                                            ---------  -------------  -----------
  Total stockholders' equity (deficit)....................................    (23,683)         727        22,827
                                                                            ---------  -------------  -----------
    Total capitalization..................................................  $   1,862    $   1,862     $  23,078
                                                                            ---------  -------------  -----------
                                                                            ---------  -------------  -----------
</TABLE>
    
 
- ------------------------
 
   
(1) Excludes 2,257,113 shares subject to outstanding options as of October 31,
    1997 at a weighted average exercise price of approximately $1.55 per share,
    and warrants to purchase 143,419 shares of Common Stock at a weighted
    average exercise price of $2.91 per share. Also excludes 1,307,871 shares
    reserved for issuance under the Company's stock plans. See "Management--1997
    Equity Incentive Plan," "--1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan" and Notes 8
    and 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
 
                                       17
<PAGE>
                                    DILUTION
 
    The pro forma net tangible book value of the Company's Common Stock as of
October 31, 1997, giving effect to the conversion of all outstanding shares of
Preferred Stock into Common Stock and the exercise of warrants to purchase
491,599 shares of Common Stock upon the closing of this offering, was $727,000,
or approximately $0.06 per share. "Pro forma net tangible book value" per share
represents the amount of total tangible assets of the Company less total
liabilities, divided by the 11,655,359 shares of Common Stock outstanding.
Dilution per share represents the difference between the amount per share paid
by purchasers of shares of Common Stock in the offering made hereby and the pro
forma net tangible book value per share of Common Stock immediately after
completion of the offering. After giving effect to the sale of 3,334,000 shares
of Common Stock in this offering at an assumed initial public offering price of
$7.50 per share and the application of the estimated net proceeds therefrom, the
pro forma net tangible book value of the Company as of October 31, 1997 would
have been $22,827,000, or $1.52 per share. This represents an immediate increase
in pro forma net tangible book value of $1.46 per share to existing stockholders
and an immediate dilution of $5.98 per share to purchasers of Common Stock in
the offering. Investors participating in this offering will incur immediate,
substantial dilution. This is illustrated in the following table:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
<S>                                                                                                <C>        <C>
Assumed initial public offering price per share..................................................             $    7.50
                                                                                                              ---------
  Pro forma net tangible book value per share as of October 31, 1997.............................  $    0.06
  Increase per share attributable to new investors...............................................       1.46
                                                                                                   ---------
Adjusted pro forma net tangible book value per share as of October 31, 1997......................                  1.52
                                                                                                              ---------
Dilution per share to new investors..............................................................             $    5.98
                                                                                                              ---------
                                                                                                              ---------
</TABLE>
 
    The following table summarizes, on a pro forma basis as of October 31, 1997,
the difference between the number of shares of Common Stock purchased from the
Company, the total consideration paid and the average price per share paid by
existing stockholders and by the new investors before deducting the estimated
underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable
by the Company at the assumed initial offering price of $7.50 per share.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                         SHARES PURCHASED          TOTAL CONSIDERATION
                                                     -------------------------  --------------------------   AVERAGE PRICE
                                                        NUMBER       PERCENT       AMOUNT        PERCENT       PER SHARE
                                                     ------------  -----------  -------------  -----------  ---------------
<S>                                                  <C>           <C>          <C>            <C>          <C>
Existing stockholders..............................    11,655,359        77.8%  $  26,328,134        51.3%     $    2.26
New stockholders(1)................................     3,334,000        22.2      25,005,000        48.7           7.50
                                                     ------------       -----   -------------       -----
  Totals...........................................    14,989,359       100.0%  $  51,333,134       100.0%
                                                     ------------       -----   -------------       -----
                                                     ------------       -----   -------------       -----
</TABLE>
 
- ------------------------
 
   
    (1) Excludes 2,257,113 shares subject to outstanding options as of October
31, 1997, at a weighted average exercise price of approximately $1.55 per share
and warrants to purchase 143,419 shares of common stock at a weighted average
exercise price of $2.91 per share. Also excludes 1,307,871 shares reserved for
issuance under the Company's stock plans. To the extent outstanding options are
exercised, there will be further dilution to new investors. See
"Management--1997 Equity Incentive Plan," "--1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan"
and Notes 8 and 9 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
    
 
                                       18
<PAGE>
                      SELECTED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL DATA
 
    The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in
conjunction with the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto and
with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations," which are included elsewhere in this Prospectus. Fiscal 1993 is the
Company's first fiscal year subsequent to its inception and is not a full fiscal
year. The consolidated statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended
January 31, 1993 and 1994 and the consolidated balance sheet data at January 31,
1993, 1994 and 1995 are derived from unaudited consolidated financial statements
not included herein and in the opinion of the Company, include all adjustments,
consisting solely of normal recurring accruals, which are necessary to present
fairly the data for such periods and as of such dates. The consolidated
statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended January 31, 1995, 1996
and 1997 and for the nine months ended October 31, 1997, and the consolidated
balance sheet data at January 31, 1996 and 1997 and October 31, 1997 are derived
from the audited Consolidated Financial Statements included elsewhere in this
Prospectus. The consolidated statement of operations data for the nine months
ended October 31, 1996 are derived from unaudited consolidated financial
statements included elsewhere in this Prospectus and in the opinion of the
Company, include all adjustments, consisting solely of normal recurring
accruals, which are necessary to present fairly the data for such period and as
of such date. The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of
results to be expected for the year.
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                                                NINE
                                                                                                               MONTHS
                                                                                                                ENDED
                                               PERIOD FROM APRIL              FISCAL YEAR ENDED                OCTOBER
                                                   14, 1992                      JANUARY 31,                     31,
                                                (INCEPTION) TO    ------------------------------------------  ---------
                                               JANUARY 31, 1993     1994       1995       1996       1997       1996
                                               -----------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
                                                                (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA)
<S>                                            <C>                <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA:
Revenues:
  License....................................      $     213      $   2,704  $   1,826  $   2,686  $   6,491  $   4,786
  Service....................................          1,538          1,644      1,991      2,956      5,255      3,628
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total revenues...........................          1,751          4,348      3,817      5,642     11,746      8,414
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Cost of revenues:
  License....................................             16             49         72        118        132         94
  Service....................................          1,103          2,266      1,636      2,129      3,308      2,263
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total cost of revenues...................          1,119          2,315      1,708      2,247      3,440      2,357
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Gross margin.................................            632          2,033      2,109      3,395      8,306      6,057
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Operating expenses:
  Sales and marketing........................            593          1,431      3,406      3,854     11,350      7,407
  Research and development...................            495          1,158      2,162      2,089      3,189      2,142
  General and administrative.................          1,870            591        853      1,247      2,147      1,488
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total operating expenses.................          2,958          3,180      6,421      7,190     16,686     11,037
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Loss from operations.........................         (2,326)        (1,147)    (4,312)    (3,795)    (8,380)    (4,980)
Other income (expense), net..................            (51)           (54)       (83)         6        (96)       (40)
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Loss before provision for income taxes.......         (2,377)        (1,201)    (4,395)    (3,789)    (8,476)    (5,020)
Provision for income taxes...................              0              0          0          0          0          0
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Net loss.....................................      $  (2,377)     $  (1,201) $  (4,395) $  (3,789) $  (8,476) $  (5,020)
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
                                                     -------      ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
  Pro forma net loss per share(1)............                                                      $   (0.83)
                                                                                                   ---------
                                                                                                   ---------
  Shares used in computing pro forma net loss
    per share(1).............................                                                         10,208
                                                                                                   ---------
                                                                                                   ---------
 
<CAPTION>
 
                                                   1997
                                               -------------
 
<S>                                            <C>
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS DATA:
Revenues:
  License....................................    $   9,087
  Service....................................        8,414
                                               -------------
    Total revenues...........................       17,501
                                               -------------
Cost of revenues:
  License....................................          107
  Service....................................        5,500
                                               -------------
    Total cost of revenues...................        5,607
                                               -------------
Gross margin.................................       11,894
                                               -------------
Operating expenses:
  Sales and marketing........................       12,305
  Research and development...................        3,917
  General and administrative.................        1,539
                                               -------------
    Total operating expenses.................       17,761
                                               -------------
Loss from operations.........................       (5,867)
Other income (expense), net..................          (89)
                                               -------------
Loss before provision for income taxes.......       (5,956)
Provision for income taxes...................            0
                                               -------------
Net loss.....................................    $  (5,956)
                                               -------------
                                               -------------
  Pro forma net loss per share(1)............    $   (0.51)
                                               -------------
                                               -------------
  Shares used in computing pro forma net loss
    per share(1).............................       11,622
                                               -------------
                                               -------------
</TABLE>
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                                               OCTOBER
                                                                        JANUARY 31,                           31, 1997
                                               -------------------------------------------------------------  ---------
                                                     1993           1994       1995       1996       1997      ACTUAL
                                               -----------------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
                                                                            (IN THOUSANDS)
<S>                                            <C>                <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET DATA:
  Working capital (deficit)..................      $  (1,020)     $    (544) $  (2,071) $   1,097  $  (2,102) $    (615)
  Total assets...............................            980          1,839      1,599      4,321      5,918     12,965
  Total liabilities..........................          2,167          2,256      3,428      2,791      7,823     12,238
  Convertible redeemable preferred stock.....         --              2,337      5,337     12,487     17,410     24,410
  Stockholders' equity (deficit).............         (1,193)        (2,755)    (7,165)   (10,957)   (19,315)   (23,683)
 
<CAPTION>
 
                                               PRO FORMA(2)
                                               -------------
 
<S>                                            <C>
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET DATA:
  Working capital (deficit)..................    $    (615)
  Total assets...............................       12,965
  Total liabilities..........................       12,238
  Convertible redeemable preferred stock.....       --
  Stockholders' equity (deficit).............          727
</TABLE>
 
- --------------------
(1)  Pro forma net loss reflects the conversion of all outstanding Preferred
    Stock into Common Stock and the exercise of warrants to purchase 491,599
    shares of Common Stock upon completion of the offering. See Note 2 of Notes
    to Consolidated Financial Statements for an explanation of the method used
    to determine the number of shares used in computing pro forma net loss per
    share.
 
(2)  Reflects the assumed conversion of outstanding Preferred Stock into Common
    Stock and the exercise of warrants to purchase 491,599 shares of Common
    Stock upon completion of the offering.
 
                                       19
<PAGE>
                      MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
                OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
 
    The following description of the Company's financial condition and results
of operations should be read in conjunction with the information included
elsewhere in this Prospectus. This description contains certain forward-looking
statements that involve risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results
could differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking
statements as a result of certain of the risk factors set forth below and
elsewhere in this Prospectus.
 
OVERVIEW
 
    Information Advantage Software, Inc. (the "Company") develops, markets and
supports enterprise scalable OLAP software that is designed to allow a large
number of users to access and analyze large amounts of data to make quicker and
more informed business decisions. The Company's server-based solution,
DecisionSuite, provides powerful, robust and flexible analysis processing
capabilities that transform raw data into meaningful information from a wide
range of desktop and Internet platforms. Through the use of an advanced
architecture, the Company designed DecisionSuite to accommodate terabytes of
data and thousands of active users. DecisionSuite enables organizations to push
effective decision making to all levels of users thereby creating an
"intelligent enterprise," one capable of quickly identifying and reacting to
market opportunities. DecisionSuite supports many UNIX operating systems and
employs relational database technology, allowing it to access most popular
databases, data warehouses and data marts.
 
    To date, all of the Company's revenues have been derived from licenses of
DecisionSuite and related services. The Company expects that sales of
DecisionSuite and related services will continue to account for all of the
Company's revenues for the foreseeable future. The Company's license revenues
are derived from one-time licenses for the right to use DecisionSuite in
perpetuity and are determined on a per server, per named user and database size
basis. The Company's service revenues, which have accounted for approximately
one-half of the Company's total revenues for the past three years, include fees
for maintenance, training and consulting services. The Company anticipates that
service revenues will continue to account for a significant portion of the
Company's total revenues.
 
    Revenues derived from software licenses are recognized upon execution of a
license agreement, delivery of the software product and fulfillment of other
delivery requirements. Revenues from software provided for demonstration or
pilot purposes are not recognized until execution of a license agreement and
fulfillment of other delivery requirements. Revenues derived from maintenance
contracts, which are bundled with the initial licenses, and all revenues from
extended maintenance contracts are deferred and recognized ratably over the term
of the maintenance contract. Revenues from maintenance contracts are included in
service revenues. Revenue from training and consulting services are recognized
as the services are performed. The Company's revenue recognition policy is in
compliance with the provisions of the American Institute of Certified Public
Accountants' Statement of Position 91-1, "Software Revenue Recognition."
 
   
    The Company licenses its software through its direct sales force and
increasingly through or in conjunction with solution development partners, sales
affiliates and marketing partners. Revenues from indirect sales involving
strategic partners accounted for approximately 18.1%, 11.5%, 12.7% and 14.5% of
the Company's license revenues for fiscal 1995, 1996, 1997 and the nine months
ended October 31, 1997, respectively. The Company intends to expand its
strategic relationships, thereby increasing the revenues generated from indirect
channels as a percentage of total license revenues. The Company intends to
expand its international operations and has committed, and continues to commit,
significant management time and financial resources to developing direct and
indirect international sales and support channels. The Company has international
sales and support offices in Toronto, Canada; London, England; and Koln, Germany
and to date, most of the Company's international revenues have been derived from
the United Kingdom and Canada. Although the Company's personnel related costs
are higher in Europe than they are in the United States, and the Company's
international operations are subject to economic, fiscal and monetary policies
of foreign governments, to date,
    
 
                                       20
<PAGE>
these factors have not had a material effect on the Company's results of
operations or liquidity. In addition, because all of the Company's sales have
been denominated in U.S. dollars, the Company has been able to mitigate the
impact of foreign exchange rate changes. There can be no assurance that the
Company will be able to continue to denominate foreign sales in U.S. dollars or
that international operations costs and economic, fiscal and monetary policies
of foreign governments will not in the future have a material adverse effect on
the Company's results of operations or liquidity. See "Risk Factors--Expansion
of Indirect Channels," "--Risks Associated with International Sales and
Operations."
 
    Since inception, the Company has made significant strategic investments in
building an infrastructure to support long-term growth. The Company has nearly
tripled its headcount from 75 at January 31, 1995 to 219 at October 31, 1997,
reflecting personnel increases throughout the Company. As a result, although the
Company's revenues have increased in each of the last seven quarters, the
Company has incurred net losses in each quarter since inception, and had an
accumulated deficit of $26.4 million as of October 31, 1997. The Company expects
to incur additional net losses.
 
    The Company's limited operating history makes the prediction of future
operating results difficult and unreliable. In addition, given its limited
operating history and recent rapid growth, historical growth rates in the
Company's revenues should not be considered indicative of future revenue growth
rates or operating results. There can be no assurance that any of the Company's
business strategies will be successful or that the Company will be able to
achieve profitability on a quarterly or annual basis. See "Risk Factors--Limited
Operating History; Lack of Profitability" and "--Fluctuations in Operating
Results."
 
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
 
    The following table sets forth certain statement of operations data as a
percentage of total revenues for the periods indicated:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                  NINE MONTHS ENDED
                                             FISCAL YEAR ENDED JANUARY 31,           OCTOBER 31,
                                          -----------------------------------   ---------------------
                                             1995         1996        1997        1996        1997
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
<S>                                       <C>           <C>         <C>         <C>         <C>
Revenues:
  License...............................         47.8%       47.6%       55.3%       56.9%       51.9%
  Service...............................         52.2        52.4        44.7        43.1        48.1
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
    Total revenues......................        100.0       100.0       100.0       100.0       100.0
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
Cost of revenues:
  License...............................          1.9         2.1         1.1         1.1         0.6
  Service...............................         42.9        37.7        28.2        26.9        31.4
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
    Total cost of revenues..............         44.8        39.8        29.3        28.0        32.0
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
Gross margin............................         55.2        60.2        70.7        72.0        68.0
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
Operating expenses:
  Sales and marketing...................         89.2        68.3        96.6        88.0        70.3
  Research and development..............         56.6        37.0        27.2        25.5        22.4
  General and administrative............         22.4        22.1        18.3        17.7         8.8
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
    Total operating expenses............        168.2       127.4       142.1       131.2       101.5
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
Loss from operations....................       (113.0)      (67.2)      (71.4)      (59.2)      (33.5)
Other income (expense), net.............         (2.2)        0.0        (0.8)       (0.4)       (0.5)
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
Loss before provision for income
  taxes.................................       (115.2)      (67.2)      (72.2)      (59.6)      (34.0)
Provision for income taxes..............          0.0         0.0         0.0         0.0         0.0
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
Net loss................................       (115.2)%     (67.2)%     (72.2)%     (59.6)%     (34.0)%
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
                                          -----------   ---------   ---------   ---------   ---------
</TABLE>
 
                                       21
<PAGE>
    The following table sets forth, for each component of revenues, the gross
margin associated with such component of revenues for the period indicated:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                           NINE MONTHS ENDED
                                                          FISCAL YEAR ENDED JANUARY 31,       OCTOBER 31,
                                                         -------------------------------  --------------------
                                                           1995       1996       1997       1996       1997
                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
<S>                                                      <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>
Gross margin:
  License..............................................       96.1%      95.6%      98.0%      98.0%      98.8%
  Service..............................................       17.8       28.0       37.1       37.6       34.6
</TABLE>
 
REVENUES
 
   
    LICENSE.  License revenues are recognized upon execution of a license
agreement and shipment of the product if no other significant obligations
remain, if payments are due within twelve months and collection of the resulting
receivable is probable. License revenues were $1.8 million, $2.7 million and
$6.5 million in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, representing increases
of 47.1% from fiscal 1995 to fiscal 1996, and 141.7% from fiscal 1996 to fiscal
1997. License revenues were $4.8 million and $9.1 million for the nine months
ended October 31, 1996 and 1997, respectively, representing an increase of
89.8%. The increase in the Company's license revenues in each period was
attributable primarily to greater market acceptance of DecisionSuite which led
to an increase in volume, an increase in the average revenues derived from each
license as the average number of seats per customer has increased, and an
increase in sales headcount. To date, price increases have not had a significant
impact on revenues. The Company does not believe that the historical percentage
growth rates of license revenues will be sustainable or are indicative of future
results.
    
 
    SERVICE.  Service revenues include fees from maintenance contracts, training
and consulting services. Fees for maintenance, training and consulting services
are charged separately from the license of DecisionSuite. Maintenance fees are
for ongoing support and product updates, and are recognized ratably over the
life of the contract. Revenues from training are recognized upon completion of
the related training class. Consulting revenues are recognized when the services
are performed. Service revenues were $2.0 million, $3.0 million and $5.3 million
in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, representing increases of 48.5%
from fiscal 1995 to fiscal 1996, and 77.8% from fiscal 1996 to fiscal 1997.
Service revenues accounted for 52.2%, 52.4% and 44.7% of the Company's total
revenues in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively. Service revenues were $3.6
million and $8.4 million for the nine months ended October 31, 1996 and 1997,
respectively, representing an increase of 131.9%, and accounting for 43.1% and
48.1% of the Company's total revenues for these periods. In particular,
maintenance revenues accounted for 16.3%, 22.6% and 26.6% of service revenues in
fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and 25.6% and 25.4% of service
revenues for the nine months ended October 31, 1996 and 1997, respectively. The
Company anticipates that service revenues will continue to account for a
significant percentage of the Company's total revenues and that revenues from
maintenance will increase as a percentage of service revenues as additional
licenses are sold.
 
   
    INTERNATIONAL REVENUES.  International revenues include all revenues other
than from the United States. International revenues from the Company's direct
sales organizations in Europe and export sales to or through strategic partners
in Europe and other areas outside of the United States accounted for 24.8%,
10.7% and 9.5% of total revenues in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively,
and 13.1% and 7.8% for the nine months ended October 31, 1996 and 1997,
respectively. The high percentage of international sales for fiscal 1995 was the
result of a single large consulting contract in the United Kingdom. The Company
expects that international license and related service revenues will continue to
account for a significant portion of its total revenues in the future.
    
 
COST OF REVENUES
 
    LICENSE.  Cost of license revenues consists primarily of salaries, product
packaging, documentation and production. Cost of license revenues was $72,000,
$118,000 and $132,000 in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, representing
3.9%, 4.4% and 2.0% of license revenues for these years. Cost of license
revenues was
 
                                       22
<PAGE>
$94,000 and $107,000 for the nine months ended October 31, 1996 and 1997,
respectively, representing 2.0% and 1.2% of license revenues for these periods.
 
    SERVICE.  Cost of service revenues consists primarily of personnel-related
and facilities costs incurred in providing customer support, training and
consulting services, as well as third-party costs incurred in providing training
and consulting services. Cost of service revenues was $1.6 million, $2.1 million
and $3.3 million in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, representing
82.2%, 72.0% and 62.9% of service revenues for these years. Cost of service
revenues were $2.3 million and $5.5 million for the nine months ended October
31, 1996 and 1997, respectively, representing 62.4% and 65.4% of service
revenues for these periods. The decrease in cost of service revenues as a
percentage of service revenues in fiscal 1996 and 1997 was primarily due to
improved economies of scale of the technical support center and increased
productivity from a significant number of newly hired training, support and
consulting personnel. The increase in cost of service revenues as a percentage
of the related revenues for the nine months ended October 31, 1997, resulted
from the addition of new training, support and consulting personnel over this
period.
 
OPERATING EXPENSES
 
    SALES AND MARKETING.  Sales and marketing expenses consist primarily of
salaries, commissions and bonuses earned by sales and marketing personnel, field
office expenses, travel and entertainment and promotional expenses. Sales and
marketing expenses were $3.4 million, $3.9 million and $11.4 million in fiscal
1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and were $7.4 million and $12.3 million for
the nine months ended October 31, 1996 and 1997, respectively. The increase in
sales and marketing expenses was predominantly due to the hiring of additional
sales and marketing personnel and, to a lesser extent, the increase in the
number of sales offices and expanded promotional activities. Sales and marketing
expenses represented 89.2%, 68.3% and 96.6% of total revenues for these periods
in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and 88.0% and 70.3% of total
revenues in the nine months ended October 31, 1996 and 1997, respectively. The
changes in sales and marketing expenses as a percentage of total revenues were
primarily due to the timing of hiring additional sales personnel. The Company
expects that sales and marketing expenses will continue to increase in dollar
amounts as the Company continues to hire additional sales and marketing
personnel, establish additional sales offices and increase promotional
activities.
 
    RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT.  Research and development expenses consist
primarily of salaries and benefits of software engineering personnel, payments
to contract programmers and expendable equipment purchases. The Company believes
that a significant level of investment for research and development is required
to remain competitive. Research and development expenses were $2.2 million, $2.1
million and $3.2 million in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and were
$2.1 million and $3.9 million for the nine months ended October 31, 1996 and
1997, respectively. These increases were primarily attributable to additional
hiring of research and development personnel. Research and development expenses
represented 56.6%, 37.0% and 27.2% of total revenues in fiscal 1995, 1996 and
1997, respectively, and 25.5% and 22.4% of total revenues for the nine months
ended October 31, 1996 and 1997, respectively. The Company anticipates that it
will continue to devote substantial resources to research and development and
that these expenses will increase in future periods. Because all costs incurred
in the research and development of software products and enhancements to
existing software products have been expensed as incurred, cost of license
revenues includes no amortization of capitalized software development costs. See
Note 2 of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
 
    GENERAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE.  General and administrative expenses were
$853,000, $1.2 million and $2.1 million in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997,
respectively, and were $1.5 million and $1.5 million for the nine months ended
October 31, 1996 and 1997, respectively. These increases were predominantly due
to increased staffing and, to a lesser extent, associated expenses necessary to
manage and support the Company's increased scale of operations. General and
administrative expenses represented 22.4%, 22.1% and 18.3% of total revenues in
fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and 17.7% and 8.8% of total revenues
in the nine months ended
 
                                       23
<PAGE>
October 31, 1996 and 1997, respectively. The Company believes that its general
and administrative expenses will increase in future periods as a result of an
expansion of the Company's administrative staff to support its growing
operations and as a result of an increase in expenses associated with being a
public company.
 
    OTHER INCOME (EXPENSE), NET.  Other income (expense), net, represents
interest earned by the Company on its cash and short-term investments, offset by
interest expense on long-term debt and capitalized leases. See Notes 4 and 5 of
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
 
    PROVISION FOR INCOME TAXES.  The Company accounts for income taxes in
accordance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 109, "Accounting
for Income Taxes." The Company incurred net losses and consequently paid no
federal or state income taxes in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997. At January 31,
1997, the Company had approximately $16.0 million in federal net operating loss
carryforwards. The federal net operating loss carryforwards will begin to expire
in the year 2007 if not utilized. In addition, the Tax Reform Act of 1986
contains certain provisions that may limit the net operating loss carryforwards
available for use in any given period upon the occurrence of certain events,
including a significant change in ownership interests. Based upon management's
estimates, the proposed initial public offering will not result in a change of
ownership.
 
RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
 
    In February 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement
No. 128, "Earnings Per Share" (SFAS No. 128). SFAS No. 128 applies to entities
with publicly held common stock and is effective for financial statements issued
for periods ending after December 15, 1997. Under SFAS No. 128, the presentation
of primary earnings per share is replaced with a presentation of basic earnings
per share. SFAS No. 128 requires dual presentation of basic and diluted earnings
per share for entities with complex capital structures. Basic earnings per share
includes no dilution and is computed by dividing net income (loss) available to
common stockholders by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding
for the period. Diluted earnings per share reflects the potential dilution of
securities that could share in the earnings of an entity, similar to fully
diluted earnings per share. Management believes the adoption of SFAS No. 128
will not have a material effect on the Company's financial statements.
 
    In June 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement No.
130, "Reporting Comprehensive Income" (SFAS No. 130). SFAS No. 130 is effective
for financial statements for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1997.
This standard defines comprehensive income as the changes in equity of an
enterprise except those resulting from stockholder transactions. All components
of comprehensive income are required to be reported in a new financial
statement. Management believes the adoption of SFAS No. 130 will not have a
material effect on the Company's financial statements.
 
    In June 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board also issued Statement
No. 131, "Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information"
(SFAS No. 131). SFAS No. 131 is effective for financial statements for periods
beginning after December 15, 1997. SFAS No. 131 establishes standards for
disclosures about operating segments, products and services, geographic areas
and major customers. Management believes the adoption of SFAS No. 131 will not
have a material effect on the Company's financial statements.
 
    The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' has approved a new
Statement of Position (SOP), SOP 97-2 which will supersede Statement of Position
91-1, "Software Revenue Recognition." Management has assessed this new statement
and believes that its adoption will not have a material effect on the timing of
the Company's revenue recognition or cause changes to its revenue recognition
policies.
 
                                       24
<PAGE>
QUARTERLY RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
 
    The following tables set forth certain unaudited consolidated statement of
operations data for the seven quarters ended October 31, 1997, as well as such
data expressed as a percentage of the Company's total revenues for the periods
indicated. This data has been derived from unaudited consolidated financial
statements that, in the opinion of management, include all adjustments
(consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) necessary for a fair
presentation of such information when read in conjunction with the Consolidated
Financial Statements and Notes thereto.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                               QUARTER ENDED
                                                ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                             FISCAL YEAR 1997                      FISCAL YEAR 1998
                                                ------------------------------------------  -------------------------------
                                                 APR. 30    JULY 31    OCT. 31    JAN. 31    APR. 30    JULY 31    OCT. 31
                                                  1996       1996       1996       1997       1997       1997       1997
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
                                                         (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL REVENUES)
<S>                                             <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>
Revenues:
  License.....................................  $   1,134  $   1,819  $   1,834  $   1,704  $   2,138  $   2,862  $   4,087
  Service.....................................      1,126      1,083      1,419      1,627      2,207      2,941      3,266
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total revenues............................      2,260      2,902      3,253      3,331      4,345      5,803      7,353
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Cost of revenues:
  License.....................................         24         34         36         38         36         41         30
  Service.....................................        642        735        883      1,048      1,559      1,886      2,055
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total cost of revenues....................        666        769        919      1,086      1,595      1,927      2,085
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Gross margin..................................      1,594      2,133      2,334      2,245      2,750      3,876      5,268
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Operating expenses:
  Sales and marketing.........................      2,225      2,424      3,252      3,449      3,674      4,153      4,478
  Research and development....................        616        651        877      1,045      1,106      1,267      1,544
  General and administrative..................        439        515        581        612        485        550        504
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total operating expenses..................      3,280      3,590      4,710      5,106      5,265      5,970      6,526
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Loss from operations..........................     (1,686)    (1,457)    (2,376)    (2,861)    (2,515)    (2,094)    (1,258)
Other income (expense), net...................         17        (28)       (30)       (55)       (23)       (17)       (49)
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Loss before provision for income taxes........     (1,669)    (1,485)    (2,406)    (2,916)    (2,538)    (2,111)    (1,307)
Provision for income taxes....................          0          0          0          0          0          0          0
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Net loss......................................  $  (1,669) $  (1,485) $  (2,406) $  (2,916) $  (2,538) $  (2,111) $  (1,307)
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
AS A PERCENTAGE OF TOTAL REVENUES:
Revenues:
  License.....................................       50.2%      62.7%      56.4%      51.2%      49.2%      49.3%      55.6%
  Service.....................................       49.8       37.3       43.6       48.8       50.8       50.7       44.4
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total revenues............................      100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0      100.0
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Cost of revenues:
  License.....................................        1.1        1.2        1.1        1.1        0.8        0.7        0.4
  Service.....................................       28.4       25.3       27.2       31.5       35.9       32.5       27.9
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total cost of revenues....................       29.5       26.5       28.3       32.6       36.7       33.2       28.4
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Gross margin..................................       70.5       73.5       71.7       67.4       63.3       66.8       71.6
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Operating expenses:
  Sales and marketing.........................       98.4       83.5       99.9      103.5       84.5       71.6       60.9
  Research and development....................       27.3       22.4       27.0       31.4       25.5       21.8       21.0
  General and administrative..................       19.4       17.8       17.9       18.4       11.2        9.5        6.9
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
    Total operating expenses..................      145.1      123.7      144.8      153.3      121.1      102.9       88.8
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Loss from operations..........................      (74.6)     (50.2)     (73.1)     (85.9)     (57.9)     (36.1)     (17.1)
Other income (expense), net...................        0.8       (1.0)      (0.9)      (1.7)       0.5        0.3        0.7
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Loss before provision for income taxes........      (73.8)     (51.2)     (74.0)     (87.6)     (58.4)     (36.4)     (17.8)
Provision for income taxes....................        0.0        0.0        0.0        0.0        0.0        0.0        0.0
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
Net loss......................................      (73.8)%     (51.2)%     (74.0)%     (87.6)%     (58.4)%     (36.4)%     (17.8)%
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
                                                ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
</TABLE>
 
                                       25
<PAGE>
    The Company's limited operating history and the susceptibility of the
Company's operating results to significant fluctuations makes the prediction of
future operating results unreliable and the Company believes that
period-to-period comparisons of its operating results are not necessarily
meaningful and should not be relied upon as indications of future performance.
The Company's operating results in any given period can vary due to factors such
as demand for the Company's products, the size and timing of significant orders
and their fulfillment, the number, timing and significance of product
enhancements and new product announcements by the Company and its competitors,
changes in pricing policies by the Company or its competitors, customer order
deferrals in anticipation of enhancements or new products offered by the Company
or its competitors, the ability of the Company to develop, introduce and market
new and enhanced versions of its products on a timely basis, changes in the
Company's level of operating expenses, budgeting cycles of its customers,
product life cycles, software defects and other product quality problems, hiring
needs and personnel changes, changes in the Company's sales incentive plans,
changes in the mix of domestic and international revenues, the level of
international expansion, foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations,
performance of indirect channel partners, changes in the mix of indirect
channels through which the Company's products are offered, the impact of
acquisitions of competitors and indirect channel partners, the Company's ability
to control costs and general domestic and international economic and political
conditions. A significant portion of the Company's revenues have been, and the
Company believes will continue to be, derived from a limited number of orders
placed by large organizations, and the timing of such orders and their
fulfillment has caused and are expected to continue to cause material
fluctuations in the Company's operating results, particularly on a quarterly
basis. A significant portion of the Company's revenues are derived from existing
customers. To the extent that such customers no longer require new licenses, or
ongoing support, the Company's business, financial condition and operating
results could be materially adversely affected. The Company has, from time to
time, often recognized a substantial portion of its revenues in the last month
of a quarter, with these revenues frequently concentrated in the last two weeks
of a quarter. In addition, the Company does not operate with a large order
backlog because its software products are typically shipped shortly after orders
are received, which makes product revenues in any quarter substantially
dependent on orders booked and shipped throughout that quarter. Accordingly,
revenues for any future quarter are difficult to predict. The Company also
expects that as international sales increase as a percentage of sales it will
experience weaker demand for DecisionSuite during the summer months. Product
revenues are also difficult to forecast because the market for OLAP applications
is rapidly evolving, and the Company's sales cycle, which may last from six to
twelve months or more, varies substantially from customer to customer. The
Company's expense level and plans for expansion, including its plan to
significantly increase its research and development efforts, are based in
significant part on the Company's expectations of future revenues and therefore
are relatively fixed in the short term. If revenue levels are below
expectations, operating results are likely to be adversely and
disproportionately affected because only a small portion of the Company's
expenses vary with its revenues. In addition, the Company expects that sales
derived through indirect channels, which are more difficult to forecast and
generally have lower gross margins than direct sales, will increase as a
percentage of total revenues. See "Risk Factors--Management of Growth; Need for
Additional Qualified Personnel" and "--Expansion of Indirect Channels."
 
   
    Based upon all of the factors described above, the Company believes that its
quarterly revenues, expenses and operating results are likely to vary
significantly in the future, that period-to-period comparisons of its operating
results are not necessarily meaningful and that, in any event, such comparisons
should not be relied upon as indications of future performance. Accordingly, the
Company has limited ability to forecast future revenues, and it is likely that
in some future quarter the Company's operating results will be below the
expectations of public market analysts and investors. In the event that
operating results are below expectations, or in the event that adverse
conditions prevail or are perceived to prevail generally or with respect to the
Company's business, the price of the Common Stock would be materially adversely
affected.
    
 
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
 
    The Company has funded its operations to date primarily through the private
sale of equity securities and the use of long-term debt and equipment leases.
The Company has a revolving credit line of $2.0 million and a
 
                                       26
<PAGE>
$400,000 equipment note with a bank and a $1.1 million term loan with an
equipment lessor. The Company's sources of liquidity at October 31, 1997
consisted principally of cash and cash equivalents of $3.0 million. See Note 4
of Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.
 
    Net cash used in operating activities was $3.2 million, $3.6 million and
$6.4 million in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and $6.3 million for
the nine months ended October 31, 1997. For such periods, net cash used in
operating activities resulted primarily from net operating losses and increases
in prepaid expenses and accounts receivable associated with increases in
revenues, partially offset by increases in accounts payable, accrued liabilities
and deferred revenues.
 
    Since 1995 the Company's investing activities have consisted primarily of
purchases of property and equipment. Capital expenditures, including those under
capital leases, totaled $355,000, $335,000 and $1,078,000 in fiscal 1995, 1996
and 1997, respectively, and $1.2 million for the nine months ended October 31,
1997. Capital leases are used to acquire property and equipment, primarily
computer hardware, for the Company's growing employee base. The Company expects
that its capital expenditures will continue to increase as the Company's
employee base grows. At October 31, 1997, the Company had material commitments
for capital expenditures totaling approximately $400,000, which the Company
financed initially through a bank term loan for a period not to exceed three
years. If amounts are outstanding under such term loan as of the date of
completion of this offering, the Company intends to repay such bank loan from
the proceeds of the offering.
 
    The Company's financing activities provided $3.4 million, $5.4 million and
$6.0 million in fiscal 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively, and $9.3 million for
the nine months ended October 31, 1997. In fiscal 1995, the cash provided by
financing activities was comprised primarily of $2.5 million received in
connection with the sale of Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock and
$1.0 million in proceeds from notes payable to certain stockholders, offset
partially by principal payments on long-term debt. In fiscal 1996, the cash
provided by financing activities was comprised primarily of $5.1 million
received in connection with the sale of Series B convertible redeemable
preferred stock and $1.0 million in proceeds from notes issued to shareholders,
offset by repayments of notes payable to a bank of $435,000 and principal
payments on long-term debt of $217,000. In fiscal 1997, the cash provided by
financing activities was comprised primarily of $4.9 million received in
connection with the sale of Series C convertible redeemable preferred stock and
$1.5 million in proceeds from long-term debt, offset by principal payments on
long-term debt of $502,000. For the nine month period ended October 31, 1997,
cash provided by financing activities consisted primarily of $6.9 million
received in connection with the sale of Series D convertible redeemable
preferred stock and $2.1 million in borrowings under line of credit and notes
payable, offset by principal payments on long-term debt of $666,000.
 
    Total borrowings under the revolving credit line are limited generally to
the lesser of 70% of eligible accounts receivable or $2.0 million. In October
1997, the Company borrowed $1.7 million under the revolving line, bearing an
annual interest rate of 1.75% over the bank's prime lending rate. The Company
expects to use proceeds from this offering to repay such indebtedness. The
Company's line of credit contains certain financial covenants and restrictions
as to various matters including the Company's ability to pay cash dividends and
effect mergers or acquisitions without the bank's prior approval. The Company is
currently in compliance with such financial covenants and restrictions. The
Company has granted a first priority security interest in substantially all of
its assets as security for its obligations under its credit line which expires
in September 1998.
 
   
    In addition to its $2.0 million bank line of credit, the Company entered
into a $3.0 million revolving line of credit with certain holders of its
Preferred Stock in December 1997 pursuant to the terms of a Loan and Warrant
Purchase Agreement (the "Loan Agreement"). The Loan Agreement will terminate
upon the earlier of (i) ten days following the closing of this offering or (ii)
May 20, 1998. To date, the Company has not drawn down any funds under the Loan
Agreement. For a further description of the terms of the Loan Agreement, see
"Certain Transactions--Transactions with Directors and Officers and 5%
Stockholders."
    
 
    On April 12, 1996, the Company issued a subordinated promissory note in
favor of Comdisco, Inc. in the principal amount of $1,500,000, which bears
interest at an annual rate of 13.5% (the "Note"). The Note is due in varying
monthly installments through April 1999. As of October 31, 1997, the outstanding
indebtedness under
 
                                       27
<PAGE>
the Note was $1,065,000. The Company expects to repay amounts outstanding under
the Note with proceeds from this offering. See Note 5 of Notes to Consolidated
Financial Statements.
 
    The Company believes that the net proceeds from the offering and its
existing cash and cash equivalents will be adequate to meet its cash needs for
at least the next 12 months. Thereafter, the Company may require additional
funds to support its working capital requirements or for other purposes and may
seek to raise such additional funds through public or private equity financing
or from other sources. There can be no assurance that additional financing will
be available at all or that, if available, such financing will be obtainable on
terms favorable to the Company or will not be dilutive.
 
                                       28
<PAGE>
                                    BUSINESS
 
    The following description of the Company's business should be read in
conjunction with the information included elsewhere in this Prospectus. This
description contains certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and
uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ significantly from the
results discussed in the forward-looking statements as a result of certain of
the factors set forth below and elsewhere in this Prospectus.
 
OVERVIEW
 
    Information Advantage, Inc. (the "Company") develops, markets and supports
enterprise scalable OLAP software that is designed to allow a large number of
users to access and analyze large amounts of data to make quicker and more
informed business decisions. The Company's server-based solution, DecisionSuite,
provides powerful, robust and flexible analysis processing capabilities that
transform raw data into meaningful information from a wide range of desktop and
Internet platforms. Through the use of an advanced architecture, the Company
designed DecisionSuite to accomodate terabytes of data and thousands of active
users. DecisionSuite enables organizations to push effective decision making to
all levels of users thereby creating an "intelligent enterprise," one capable of
quickly identifying and reacting to market opportunities. DecisionSuite supports
many UNIX operating systems and employs relational database technology, allowing
it to access most popular databases, data warehouses and data marts.
 
INDUSTRY BACKGROUND
 
   
    In order to compete effectively in today's global environment, businesses
must quickly identify and respond to changing market conditions and are,
therefore, dependent upon their ability to rapidly collect, organize, access and
analyze large amounts of data. Organizations are now collecting not only
internal financial and operational data, but are also collecting large amounts
of historical data on their customers, suppliers and other external sources. At
the same time, to more quickly react to changing business conditions, many
organizations have been flattening their organizational structures and
empowering employees at all levels to make decisions. The desire to distribute
decision making throughout all levels of an organization has created a need by
more people to access the vast amounts of business data collected each day. In
addition to data access, organizations also face the challenges of performing
complex computational analysis on the collected data, and disseminating
information broadly to employees, customers, suppliers and others.
    
 
    To meet these challenges, organizations have implemented a number of
technology solutions, including data warehouses and data marts, query and
reporting tools and OLAP applications. According to IDC, an independent industry
analyst, the information access segment of the data warehousing market alone is
estimated to be growing from $664 million in 1996 to $1.4 billion in 2000. Data
warehouses and data marts are repositories of summarized historical data often
extracted from disparate departmental or enterprise databases. Data warehouses
and data marts store data in a format optimized for analysis and are frequently
implemented in conjunction with query and reporting tools designed to provide
end users with a means to retrieve data and perform certain pre-defined queries
and simple calculations. This level of analysis, however, is limited (for
example, query and reporting tools generally are not designed to perform
time-series analysis such as calculations of the weekly changes in market share
by region) and these tools often require users to understand the technical
aspects of data storage and data structures. As a result, the use of data query
and reporting tools is often limited to highly trained technical users.
 
    In recent years, OLAP solutions have emerged to provide a means to analyze
complex data along a more intuitive set of business rules and dimensions (for
example, profitability analysis by product, channel, geography, customer or
fiscal period). In addition, by insulating the user from the technical aspects
of data storage and data structures, OLAP solutions enable less technically
sophisticated users within an organization to perform their own analysis.
Typically, OLAP solutions also provide more complex computational capabilities,
including sophisticated time-series analysis, as well as ad hoc, drill-down and
interactive analysis (for example, a
 
                                       29
<PAGE>
marketing manager identifying a market share reduction can drill down to isolate
the problem to a specific product at a specific store).
 
    Today, two primary OLAP architectures exist: desktop OLAP and server-based
OLAP. Desktop OLAP provides a quick, low-cost solution for applications that do
not require complex analytical capabilities and involve small data sets that do
not require frequent updates. Desktop OLAP solutions are designed for a limited
number of active users and are typically used for personal analysis.
Server-based OLAP solutions are better suited for larger data sets and more
complex analysis. Because server-based OLAP does not require the movement of
large amounts of data to the desktop, it provides greater security and reduces
network traffic, thereby accommodating a larger number of active users. One
approach to server-based solutions utilizes proprietary, non-relational,
highly-indexed database technology. This approach is best suited for workgroups
and departments requiring fast access to medium-sized data sets (e.g., tens of
gigabytes of data) but often is not scalable to accommodate a large number of
concurrent users, is not capable of loading, storing or analyzing large amounts
of data (e.g., hundreds of gigabytes to terabytes of data) and cannot
efficiently update data sets on a frequent basis. In addition, these solutions
often require the data to be loaded in a pre-defined structure thereby limiting
the ability to perform ad hoc queries. The second approach to server-based OLAP
employs existing relational database technology. This approach allows access to
larger amounts of data and provides greater flexibility in performing ad hoc
queries than non-relational database technologies.
 
    At the same time OLAP has emerged as a means to collect, organize, access
and analyze large amounts of data, the emergence of client/server and Internet
technologies has enabled organizations to create infrastructures through which
they can disseminate information throughout their enterprise as well as to
external sources. Client/server computing has provided many employees in an
organization with desktop access to critical information resources through
easy-to-use graphical user interfaces. The emergence of Internet technologies
has provided organizations with a less expensive means to reach an even larger
audience in real time and to securely disseminate information not only to
employees, but also to external business affiliates, such as customers,
suppliers and others.
 
    Organizations are seeking ways to extend the benefits of OLAP in order to
empower employees and other users at all levels to make better business
decisions and react faster to market opportunities. To effectively deliver OLAP
capabilities throughout the enterprise, the solution must support large data
sets, thousands of active users, and simple as well as complex analysis.
Moreover, organizations require enterprise OLAP solutions with efficient and
cost effective deployment and maintenance, and compliance with industry
standards, thereby enabling integration with hardware and software from a
variety of vendors.
 
THE INFORMATION ADVANTAGE SOLUTION
 
    Information Advantage develops, markets and supports enterprise scalable
OLAP software that is designed to allow large numbers of users to access and
analyze large data sets. The Company's relational server-based solution,
DecisionSuite, provides powerful, robust and flexible analysis processing
capabilities that transform raw data into meaningful information from a wide
range of desktop and Internet platforms. Through the use of an advanced
architecture, the Company designed DecisionSuite to accommodate terabytes of
data and thousands of active users. DecisionSuite enables organizations to push
effective decision making to all levels of users thereby creating an
"intelligent enterprise," one capable of quickly identifying and reacting to
market opportunities. Key attributes of the DecisionSuite solution include:
 
    LARGE AMOUNTS OF DATA.  DecisionSuite employs relational database technology
which the Company believes is the only available database technology suitable
for supporting large databases (e.g., hundreds of gigabytes to terabytes of
data) or databases that require frequent updates and access to terabytes of
centralized or distributed data. DecisionSuite processes data on the server and
disseminates the derived results to the user.
 
    LARGE NUMBER OF USERS.  The DecisionSuite architecture uses sophisticated
partitioning technology to balance the data processing between the database and
the application server. Application partitioning is designed to maximize the
performance and analytical capabilities as the database grows and the number of
 
                                       30
<PAGE>
concurrent users increases. DecisionSuite's calculation processor is designed to
perform sophisticated business calculations on raw data without overburdening
the relational database with the use of inefficient temporary tables, thereby
increasing the number of users who can concurrently access the data.
 
    POWERFUL ANALYTICAL CAPABILITY.  DecisionSuite includes a powerful C++ OLAP
calculation processor that provides comprehensive multidimensional, yet
intuitive, analysis capabilities using advanced formula-based business rules. By
avoiding an overreliance on structured query language ("SQL") for business
calculations, DecisionSuite is designed to provide powerful analytical
capabilities in a scalable architecture. DecisionSuite allows users to join data
from multiple distributed relational databases and create agents that
automatically inform them of changes in market data or from user-defined norms.
 
    MASS DEPLOYMENT FOR THE INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISE.  The Company provides for
efficient and cost-effective deployment and maintenance of DecisionSuite by
using a thin-client architecture where minimal application code is deployed to,
and maintained on, the user's desktop. As a result, organizations can more
effectively deploy and support DecisionSuite over thousands of networked users.
 
    OPEN ARCHITECTURE.  DecisionSuite was designed to integrate with most
popular tools, databases and platforms provided by other vendors. DecisionSuite
runs on the following server operating systems: HP-UX, Sun Solaris, IBM AIX, NCR
SVR4, SGI IRIX, Sequent DYNIX/ptx and Unisys SVR4; and accesses the following
relational database platforms: Oracle, Red Brick Warehouse, HP--Intelligent
Warehouse, IBM DB2 6000, IBM DB2 Parallel Edition, Informix, NCR Teradata DBS,
Sybase, Sybase IQ and Tandem Non-Stop SQL. As a result, organizations
implementing DecisionSuite can leverage their often significant investment in
existing operating systems and database technologies.
 
    To complement its advanced product offerings, the Company has developed a
highly trained customer support staff with technical competencies in a variety
of areas, including UNIX operating systems, database management, distributed
computing and multidimensional analysis. The Company believes that to enable its
customers to effectively develop and deploy OLAP applications, it must provide
training and consulting services in these and other areas. Accordingly, the
Company has established an extensive customer services group consisting of
technical support, education, implementation, prototyping workshops and other
advanced services (including customized enhancements, content development and
performance assessment).
 
STRATEGY
 
    The Company's strategy is to establish Information Advantage as the leading
provider of enterprise scalable OLAP software solutions. Key elements of the
Company's strategy include:
 
    EXTEND TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP.  Since inception, the Company has focused its
research and development efforts on developing core technologies that address
the requirements of data warehousing applications involving large amounts of
data, large numbers of concurrent users, complex analysis and heterogeneous
environments. The Company's solution integrates a number of technologies,
including sophisticated agent technology, flexible information sharing and
dissemination, multidimensional analysis, multi-level security and an
architecture that permits a large number of concurrent users. The Company has
leveraged these technologies to develop DecisionSuite, a proven enterprise
scalable OLAP software solution for the intelligent enterprise. DecisionSuite is
designed to access and analyze terabytes of data. Of the Company's customers,
three are in production, and five are currently building, terabyte-sized
applications. The Company intends to extend its technology leadership by
continuing to devote significant resources to research and development efforts,
and by forming strategic relationships that will enable the Company to further
enhance DecisionSuite's functionality and performance.
 
    EXPAND VERTICAL MARKET FOCUS.  The Company targets industries that routinely
collect, organize, access and analyze large amounts of business-critical data.
These industries include retail, consumer packaged goods, financial services,
insurance, telecommunications and the healthcare industries. The Company has
developed significant vertical market expertise through the deployment of
software applications for its customers in these
 
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industries. The Company believes that by focusing on the needs of these specific
industries and by continuing to recruit solution development partners in these
industries, it can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of its sales and
marketing efforts in these vertical markets. The Company intends to continue
leveraging its experience to address the specific needs of organizations in
these industries and to expand to other targeted industries.
 
    EXPAND GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION.  The Company sells its products primarily
through direct sales. The Company also uses strategic partners to sell its
products in targeted markets. The Company has direct sales offices in twelve
states, Canada, the United Kingdom and Germany, and has established strategic
relationships in South Africa, Netherlands and Japan. The Company is presently
localizing DecisionSuite for the French and German markets. The Company intends
to expand its direct sales and pre-sales support organizations and to develop
additional strategic relationships both in its existing markets and in other
locations worldwide. To facilitate its international expansion, the Company
anticipates localizing DecisionSuite for additional foreign markets in the
future.
 
    EXPAND STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIPS.  The Company's strategy is to supplement its
direct sales organization with strategic relationships, including solution
development partners, sales affiliates and marketing partners. The Company's
solution development partners, such as DynaMark, VIPS and IBM, have developed
industry specific software applications in which DecisionSuite is embedded. The
Company sells its products directly to solution development partners who
integrate and sell solutions to customers. The Company also has relationships
with sales affiliates, such as Cambridge Technology Group, EDS, Ernst & Young
and KPMG, who help identify and qualify sales prospects, work closely with the
Company during the sales and implementation cycles and provide after-market
support. In addition, the Company has strategic relationships with marketing
partners, such as HP, Red Brick, Sun, SPSS and Brio, who provide complementary
marketing programs designed to promote product awareness for DecisionSuite.
These relationships provide additional sales and marketing channels, thereby
enhancing the Company's position as the leading provider of enterprise scalable
OLAP software solutions. The Company's objective is to increase license revenues
from strategic relationships as a percentage of total license revenues, by
enhancing its current strategic relationships and adding additional strategic
partners.
 
    FOCUS ON SUCCESSFUL CUSTOMER IMPLEMENTATION.  The Company's strategy is to
deliver technology and services that enable its customers to quickly and cost
effectively implement and maintain applications for the intelligent enterprise.
The Company's success is dependent upon its customers' successful
implementations of its products. The Company believes that its comprehensive
consulting, implementation, support and training services enable customers to
successfully implement DecisionSuite and contribute to customer satisfaction,
strong customer references and long-term relationships. The Company offers
worldwide training, consulting and support services for its customers directly
through its customer services group and indirectly through its solution
development partners and sales affiliates. In addition to its advanced training
and consulting services, the Company provides its customers with an extensive
array of ongoing support services, including software updates, documentation
updates, telephone support and product maintenance. A significant portion of the
Company's revenues each period is derived from upgrades and services provided to
its installed customer base. The Company intends to maintain its focus on
customer success and to continue to invest in support services designed to
ensure such success.
 
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<PAGE>
CUSTOMERS AND APPLICATIONS
 
   
    The following is a list of the Company's customers who have licensed
DecisionSuite, or entered into or renewed maintenance agreements, in the nine
months ended October 31, 1997.
    
 
RETAIL
Ahold USA, Inc.
Dayton Hudson Corporation
DFS Group, Ltd.
Dial Corporation
Fabri-Center of America, Inc.
Fingerhut Corporation
Gap Inc.
Longs Drug Stores California, Inc
National Grocers Co., Limited
Neiman-Marcus
Proffitt's Inc.
Quill Corporation
J. Sainsbury PLC (UK)
Sears Canada, Inc. (Canada)
Sears Roebuck, & Co.
Shopper's Drug Mart
The Southland Corp.
The Stop & Shop Supermarket Company
Superdrug Stores, PLC (UK)
SuperValu
Tandy Corporation
Dayton Hudson Corporation, Target
  Stores Division
Tupperware Corporation
Tyson Foods, Inc.
The Warehouse Ltd.
Wearguard Corporation
 
PACKAGED GOODS
Birds Eye Walls, Inc. (U.K.)
Brunswick Corporation
ConAgra Frozen Foods
Dominick's Fine Foods
Land O'Lakes, Inc.
Nabisco, Inc.
The Quaker Oats Company
Sara Lee Corporation/Sara Lee Meats
Van Den Bergh Foods (U.K.)
FINANCIAL SERVICES
Banc One Services Corporation
DynaMark, Inc.
Fidelity Investments
Green Tree Financial Corporation
Honor Technologies, Inc.
MasterCard International Incorporated
NOVUS Services, Inc.
Strong Capital Management, Inc.
T. Rowe Price Investment
  Technologies, Inc.
HEALTH CARE
Fairview Health Systems
MCC Behavioral Care
Owen Healthcare, Inc.
TheraTx, Inc.
United HealthCare Corporation
VIPS (a division of First Data Corp.)
INSURANCE
Cigna-Intercorp, Inc.
Medical Service Bureau of Idaho/Blue Shield of
  Idaho
Liberty Health
Northland Insurance Company
The Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company
The Prudential Insurance Company of America
The St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company
TECHNOLOGY/TELECOMMUNICATIONS
60 DEG. Communications Company
Aerial Communications, Inc.
APAC Teleservices, Inc.
CCC Information Services, Inc.
Pacific Bell Communications
Pacific Bell Video Services
PrimeStar Partners, LP
Silicon Graphics Inc.
GOVERNMENT
Inland Revenue (UK)
State of Washington Department of
  Social and Health Services
Utah Courts
United States Customs Service
University of California, Berkeley
MANUFACTURING
Amgen, Inc.
The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company
Mattel, Inc.
Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company
Polaroid Corporation
Rockwell International Corporation
Snap-On Tools Company
OTHER
Acxiom Corporation
The Automobile Association (UK)
Cargill, Inc.
Dana Computer Corporation
Electronic Data Systems Corporation
Excel Corporation
Federal Express Corporation
IBM Consumer Driven Solutions
KPMG Peat Marwick, LLP
Northwest Airlines, Inc.
NTT Data (Japan)
Oshawa Holdings Limited (Canada)
Perseco
The Reader's Digest Association, Inc.
Regie Media Belge S.A. (Netherlands)
 
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<PAGE>
    DecisionSuite can be used across a range of industries and is typically used
in three types of applications: (a) customer analysis, including applications
for analyzing customer buying patterns, database marketing and campaign
management; (b) product analysis, including sales analysis, inventory management
and promotion management; and (c) operational analysis, including financial
analysis, activity-based costing, forecasting and budgeting. The following
illustrates the variety of ways customers have deployed DecisionSuite:
 
    FINANCIAL SERVICES:  An international credit card company sought to
differentiate itself from its competitors by offering its 22,000 member
financial institutions the ability to access and analyze credit card transaction
activity and trends online. The goal was to provide member financial
institutions with customer usage data to facilitate and evaluate target
marketing campaigns. This customer's Oracle database contains approximately 1.6
terabytes of data and uses NCR servers. Because of the number of potential
users, the size of the data warehouse and the fact that over 11 million
transactions are added to the database daily, scalability was paramount.
DecisionSuite was selected to provide the OLAP engine necessary to build this
application. The Company believes that DecisionSuite was chosen because of the
expertise of its support personnel and the proven scalability, security and ease
of use of the product for the end-user. The first application of DecisionSuite
was available for deployment to members within six months of the date
DecisionSuite was selected and now allows the customer's clients to track usage
patterns and focus their efforts accordingly.
 
    INSURANCE:  A provider of auto insurance claim software, data and services
sought to offer over 350 auto insurance companies the ability to access and
analyze insurance claim data via the Web as an extranet. This customer uses a
Red Brick database and a Sun server. The Company believes that DecisionSuite was
selected primarily for its Web and agent capabilities and its ability to
efficiently manage large amounts of data at a granular level. DecisionSuite
allows the customer's sales associates to analyze the claims data for potential
clients via the Web as a tool in the sales process. Upon complete
implementation, this application will also allow auto insurance companies to
access and analyze the customer's nationwide insurance claim data, including
repair cycle times and amounts paid for vehicle parts, and to compare their
claims resolution performance against industry averages and historical trends.
 
    RETAIL:  A multi-billion dollar retailer of electronics with over 6,800
retail stores nationwide sought to deliver online analysis of its consumer and
product data throughout the organization. The customer's warehouse includes
consumer and census data, as well as behavioral and point-of-sale information
from its retail stores. The consumer database alone includes profiles of over
150 million consumers, making the customer's database one of the most
comprehensive marketing databases in the world. This customer uses a Red Brick
database and an HP server. The Company believes that DecisionSuite was selected
for its complex analytical capabilities, its Web accessibility and its ability
to handle terabytes of data. DecisionSuite provides online analysis of the
databases and allows the customer's headquarters to analyze the retail stores'
performance, improve inventory controls and target promotional mailings. In
addition, this customer plans to make this application available to its retail
store managers using a standard Web browser, thereby enabling these teams to
participate in the decision making process to improve the store's performance.
 
    PACKAGED GOODS:  A leading packaged food company, with more than 200 brands
and 1,000 products in 85 countries, sought to provide better and faster sales
and product information to its sales representatives. Its application required
not only the ability to access multiple, disparate databases (Red Brick and DB2)
that used IBM servers, but it required the ability to deliver both detailed and
summarized key account information to thousands of users. The client selected
DecisionSuite and has currently deployed the system to approximately 2,500 sales
representatives throughout the organization. Using DecisionSuite, the customer's
sales representatives are now able to access and analyze online product sales
by, among other things, location and season. This enables the customer to
anticipate inventory fluctuations, thereby improving inventory controls, and
provides the sales representatives with timely decision making information, such
as which products are likely to sell and when, that often leads to new business
opportunities.
 
                                       34
<PAGE>
PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGY
 
    The Company's DecisionSuite products are comprised of a server capable of
handling large data sets or large numbers of concurrent users, several desktop
products designed to deliver information to variously skilled end users over
client/server and Internet architectures, and several systems management,
connectivity and database driver modules. The Company also offers an advanced
tool kit for the rapid assembly of custom OLAP applications. The Company's
products are available on most popular UNIX platforms, including HP-UX, Sun
Solaris, IBM AIX, NCR SVR4, SGI IRIX, Sequent DYNIX/ptx and Unisys SVR4, and are
able to access the following databases: Oracle, Red Brick Warehouse,
HP--Intelligent Warehouse, IBM DB2 6000, IBM DB2 Parallel Edition, Informix, NCR
Teradata DBS, Sybase, Sybase IQ and Tandem Non-Stop SQL. The Company designed
DecisionSuite's architecture to be well suited for localization in foreign
markets. The Company licenses its DecisionSuite software for a one-time license
fee determined on a per server, per named user, and database size basis.
 
                     THE DECISIONSUITE PRODUCT ARCHITECTURE
 
                               [GRAPHIC]
 
                                       35
<PAGE>
DECISIONSUITE SERVER
 
    The DecisionSuite Server is a multi-user product designed to allow large
numbers of users to access and analyze large data sets. The DecisionSuite Server
delivers enhanced OLAP services including: agent and exception reporting
functions to push personalized information directly to users; security based on
individual, workgroup and enterprise level user privileges; and group or
personal query controls to minimize system performance degradation caused by
either individuals or user groups. DecisionSuite Server augments SQL with an
efficient and sophisticated C++ calculation processor that is scalable to
thousands of active users and terabytes of data. The DecisionSuite Server's
CONCURRENT SESSION MANAGER is designed to add, manage and delete concurrent
processes initiated by requests from multiple users or agents, allowing
customers to scale DecisionSuite across the enterprise. The DecisionSuite
Server's METADATA model centralizes maintenance and isolates users from
technical complexities by mapping database structures and business rules with
intuitive business descriptions, thereby simplifying user interactions with the
system.
 
    DECISIONSUITE DB DRIVERS.  DecisionSuite DB Drivers are designed to provide
organizations with the option of connecting DecisionSuite to target relational
databases with either native drivers or ODBC drivers. Each DB Driver accounts
for the unique SQL syntax and query optimizer of each target database while
allowing organizations to easily switch database vendors' products independently
of deployed DecisionSuite applications. DecisionSuite provides DB Drivers for
Oracle, Red Brick Warehouse, HP-- Intelligent Warehouse, IBM DB2 6000, IBM DB2
Parallel Edition, Informix, NCR Teradata DBS, Sybase, Sybase IQ, and Tandem
Non-Stop SQL.
 
    DISTRIBUTED OLAP ENGINE.  DecisionSuite's OLAP Engine uses distributed
processing technology to maximize user concurrency and analytical functionality.
In particular, the Company's calculation processor performs sophisticated
business analysis on raw data without overburdening the database with use of
inefficient temporary tables. This capability enables intensive application
processing to be off-loaded from the database so that organizations can
effectively scale to large numbers of users. This capability also allows support
of hundreds of business calculations and functions that are not currently
supported in SQL.
 
    ENTERPRISE OLAP SERVICES.  DecisionSuite provides essential services
required for enterprise-scale deployments including:
 
       WORKGROUP SECURITY.  The partitioned, server software design of
       DecisionSuite allows additional levels of security provided by an
       application server account. In this manner, users with similar
       requirements are easily added to the system without risk of improper
       information access. Reports, report components and database views are
       secured at personal, workgroup and enterprise levels.
 
       COLLABORATION.  The Company's use of object technology enables report
       data and logic to be shared among users. Each report contains the data,
       assumptions and processing logic so that users can interactively exchange
       and build on each other's analysis. This technology facilitates live
       information sharing among users of the Company's product.
 
       REPORT CASTING.  The Company's use of report template technology allows
       power users or information technology personnel to efficiently create a
       few report models for thousands of different reports. Each report
       template contains the instructions and parameters required to generate a
       single request. Upon access, the user profile is used to map the
       appropriate parameters into the instruction set at run-time so that each
       user receives a personalized report. This capability enables the
       administrator to build and maintain a relatively small number of
       automatically adapting report templates, rather than tens of thousands of
       user specific reports.
 
       AGENTS.  The Company's server-centric architecture and multi-user,
       multi-tasking server technology allows DecisionSuite users to design
       autonomous intelligent agents, the results of which can be shared by
       multiple users. These agents are created by users and reside on the
       server. The agents also can be
 
                                       36
<PAGE>
       triggered by areas of opportunity or trouble, without affecting desktop
       performance. The results of the agents may be delivered in real time to
       one or more users via e-mail, pager telephone and the Internet so their
       assumptions and results can be explored and challenged, as well as shared
       to reduce the use of system resources for repetitive batch processing.
 
DECISIONSUITE DESKTOPS
 
    DecisionSuite Desktops include an array of products positioned to meet the
varying needs and skill levels of employees in an organization.
 
    WEBOLAP.  WebOLAP is intended for all users seeking OLAP capability over the
Internet. This product provides ad hoc reporting and OLAP capability using only
a browser, a DecisionSuite user name and a password. WebOLAP's Universal Access
functionality allows users direct access to the DecisionSuite Server from search
engines for seamless integration into corporate Web sites. WebOLAP's codeless
desktop architecture enables it to be used from any desktop with a Web browser,
without requiring a plug-in or extension, eliminating installation and reducing
administration costs in large user environments. Complete integration with the
DecisionSuite Server also allows WebOLAP users to seamlessly share secure,
interactive reports, and collaborate with co-workers using any DecisionSuite
Desktop.
 
    NEWSLINE.  NewsLine is intended for active users to deliver and receive live
information, reports, alerts and intelligent agents. Users of this product can
be alerted to the latest opportunities and problems affecting their business by
software agents that monitor, analyze and filter information 24 hours a day,
seven days a week. For example, users have the ability to drill up, down or
across business dimensions anywhere in the data warehouse then pivot and export
results with a spreadsheet hot-link. NewsLine allows experienced users the
ability to securely view and modify all assumptions underlying the analysis,
including calculations and filters. Users may drag and drop calculations and
filters to review the entire data warehouse. NewsLine has robust business
charting capabilities and can be integrated with external applications,
including operational systems, catalogs and powerful GIS mapping systems.
 
    ANALYSIS.  Analysis is intended for power users and provides authoring and
publishing capabilities in addition to all the functionality of NewsLine. This
product allows users to start with a "blank sheet of paper," then point and
click to author and publish filters, calculations, calculation templates,
reports, report templates, distributed intelligent agents, triggers and alerts
as well as navigate throughout the entire data warehouse. Alerts can be directed
and broadcast as "live" interactive reports and as messages via e-mail, pager,
telephone and the Internet. Users are presented information in business terms so
that they can explore gigabytes of information without the technical knowledge
of database structures or SQL.
 
DECISIONSUITE WORKBENCH
 
    The DecisionSuite Workbench allows database and system administrators to
define, manage and support user profiles, security, and group or personal query
controls, as well as to customize and distribute desktop profiles across the
network. Developers can also use DecisionSuite Workbench to create more
sophisticated intelligent agents, custom applications and add-in functionality,
and to integrate DecisionSuite with operational systems. With DecisionSuite's
thin-client architecture, all applications are centrally managed from the
server, thereby reducing cost of ownership and allowing database and systems
administrators to improve DecisionSuite's efficiency.
 
DECISIONSUITE CONNECTIONS
 
    DecisionSuite Connections provide connectivity with complementary OLAP and
productivity tools. To date, the Company has developed DecisionSuite Connections
for Microsoft Excel, Lotus 123 and Brio. These connections provide users of
DecisionSuite Desktops with the ability to automatically download data into
desktop tools. For example, Brio Connection provides users with the ability to
generate a small data cube that is automatically downloaded into Brio's OLAP
desktop, enabling the user to perform interactive analysis, formatting and
charting while disconnected from the network.
 
                                       37
<PAGE>
SALES AND MARKETING
 
SALES
 
    The Company sells its products in North America and the United Kingdom
primarily through its direct sales and services organizations. The Company
employs highly skilled engineers and technically proficient sales persons
capable of serving the sophisticated needs of its customers' information and
business management staffs. The Company has domestic sales or support staff
located in California, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan,
Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Texas, Virginia, and international
offices in Toronto, Canada; London, England; and Koln, Germany.
 
    To date, a majority of the Company's sales have been generated from its
direct sales force. The Company intends to supplement its sales efforts by
implementing and supporting its products through a network of solution
development partners, sales affiliates and marketing partners. The Company's
strategic partners are independent organizations that perform some or all of the
following functions: sales and marketing; systems implementation and
integration; software development and customization; and ongoing consulting,
training, service and technical support.
 
    The Company has an ongoing program to recruit major systems integrators and
to train and support them in identifying sales opportunities and implementing
the Company's products. The Company is working with several of these affiliates
to develop additional applications for targeted markets, such as finance and
banking, insurance, telecommunications and retail. The Company offers such sales
affiliates discounts on products and training, a cooperative marketing program,
and field level assistance from the Company's direct sales force. The Company
currently has such a relationship with Cambridge Technology Group, EDS, Ernst &
Young, and KPMG.
 
    The Company believes that its strategic partners have significant influence
over product choices by customers and that its relationships with these partners
are an essential element in its marketing, sales and implementation efforts.
Through its partner network, the Company is able to obtain leads and provide
customers with trained and knowledgeable software professionals who are
available locally to implement its systems as well as provide ongoing service
and support. Some of the Company's strategic partners customize the Company's
solutions to fit individual business needs and develop industry-specific
software applications that integrate with and extend the functionality of the
Company's products. The Company currently has solution development partnerships
with DynaMark, VIPS and IBM.
 
MARKETING
 
    The Company is focused on building market awareness and acceptance of the
Company and its products as well as on developing strategic partnerships. The
Company has a comprehensive marketing strategy with several key components:
image and awareness building, direct marketing to both prospective and existing
customers, a strong Web presence, broad-scale events with strategic partners and
local marketing with partners. The Company's corporate image strategy includes
trade shows, as well as analyst and press tours. The Company's direct marketing
includes ongoing direct mail efforts to existing and prospective customers. For
prospective customers, the Company also offers seminars to assist them in
selecting enterprise scalable OLAP solutions. Seminars are offered in
conjunction with strategic partners in their local or industry-specific markets.
The Company's Web-based marketing is designed to generate new leads for the
Company. The Company increases product awareness by sponsoring large scale
events and seminars for prospective customers with key industry partners.
Finally, the Company's marketing strategy is designed to take advantage of the
Company's partnership network by including cooperative marketing programs
designed for partners' local markets. The Company's marketing partners include
HP, Red Brick, Sun, SPSS and Brio.
 
    As of October 31, 1997, the Company's sales and marketing organization
consisted of 81 employees compared to 18, 28 and 70 employees at January 31,
1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively.
 
CUSTOMER SUPPORT
 
    The Company believes that providing superior customer service is critical
for customer success. The Company's strategy is to deliver technology and
services that enable its customers to implement OLAP
 
                                       38
<PAGE>
applications quickly. Its focused experience in designing and implementing
decision support applications is a significant factor in enabling the Company to
implement this strategy. The Company intends to continue to invest in
specialized training of its personnel to provide superior customer service. Most
of the Company's customers currently have maintenance agreements that entitle
them to technical support and periodic upgrades. The Company also offers
additional training and consulting services on a fee basis.
 
    MAINTENANCE AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT.  The Company has established a
centralized corporate maintenance and technical service group that is supported
by the consulting and research and development groups. The Company provides
customers with a comprehensive array of services, including software updates,
documentation updates, telephone support, product maintenance and emergency
response. The annual fee for such services is typically 18% of the list price of
the software products licensed and supported.
 
    EDUCATION.  The Company offers a series of business and technical courses to
meet the education and training requirements of all levels of professionals
associated with data warehousing and decision support. These courses are
designed to provide the knowledge, skills and confidence to implement
enterprise-wide decision support and enhance the use of DecisionSuite. The
Company offers several modular courses that can be tailored to specific customer
needs. Education specialists meet with customers to design an education plan to
meet organizational goals. Regularly scheduled courses are offered at the
Company's training facility located in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. End user
customer courses are provided at customers' facilities.
 
    IMPLEMENTATION SERVICES.  The Company offers a wide range of customer
services to support the implementation requirements of the DecisionSuite line of
products and promote customer self-sufficiency. The Company utilizes a
proprietary methodology for implementation support, called DecisionPath.
DecisionPath was developed internally and incorporates the Company's extensive
implementation experience. Because of the varying needs of its customers, the
Company offers modular services in the following areas: business application
design; data warehouse architecture design; DecisionSuite implementation;
end-user content and delivery; and DecisionSuite optimization.
 
    DECISIONCENTER.  The Company offers a series of prototyping workshops in its
DecisionCenter facility. DecisionCenter is a fully equipped prototyping
environment, staffed with knowledgeable business and technical personnel. Each
workshop utilizes the customer's own data, making the prototyping experience as
realistic as possible. The Company believes that a successful implementation of
new technology can be traced to a successful prototype. These prototype systems
use actual company data to assist the business users in identifying the
questions they need to ask but have been unable to visualize. The time and
effort to set up an evaluation environment can be expensive and fraught with
technical infrastructure complexities. The Company provides its customers with
the training benefits of prototyping but shields them from such complexities.
 
    ADVANCED SERVICES.  The advanced services group assists in the initial
development of specific solutions for OLAP applications, including
activity-based costing, forecasting, health care analysis and customer
segmentation. This group often provides consultation in the early stages of
modeling and solution-design, combining their strong, technical OLAP expertise,
their in-depth hands-on experience with APIs, and their proven creativity in
architecture and functionality design. Their solutions address the more complex
needs of enterprise OLAP while also focusing on usability and performance for
the end users. Their extensive experience with the APIs have led to the
development of a series of DecisionSuite extensions. These extensions are
optional programs that offer functionality not otherwise available within the
core DecisionSuite product. Extensions consist of either tools for the system
administrator or for the end user.
 
    As of October 31, 1997, the Company's services organization consisted of 62
employees compared to 23, 26 and 41 employees at January 31, 1995, 1996 and
1997, respectively.
 
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
 
    Research and development has provided the foundation for the Company's
success in the marketplace, and the Company intends to continue to make
substantial investments in research and development and related activities to
maintain and enhance its product lines. The Company believes that its future
success will, in large part, depend on its ability to maintain and improve
current products, and to develop new products that meet emerging decision
support needs. Research is focused in three areas: identifying market needs,
designing
 
                                       39
<PAGE>
applications for these needs and implementing such solutions in a reliable and
easy-to-use fashion. Current development activities are focused on product
enhancements in several key areas: OLAP engine, Windows client delivery systems,
Internet delivery systems, agent technology and forecasting. The development
group infrastructure provides a full suite of documentation, quality assurance,
delivery and support capabilities (in addition to its design and implementation
functions) for the Company's products.
 
    As of October 31, 1997, the Company's research and development organization
consisted of 58 employees compared to 26, 32 and 45 employees at January 31,
1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively. From inception through October 31, 1997 the
Company has spent $13.0 million on research and development. Most of the senior
members of the Company's research and development organization have been
employed by the Company since its inception.
 
COMPETITION
 
    The market in which the Company competes is intensely competitive, highly
fragmented and characterized by rapidly changing technology and evolving
standards. The Company's current and prospective competitors offer a variety of
planning and analysis software solutions and generally fall within three
categories: (i) vendors of desktop OLAP software such as Cognos and Business
Objects; (ii) vendors of multidimensional OLAP software such as Oracle
(Express), Arbor Software, Seagate (Holos) and SAS; and (iii) vendors of
OLAP/relational database software such as MicroStrategy and Platinum Technology
(Prodea). The Company has experienced and expects to continue to experience
increased competition from current and potential competitors, many of whom have
significantly greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than
the Company. Such competitors may be able to respond more quickly to new or
emerging technologies and changes in customer requirements or devote greater
resources to the development, promotion and sales of their products than the
Company. Also, certain current and potential competitors, including companies
such as Microsoft, IBM, Sybase and Informix may have greater name recognition or
more extensive customer bases that could be leveraged. These companies could
integrate competing OLAP/relational database software with other widely accepted
products resulting in a loss of market share for the Company. The Company
expects additional competition as other established and emerging companies enter
into the OLAP software market and new products and technologies are introduced.
Increased competition could result in price reductions, fewer customer orders,
reduced gross margins, longer sales cycles and loss of market share, any of
which would materially adversely affect the Company's business, operating
results and financial condition.
 
   
    Current and potential competitors may make strategic acquisitions or
establish cooperative relationships among themselves or with third parties,
thereby increasing the ability of their products to address the needs of the
Company's prospective customers. The Company's current or future indirect
channel partners may establish cooperative relationships with current or
potential competitors of the Company, thereby limiting the Company's ability to
sell its products through particular distribution channels. Accordingly, it is
possible that new competitors or alliances among current and new competitors may
emerge and rapidly gain significant market share. Such competition could
materially adversely affect the Company's ability to obtain new licenses, and
maintenance and support renewals for existing licenses, on terms favorable to
the Company. Further, competitive pressures may require the Company to reduce
the price of DecisionSuite, which would materially adversely affect the
Company's business, operating results and financial condition. There can be no
assurance that the Company will be able to compete successfully against current
and future competitors, and the failure to do so would have a material adverse
effect upon the Company's business, operating results and financial condition.
    
 
    The Company competes on the basis of certain factors, including data
scalability, user scalability, open architecture, analytical capabilities,
product features, product performance, product quality, time to market, ease of
use, customer support and price. The Company believes it presently competes
favorably with respect to each of these factors. However, the Company's market
is still evolving and there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to
compete successfully against current and future competitors, and the failure to
do so successfully will have a material adverse effect upon the Company's
business, operating results and financial condition.
 
                                       40
<PAGE>
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
 
    The Company relies primarily on a combination of copyright and trademark
laws, trade secrets, confidentiality procedures and contractual provisions to
protect its proprietary technology. For example, the Company licenses its
software pursuant to signed license agreements, which impose certain
restrictions on licensees' ability to utilize the software. In addition, the
Company seeks to avoid disclosure of its trade secrets, including requiring
those persons with access to the Company's proprietary information to execute
confidentiality agreements with the Company and restricting access to the
Company's source code. The Company seeks to protect its software, documentation
and other written materials under trade secret and copyright laws, which afford
only limited protection. Despite the Company's efforts to protect its
proprietary rights, unauthorized parties may attempt to copy aspects of the
Company's products or to obtain and use information that the Company regards as
proprietary. Policing unauthorized use of the Company's products is difficult,
and while the Company is unable to determine the extent to which piracy of its
software products exists, software piracy can be expected to be a persistent
problem. In addition, the laws of many countries do not protect the Company's
proprietary rights to as great an extent as do the laws of the United States.
There can be no assurance that the Company's means of protecting its proprietary
rights will be adequate or that the Company's competitors will not independently
develop similar technology.
 
    To date, the Company has not been notified that the Company's products
infringe the proprietary rights of third parties, but there can be no assurance
that third parties will not claim infringement by the Company with respect to
current or future products. The Company expects that data warehouse and data
mart software product developers will increasingly be subject to infringement
claims as the number of products and competitors in the Company's industry
segment grows and the functionality of products in different industry segments
overlaps. Any such claims, with or without merit, could be time-consuming,
result in costly litigation, cause product shipment delays or require the
Company to enter into royalty or licensing agreements. Such royalty or licensing
agreements, if required, may not be available on terms acceptable to the Company
or at all, which could have a material adverse effect upon the Company's
business, operating results and financial condition.
 
    The Company provides its products to end users under non-exclusive licenses,
which generally are non-transferable and have a perpetual term. The Company
generally licenses its products solely for the customer's internal operations.
The Company also licenses its software on an enterprise-wide basis. The Company
has entered into source code escrow agreements for its products. Generally,
customers are required to obtain separate licenses for the database management
systems they select directly from the RDBMS vendors. Furthermore, customers must
obtain separate licenses for any spreadsheets or other PC tools they use
directly from such other vendors.
 
EMPLOYEES
 
    As of October 31, 1997, the Company had a total of 219 employees, of which
193 were based in the United States, 19 were based in the United Kingdom, 3 were
based in Canada and 4 in Germany. Of the total, 81 were engaged in sales and
marketing, 58 were in research and development, 62 were in services, and 18 were
in finance, administration and operations. The Company's future performance
depends in significant part upon the continued service of its key technical,
sales and senior management personnel, 6 of whom are bound by employment
agreements. None of the Company's employees is represented by a labor union. The
Company has not experienced any work stoppages and considers its relations with
its employees to be good.
 
FACILITIES
 
    The Company's principal administrative, sales, marketing, support, and
research and development facility is located in approximately 36,500 square feet
of space in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. The lease on this office space expires on
June 30, 2002. The Company also leases other domestic sales offices throughout
the United States, as well as international offices in Canada, the United
Kingdom and Germany. The Company believes that suitable additional or
alternative space will be available in the future on commercially reasonable
terms as needed.
 
LITIGATION
 
    The Company is not currently subject to any material legal proceeding.
 
                                       41
<PAGE>
                                   MANAGEMENT
 
BOARD MEMBERS AND EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
 
    The directors and executive officers of the Company are:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
NAME                                      AGE                                     POSITION
- ------------------------------------      ---      ----------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                                   <C>          <C>
Larry J. Ford.......................          56   President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Richard L. Tanler...................          47   Chairman of the Board and Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning
                                                     and Marketing
Donald W. Anderson..................          44   Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Mark Furtney........................          51   Vice President, Engineering
Richard S. Parker...................          41   Vice President, Marketing
Robin L. Pederson...................          38   Vice President, Worldwide Sales
Rory C. (Butch) Terrien.............          37   Senior Vice President, Research and Development
Mary K. Trick.......................          42   Vice President, Customer Services
Fredric R. (Rick) Boswell(1)........          53   Director
Ronald E.F. Codd(2).................          42   Director
Promod Haque(1).....................          49   Director
Donald R. Hollis(1).................          61   Director
Jay H. Wein(2)......................          65   Director
William H. Younger, Jr.(2)..........          47   Director
</TABLE>
 
- --------------
 
(1) Member of the Compensation Committee.
 
(2) Member of the Audit Committee.
 
    LARRY J. FORD has been President, Chief Executive Officer and Director since
May 1995. From August 1991 to November 1994, Mr. Ford served as Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer of Systems Software Associates, a Chicago-based,
enterprise-wide, vertically integrated applications software company
specifically targeting the manufacturing sector. Prior to August 1991, Mr. Ford
held several executive positions at IBM including President of the Latin America
Division, Vice President of Marketing for mid-range computing, and Vice
President of Information and Telecommunications Systems. Mr. Ford serves as a
director of Telular Corporation, where he serves on the Compensation and Audit
Committees. Mr. Ford holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Economics from Claremont
Men's College.
 
    RICHARD L. TANLER has been Chairman of the Board of Directors and Senior
Vice President, Strategic Planning and Marketing since May 1995. Mr. Tanler is a
founder of the Company and served as President and Chief Executive Officer from
June 1992 through May 1995. Prior to this position, Mr. Tanler served as
Director of Services, Business Unit at Metaphor Computer Systems, Inc., a
software company ("Metaphor"). Mr. Tanler holds a B.S. in Business Quantitative
Systems from Arizona State University.
 
    DONALD W. ANDERSON has been Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since
November 1996. From May 1996 to November 1996, Mr. Anderson served as Vice
President, Finance for the School Product Unit of The Learning Company, Inc., an
educational software company that merged with his previous employer, the
Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation ("MECC"). Mr. Anderson served as
Senior Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer of MECC from August
1988 to May 1996 and held various positions at MECC since he joined MECC in
1980, including Vice President, Operations. Mr. Anderson holds a B.A. in
Accounting from Metropolitan State University.
 
    MARK FURTNEY has been Vice President, Engineering since July 1997. From 1988
to July 1997, Dr. Furtney worked for Cray Research, Inc., a supercomputer
supplier, in a variety of positions, including Senior Director of Technology.
Dr. Furtney holds a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Virginia,
an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Clarkson University.
 
                                       42
<PAGE>
    RICHARD S. PARKER has been Vice President of Marketing since January 1994.
He is a founder of the Company and served as Director of Marketing from April
1990 through December 1993. From September 1984 to April 1990, Mr. Parker was
employed with Metaphor in a variety of positions, including Director of Data
Management, Marketing Manager and Manager of Business Development for the
Metaphor Consulting Group. Mr. Parker attended the University of Minnesota,
majoring in Business Administration.
 
    ROBIN L. PEDERSON has been Vice President, Worldwide Sales for the Company
since April 1996. From June 1995 to April 1996, Mr. Pederson was Senior Vice
President, Worldwide Sales, Marketing and Support for Great Plains Software,
Inc., a financial applications software company. From October 1990 to June 1995,
Mr. Pederson worked for Banyan Systems, Inc., a network software provider, in a
variety of positions including Vice President, Americas. Mr. Pederson holds a
B.S. in Business Administration from the University of North Dakota.
 
    RORY C. (BUTCH) TERRIEN has been Senior Vice President, Research and
Development since June 1992. Prior to joining the Company, Mr. Terrien was
employed with Metaphor as the Development Manager for the Metaphor Consulting
Group. Mr. Terrien holds a B.S. in both Mechanical Engineering and Computer
Science from Northwestern University and an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from
the University of Minnesota.
 
    MARY K. TRICK has been Vice President, Customer Services since June 1995.
From November 1992 to July 1995, Ms. Trick was employed by Keane, Inc., a
technical consulting firm, in a variety of positions including Branch Manager
for the Minneapolis Branch. From October 1980 to November 1992, Ms. Trick was
employed by Wang Industries, a hardware and software firm, in a variety of
positions including business consultant, presales, Practice Manager and Services
Director for various regions. Ms. Trick attended the University of Minnesota.
 
    FREDRIC R. (RICK) BOSWELL has been a director of the Company since March
1993. Since April 1989 Dr. Boswell has served as the Executive Vice President of
St. Paul Venture Capital, Inc., a venture capital firm. From September 1985 to
May 1989, Dr. Boswell served as President and Chief Operating Officer of ADC
Telecommunications, Inc., a manufacturer of telecommunications equipment and
systems. Prior to September 1985, Dr. Boswell served as President and Chief
Executive Officer of the E.F. Johnson Company, a manufacturer of components,
equipment and systems for wireless communications. Dr. Boswell has served as a
director of the Telecommunications Industry Association and the Minnesota High
Technology Council and as a member of the Executive Advisory Board of the
National Communications Forum. Dr. Boswell holds a B.S. in electrical
engineering and an M.S. and a Ph.D. in computer engineering from Case Western
Reserve University as well as an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School.
 
    RONALD E.F. CODD has been a director of the Company since August 1997. Mr.
Codd has worked at PeopleSoft, Inc. since 1991, and has served as the Senior
Vice President of Finance and Administration and Chief Financial Officer. From
March 1989 to August 1991, Mr. Codd served as Corporate Controller of MIPS
Computer Systems, Inc. Mr. Codd holds a B.S. in Accounting from the University
of California, Berkeley and an M.M. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of
Management, Northwestern University.
 
    PROMOD HAQUE has been a director of the Company since March 1993. Dr. Haque
joined Norwest Venture Capital Management, Inc., a venture capital firm, in
November 1990 and is currently a General Partner of Norwest Equity Partners V,
L.P. and a General Partner of Norwest Equity Partners IV, L.P. Dr. Haque
currently serves as a director of Optical Sensors, Inc., Prism Solutions, Raster
Graphics, Inc., Connect, Inc., Transaction Systems Architects, Inc. and several
privately held companies. Dr. Haque holds a B.S.E.E. from the University of
Delhi, India, an M.S.E.E. and a Ph.D.E.E. from Northwestern University, and an
M.M. from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management, Northwestern
University.
 
    DONALD R. HOLLIS has been a director of the Company since August 1996. Mr.
Hollis is President of DRH Strategic Consulting, Inc., a consulting firm, where
he has been employed since March 1996. Prior to January 1996, Mr. Hollis served
as an Executive Vice President of First Chicago Corporation/First National
 
                                       43
<PAGE>
Bank of Chicago. Mr. Hollis serves as a director of Deluxe Corporation,
Teltrend, Inc., Open Port Technology and the Cambridge Assessment Center. Mr.
Hollis holds a B.B.A. from Kent State University.
 
    JAY H. WEIN has been a director of the Company since June 1992. Mr. Wein has
worked as an independent investor and business consultant since September 1989.
From June 1992 to May 1995, Mr. Wein served as Chairman of the Board of the
Company. Between July 1974 and August 1989 Mr. Wein served as Managing Partner
of the Minneapolis/St. Paul office at Arthur Andersen & Co. Mr. Wein serves as a
director of Great Hall Investment Funds, Inc. and of several private companies
and non-profit organizations. Mr. Wein holds a B.S.B.A. from the University of
South Dakota.
 
    WILLIAM H. YOUNGER, JR. has been a director of the Company since July 1995.
Since 1992, Mr. Younger has been a general partner of Sutter Hill Ventures, a
California Limited Partnership which is a venture capital management firm. Mr.
Younger currently serves as a director of COR Therapeutics, Inc., Celeritek,
Inc., Oacis Healthcare Systems, Inc. and Forte Software, Inc. Mr. Younger holds
a B.S.E.E. from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from Stanford
University.
 
COMMITTEES
 
    The Audit Committee consists of Messrs. Codd, Wein and Younger. The Audit
Committee makes recommendations to the Board of Directors regarding the
selection of independent accountants, reviews the results and scope of audit and
other services provided by the Company's independent accountants and reviews and
evaluates the Company's audit and control functions.
 
    The Compensation Committee consists of Drs. Boswell and Haque and Mr.
Hollis. The Compensation Committee makes recommendations regarding the Company's
1997 Equity Incentive Plan and makes decisions concerning salaries and incentive
compensation for employees and consultants of the Company.
 
DIRECTOR COMPENSATION
 
    Directors currently do not receive any cash compensation from the Company
for their services as members of the Board of Directors, although members are
reimbursed for certain expenses in connection with attendance at Board of
Directors and Committee meetings. Messrs. Hollis and Wein also serve as
part-time consultants to the Company for which they have been compensated
separately. Non-employer directors will also receive periodic option grants
under the Company's 1997 Equity Incentive Plan. See "Management--1997 Equity
Incentive Plan."
 
                                       44
<PAGE>
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
 
    The following table sets forth information with respect to compensation for
the fiscal year ended January 31, 1997 paid by the Company for services to the
Company by the Company's Chief Executive Officer and the Company's four other
highest-paid executive officers whose total salary and bonus for such fiscal
year exceeded $100,000 (collectively, the "Named Executive Officers"):
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                    SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE
                                                   -------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                               LONG-TERM
                                                                             COMPENSATION
                                                                          -------------------
                                                                                AWARDS
                                                          ANNUAL          -------------------
                                                       COMPENSATION           SECURITIES
                                                   ---------------------      UNDERLYING           ALL OTHER
                                                   SALARY($)   BONUS($)       OPTIONS(#)       COMPENSATION($)(1)
                                                   ----------  ---------  -------------------  -----------------
<S>                                                <C>         <C>        <C>                  <C>
Larry J. Ford ...................................  $  175,000  $  74,100               0           $  25,000
  President and Chief Executive Officer
Richard L. Tanler ...............................     150,000     42,400               0                   0
  Chairman and Senior Vice President, Strategic
  Planning and Marketing
Robin L. Pederson(2) ............................     119,423     56,250         172,000              15,612
  Vice President, Worldwide Sales
Mary K. Trick ...................................     120,000     29,375          38,000                   0
  Vice President, Customer Services
Rory C. (Butch) Terrien .........................     110,000     33,500          28,000                   0
  Senior Vice President, Research and Development
</TABLE>
 
- ------------------------
 
(1) Consists of moving expenses.
 
(2) Mr. Pederson's employment started on April 18, 1996 at an annual base salary
    of $150,000.
 
OPTION GRANTS IN LAST FISCAL YEAR
 
    The following table sets forth each grant of stock options during the fiscal
year ended January 31, 1997 to each of the Named Executive Officers. No stock
appreciation rights were granted during such fiscal year.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                      INDIVIDUAL GRANTS                        POTENTIAL REALIZABLE
                                  ----------------------------------------------------------     VALUE AT ASSUMED
                                    NUMBER OF                                                 ANNUAL RATES OF STOCK
                                   SECURITIES    PERCENT OF TOTAL                             PRICE APPRECIATION FOR
                                   UNDERLYING     OPTIONS GRANTED    EXERCISE                   OPTION TERM($)(4)
                                     OPTIONS      TO EMPLOYEES IN      PRICE     EXPIRATION   ----------------------
NAME                              GRANTED(#)(1)   FISCAL 1997(2)    ($/SHARE)(3)    DATE          5%         10%
- --------------------------------  -------------  -----------------  -----------  -----------  ----------  ----------
<S>                               <C>            <C>                <C>          <C>          <C>         <C>
Larry J. Ford...................            0           --              --           --           --          --
Richard L. Tanler...............            0           --              --           --           --          --
Robin L. Pederson...............      172,000             23.3%      $   1.125      4/19/06   $  121,691  $  308,389
Mary K. Trick...................       12,000              1.6           1.125      7/23/06        8,490      21,516
                                       26,000              3.5           1.125      7/26/06       18,395      46,617
Rory C. (Butch) Terrien.........       28,000              3.8           1.125      8/15/06       19,810      50,203
</TABLE>
 
- ------------------------
 
   
(1) Generally, 20% of these options vest on the first anniversary of the date of
    grant; an additional 20% of these options vest on October 31, 1997; and an
    additional 20% of these options vest on each anniversary of the date of
    grant occurring in 1998, 2000 and 2001. These options have a ten year term,
    subject to earlier termination in the event of the optionee's cessation of
    service with the Company.
    
 
                                       45
<PAGE>
(2) Based on an aggregate of 736,120 shares subject to options granted to
    employees of the Company under the 1992 Stock Option Plan.
 
(3) The exercise price may be paid in cash, in shares of the Company's Common
    Stock valued at fair market value on the exercise date or any other method
    approved by the Board.
 
(4) The potential realizable value is calculated based on the term of the option
    at the time of grant (ten years). Stock price appreciation of 5% and 10% is
    assumed pursuant to rules promulgated by the Securities and Exchange
    Commission and does not represent the Company's prediction of its stock
    price performance. The potential realizable values at 5% and 10%
    appreciation are calculated by assuming that the exercise price on the date
    of grant appreciates at the indicated rate for the entire term of the option
    and that the option is exercised at the exercise price and sold on the last
    day of its term at the appreciated price.
 
OPTION VALUES
 
    The following table sets forth information concerning the unexercised
options that are held by the Named Executive Officers as of the end of fiscal
year 1997. No options were exercised by the Named Executive Officers in fiscal
year 1997. No stock appreciation rights were exercised by the Named Executive
Officers in fiscal year 1997 or were outstanding at the end of that year.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                NUMBER OF SECURITIES            VALUE OF UNEXERCISED
                                                               UNDERLYING UNEXERCISED         IN-THE-MONEY OPTIONS AT
                                                                OPTIONS AT FY-END(#)               FY- END($)(1)
                                                             --------------------------  ----------------------------------
NAME                                                         EXERCISABLE  UNEXERCISABLE   EXERCISABLE      UNEXERCISABLE
- -----------------------------------------------------------  -----------  -------------  -------------  -------------------
<S>                                                          <C>          <C>            <C>            <C>
Larry J. Ford..............................................     147,295       343,687              0                 0
Richard L. Tanler..........................................      93,738       151,752          2,700                 0
Robin L. Pederson..........................................           0       172,000              0                 0
Mary K. Trick..............................................       6,000        62,000              0                 0
Rory C. (Butch) Terrien....................................      39,600        60,400          1,500                 0
</TABLE>
 
- ------------------------
 
(1) Based on the fair market value of the Company's Common Stock at fiscal
    year-end (January 31, 1997) ($1.13 per share), as determined by the
    Company's Board of Directors, less the exercise price payable for such
    shares.
 
STOCK PLANS
 
    1997 EQUITY INCENTIVE PLAN
 
   
    The Company's 1997 Equity Incentive Plan (the "Plan") was adopted by the
Board on September 23, 1997, subject to stockholder approval. The number of
shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance under the Plan is equal to (i)
1,000,000 plus (ii) 107,871, the aggregate number of shares remaining available
for grants under the Company's 1992 Stock Option Plan (the "Predecessor Plan")
on October 31, 1997. As of February 1 of each year, commencing with the year
1999, the number of shares reserved for issuance under the Plan will be
increased automatically by the lesser of (i) 3.5% of the total number of shares
of Common Stock then outstanding or (ii) 400,000 shares. As of October 31, 1997,
no options had been granted under the Plan. Under the Plan, employees,
non-employee members of the Board ("Outside Directors") and consultants may be
awarded options to purchase shares of Common Stock, stock appreciation rights
("SARs"), restricted shares or stock units (collectively, the "Awards"). Options
may be incentive stock options designed to satisfy Section 422 of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code") or nonstatutory stock options not
designed to meet such requirements. If restricted shares or shares issued upon
the exercise of options granted under this Plan or the Predecessor Plan are
forfeited, then such shares will again become available for awards under the
Plan. If stock units, options or SARs granted under this Plan or the Predecessor
Plan are forfeited or terminate for any other reason before being exercised,
then the corresponding shares will again become available for awards under the
Plan.
    
 
                                       46
<PAGE>
    The Plan is administered by the Company's Compensation Committee (the
"Committee"). The Committee has the complete discretion to determine which
eligible individuals are to receive any award, determine the type, number,
vesting requirements and other features and conditions of such award, interpret
the Plan and make all other decisions relating to the operation of the Plan.
 
    The exercise price for non-qualified and incentive stock options granted
under the Plan may not be less than 85% or 100%, respectively, of the fair
market value of the Common Stock on the option grant date and may be paid in
cash or in outstanding shares of Common Stock. Options may also be exercised by
using a cashless exercise method, a pledge of shares to a broker or promissory
note. The payment for the award of newly issued restricted shares will be made
in cash, by promissory note or the rendering of past or future services.
 
    The Committee has the authority to modify, extend or assume outstanding
options and SARs or may accept the cancellation of outstanding options or SARs
in return for the grant of new options or SARs for the same or a different
number of shares and at the same or a different exercise price.
 
    Each Outside Director who first becomes a member of the Board after the date
of the offering will receive a one-time option grant for 8,000 shares of Common
Stock upon taking office. This option grant for 8,000 shares will become
exercisable with respect to 20% of the shares upon the completion of twelve
months of Board service and with respect to the balance of the shares in equal
installments on a monthly basis thereafter for the next four years of service.
Upon the conclusion of each regular annual meeting of the Company's stockholders
held in the 1998 calendar year and thereafter, each Outside Director who will
continue to serve as a Board member will receive an option for 1,600 shares of
Common Stock, except that an Outside Director will not receive an annual grant
for 1,600 shares in the same year he or she received the one-time option grant
for 8,000 shares. The option for 1,600 shares will become exercisable upon the
completion of sixty months of Board service from the grant date. The
exercisability of each 8,000-share or 1,600-share option granted to an Outside
Director will accelerate in the event of the optionee's death, disability or
retirement at age 65 and may accelerate in the event of a Change in Control (as
defined below).
 
    The Board may decide to implement a program that allows an Outside Director
to elect to receive his or her annual retainer payments and meeting fees from
the Company in the form of cash, options, restricted shares, stock units or a
combination thereof. The number and terms of such options, restricted shares or
stock units to be granted to Outside Directors in lieu of annual retainers and
meeting fees will be calculated in a manner determined by the Board.
 
    Upon a Change in Control, an Award will become fully exercisable as to all
shares subject to such Award if such Award is not assumed by the surviving
corporation or its parent and the surviving corporation or its parent does not
substitute such Award with another award of substantially the same terms. In the
event of an involuntary termination within 12 months following a Change in
Control, the vesting of an Award will accelerate, as if the holder of the Award
performed services for the Company for an additional 12 months.
 
    A Change in Control includes (i) a merger or consolidation of the Company
after which the Company's then current stockholders own less than 50% of the
surviving corporation, (ii) sale of all or substantially all of the assets of
the Company, (iii) a proxy contest that results in replacement of more than
one-third of the directors over a 24-month period or (iv) acquisition of 50% or
more of the Company's outstanding stock by a person other than a trustee of any
of the Company's employee benefit plans or a corporation owned by the
stockholders of the Company in substantially the same proportions as their stock
ownership in the Company. In the event of a merger or other reorganization,
outstanding options, SARs, restricted shares and stock units will be subject to
the agreement of merger or reorganization, which may provide for the assumption
of outstanding Awards by the surviving corporation or its parent, for their
continuation by the Company (if the Company is a surviving corporation), for
accelerated vesting and accelerated expiration, for settlement in cash or for
cancellation of the outstanding Awards.
 
    The Board may amend or terminate the Plan at any time. Amendments may be
subject to stockholder approval to the extent required by applicable laws.
 
                                       47
<PAGE>
    1997 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
 
   
    The Board adopted the Company's 1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the
"Purchase Plan") on September 23, 1997, subject to stockholder approval. A total
of 200,000 shares of Common Stock have been reserved for issuance under the
Purchase Plan. The Purchase Plan is intended to qualify under Section 423 of the
Code. Each calendar year, two overlapping offering periods each with a duration
of 18 months will commence on January 1 and July 1 (except that the first
offering period will commence on the effective date of the offering and end on
June 30, 1999). Each offering period contains three six-month accumulation
periods, with purchases occurring at the end of each six-month accumulation
period. However, the initial accumulation period will begin on the effective
date of the offering and end on June 30, 1998. The Purchase Plan will be
administered by the Committee. Each employee will be eligible to participate if
he or she is employed by the Company for at least 20 hours per week and for more
than five months per year. The Purchase Plan permits each eligible employee to
purchase Common Stock through payroll deductions, which may not exceed 15% of an
employee's compensation. No more than 500 shares may be purchased on any
purchase date. The price of each share of Common Stock purchased under the
Purchase Plan will be 85% of the lower of (i) the fair market value per share of
Common Stock on the date immediately prior to the first date of the applicable
offering period (except that in the case of the first offering period, the price
per share will be the price offered to the public in the offering) or (ii) the
date at the end of the applicable accumulation period. Employees may end their
participation in the Purchase Plan at any time during the accumulation period,
and participation ends automatically upon termination of employment with the
Company.
    
 
    In the event of a Change in Control, all offering periods and accumulation
periods will terminate and each outstanding purchase right will be exercised.
The Board may amend or terminate the Purchase Plan at any time. However, the
Board may not, without stockholder approval, increase the number of shares of
Common Stock reserved for issuance under the Purchase Plan.
 
401(K) PLAN
 
    The Company has adopted a 401(k) retirement savings plan referred to as the
"Information Advantage, Inc. Employees 401(k) Plan." This plan is available to
all employees who have attained age 21 and have completed six months of service.
An employee may contribute, on a pre-tax basis, up to 20% of the employee's
wages from the Company to limitations specified under the Internal Revenue Code.
Under the terms of the Information Advantage, Inc. Employees 401(k) Plan, the
Company may match employee contributions up to six percent of the employee's
compensation and may make discretionary profit sharing contributions, but has
not elected to do either. Contributions are allocated to each employee's
individual account and are, at the employee's election, invested in one, all, or
some combination of the investment funds available under this 401(k) plan.
Employee contributions are fully vested and non-forfeitable. Employees will vest
in any Company contributions at the rate of 20% for each year of service.
 
EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENTS AND CHANGE IN CONTROL ARRANGEMENTS
 
    The Company has employment contracts and severance agreements in effect with
Richard L. Tanler, Chairman of the Board and Senior Vice President, Strategic
Planning and Marketing; Larry J. Ford, President and Chief Executive Officer;
Robin L. Pederson, Vice President, Worldwide Sales; Rory C. (Butch) Terrien,
Senior Vice President, Research and Development; Donald W. Anderson, Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer; and Richard S. Parker, Vice President,
Marketing. The Company also has severance agreements in effect with Mark
Furtney, Vice President, Engineering; Mary K. Trick, Vice President, Customer
Service; Keith Deane, General Manager --United Kingdom division; and Michael
Gaard, General Manager --Financial Services business unit. Each severance
agreement provides for the acceleration of all unvested stock options of the
officer following a Change in Control if either (i) his or her employment by the
Company is terminated without cause, or (ii) he or she voluntarily terminates
his or her employment as a result of a reduction in authority or responsibility
as an employee of the Company.
 
                                       48
<PAGE>
    The Company and Mr. Tanler are parties to an employment agreement and an
amendment thereto dated June 11, 1992 and April 27, 1995, respectively,
governing his employment with the Company. The agreement sets forth Mr. Tanler's
compensation level and eligibility for salary increases, bonuses, benefits and
option grants under the 1992 Stock Option Plan. Pursuant to the agreement, Mr.
Tanler's employment is voluntary and may be
terminated by the Company or Mr. Tanler at any time with 30 days prior written
notice, provided however, that if the Company terminates Mr. Tanler's employment
without cause, Mr. Tanler shall receive an amount equal to his base salary per
month at the end of each of the six months immediately following the date of
termination but in no event shall he receive any such payments after he gains
employment elsewhere. The Company may immediately terminate Mr. Tanler's
employment for cause upon written notice with no further obligation to Mr.
Tanler.
 
   
    The Company and Mr. Ford are parties to an employment agreement and an
amendment thereto dated April 19, 1995 and May 23, 1995, respectively, governing
his employment with the Company. The agreement sets forth Mr. Ford's
compensation level and eligibility for salary increases, bonuses, benefits and
option grants under the 1992 Stock Option Plan. Mr. Ford's employment with the
Company under the agreement is voluntary and may be terminated by the Company or
Mr. Ford at any time with 30 days prior written notice, provided that if the
Company terminates Mr. Ford's employment for reasons other than cause, the
Company shall pay to Mr. Ford a sum equal to his current base salary for a
period of six months following such termination. Notwithstanding the foregoing,
if Mr. Ford's employment is terminated (for reasons other than cause) due to a
"change in control of the Company" (defined to mean the acquisition by a person
not currently a stockholder of the Company of shares of Company stock
representing more than 50% of the voting power of the outstanding shares), Mr.
Ford shall receive a sum equal to his then current base salary for an additional
12 month period. The Company may terminate Mr. Ford's employment for cause
without notice and without any further obligation to Mr. Ford. The agreement
also provides for full acceleration of vesting of his unvested stock options or
shares if one of the following events shall occur: (i) the sale by the Company
of all or substantially all of its assets and the discontinuance of its
business; or (ii) a change in control of the Company (as previously defined)
resulting in the termination of Mr. Ford's employment with the Company, a
substantial change in the scope of Mr. Ford's employment responsibilities, or
job relocation.
    
 
    The Company and Mr. Anderson are parties to a letter agreement executed on
November 4, 1996 governing his employment with the Company. The agreement sets
forth Mr. Anderson's compensation level and eligibility for salary increases,
bonuses, benefits and option grants under the 1992 Stock Option Plan. Pursuant
to the agreement, Mr. Anderson is entitled to receive, in the event of
termination of employment for reasons other than cause or if Mr. Anderson is not
employed in a capacity comparable to his then current position due to a change
of ownership of the Company, a sum equal to 12 months of base compensation. The
agreement also provides for accelerated vesting of unvested stock options if a
change of ownership of the Company occurs. If the change of ownership occurs
within the first two years of Mr. Anderson's first day of employment with the
Company and the Company is still privately owned, 75% of the unvested options or
shares shall vest, up to a maximum gain to Mr. Anderson of $1.2 million.
Conversely, if the change of ownership occurs after an initial public offering
of Company shares, all his unvested options shall immediately vest.
 
   
    The Company and Mr. Parker are parties to an employment agreement dated June
11, 1992 governing his employment with the Company. The agreement sets forth Mr.
Parker's compensation level and eligibility for salary increases, bonuses,
benefits and option grants under the 1992 Stock Option Plan. Pursuant to the
agreement, Mr. Parker's employment is voluntary and may be terminated by the
Company or Mr. Parker at any time with 30 days prior written notice, provided
however, that if the Company terminates Mr. Parker's employment without cause,
Mr. Parker shall receive an amount equal to his base salary per month at the end
of each of the six months immediately following the date of termination, but in
no event shall he receive any such payments after he gains employment elsewhere.
The Company may immediately terminate Mr. Parker's employment for cause upon
written notice with no further obligation to Mr. Parker.
    
 
    The Company and Mr. Pederson are parties to a letter agreement dated March
6, 1996 governing his employment with the Company. The agreement sets forth Mr.
Pederson's compensation level and eligibility for
 
                                       49
<PAGE>
salary increases, bonuses, benefits and option grants under the 1992 Stock
Option Plan. Pursuant to the agreement, Mr. Pederson is entitled to receive, in
the event of termination of Mr. Pederson's employment with the Company (for
reasons other than cause) or if Mr. Pederson is not employed in a capacity
comparable to his then current position due to a change in ownership of the
Company, a sum equal to 12 months of base compensation. The agreement also
provides for accelerated vesting of any unvested stock options or shares in the
event of a change in ownership of the Company. If Mr. Pederson is employed by
the acquiring or surviving entity in a capacity comparable to his then current
position, 50% of his unvested stock options or shares shall immediately vest;
the remaining 50% shall vest over the subsequent 24 months at a rate of 50% per
year. Conversely, if Mr. Pederson's employment with the acquiring or surviving
entity is terminated (for reasons other than cause) or if Mr. Pederson is not
retained by such acquiring or surviving entity in a capacity comparable to his
then current position with the Company, all his unvested stock options shall
immediately vest, up to a maximum gain to Mr. Pederson of $4.0 million.
 
    The Company and Mr. Terrien are parties to an employment agreement dated
June 11, 1992 governing his employment with the Company. The agreement sets
forth Mr. Terrien's compensation level and eligibility for salary increases,
bonuses, benefits and option grants under the 1992 Stock Option Plan. Pursuant
to the agreement, Mr. Terrien's employment is voluntary and may be terminated by
the Company or Mr. Terrien at any time with 30 days prior written notice,
provided however, that if the Company terminates Mr. Terrien's employment
without cause, Mr. Terrien shall receive an amount equal to his base salary per
month at the end of each of the six months immediately following the date of
termination but in no event shall he receive any such payments after he gains
employment elsewhere. The Company may immediately terminate Mr. Terrien's
employment for cause upon written notice to Mr. Terrien.
 
COMPENSATION COMMITTEE INTERLOCKS AND INSIDER PARTICIPATION
 
    The Compensation Committee of the Company's Board was formed in 1993, and
the members of the Compensation Committee are Drs. Boswell and Haque and Mr.
Hollis. None of these individuals was at any time during the year ended January
31, 1997, or at any other time, an officer or employee of the Company. No member
of the Compensation Committee of the Company serves as a member of the board of
directors or compensation committee of any entity that has one or more executive
officers serving as a member of the Company's Board or Compensation Committee.
 
                                       50
<PAGE>
                              CERTAIN TRANSACTIONS
 
TRANSACTIONS WITH DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS AND 5% STOCKHOLDERS
 
    Since the Company's inception, the Company has raised capital primarily
through the sale of its Preferred Stock. In June 1995 the Company sold 3,010,515
shares of Series B convertible redeemable preferred stock at a price of $2.38
per share. In March 1996, the Company sold 1,514,837 shares of Series C
convertible redeemable preferred stock at a price of $3.25 per share. In
February 1997 the Company sold 1,399,992 shares of Series D convertible
redeemable preferred stock at a price of $5.00 per share. The following table
summarizes the shares of Preferred Stock purchased by executive officers,
directors and 5% stockholders of the Company and persons associated with them
since September 1994.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                    SERIES B     SERIES C     SERIES D
                                                                                    PREFERRED    PREFERRED    PREFERRED
INVESTOR                                                                              STOCK        STOCK        STOCK
- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------  -----------  -----------  -----------
<S>                                                                                <C>          <C>          <C>
Entities affiliated with Norwest Equity Partners(1)..............................     519,665      461,538      501,123
Entities affiliated with St. Paul Venture Capital, Inc.(2).......................     519,665      183,579      200,000
Pathfinder Venture Capital Fund III(3)...........................................     223,827       61,538       50,000
Entities affiliated with Sutter Hill Ventures(4).................................     863,469       99,147      197,568
Entities affiliated with Menlo Ventures(5).......................................     842,105       93,651      100,000
Entities affiliated with Weiss, Peck & Greer(6)..................................      --          615,384      121,049
Donald R. Hollis.................................................................      --           --           40,000
William H. Younger, Jr.(7).......................................................      59,497        6,621       12,784
Donald W. Anderson...............................................................      --           --           20,000
</TABLE>
 
- ------------------------
 
(1) Includes shares purchased by Norwest Equity Partners IV, a Minnesota Limited
    Partnership and Norwest Equity Partners V, a Minnesota Limited Partnership.
    Dr. Haque is a partner of Itasca Partners and Itasca Partners V, which are
    the General Partners of Norwest Equity Partners IV and Norwest Equity
    Partners V, respectively.
 
(2) Includes shares purchased by St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company and
    St. Paul Venture Capital IV, L.L.C. Dr. Boswell is the Executive Vice
    President of St. Paul Venture Capital, Inc., which is an affiliate of St.
    Paul Fire and Marine Company and the managing member of St. Paul Venture
    Capital IV, L.L.C.
 
   
(3) Messrs. Brian P. Johnson, Andrew J. Greenshields, Gary A. Stoltz, Jack
    Ahrens, Eugene Fischer and Ms. Barbara L. Santry are the General Partners of
    Pathfinder Venture Capital Fund III.
    
 
(4) Includes shares purchased by Sutter Hill Ventures, a California Limited
    Partnership, William H. Younger, Jr. and 15 other individuals and entities
    associated with Sutter Hill Ventures. Mr. Younger is a General Partner of
    Sutter Hill Ventures.
 
   
(5) Includes shares purchased by Menlo Ventures VI, L.P. and Menlo Entrepeneurs
    Fund VI, L.P. Messrs. H. Dubose Montgomery, Thomas H. Bredt, Douglas C.
    Carlisle, John W. Jarve, Michael D. Laufer, M.D. and Ms. Sonja L. Hoel are
    the General Partners of MV Management VI, L.P., the General Partner of Menlo
    Ventures VI, L.P. and Menlo Entrepeneurs Fund VI, L.P.
    
 
   
(6) Includes shares purchased by WPG Enterprise Fund II, L.P. and Weiss, Peck &
    Greer Venture Associates III, L.P. Messrs. Philip Greer, Gill Cogan, Phil
    Black and Christopher J. Schaepe and Ms. Ellen Feeney and Ms. Annette
    Bianchi are the General Partners of WPG Venture Partners III, L.P., the
    General Partner of WPG Enterprise Fund II, L.P. and Weiss, Peck & Greer
    Venture Associates III, L.P.
    
 
(7) Includes shares purchased by Mr. Younger as Trustee of a living trust.
 
    In April 1996, the Company loaned $70,000 to Richard L. Tanler, the
Company's Chairman of the Board and Senior Vice President of Strategic Planning
and Marketing. In conjunction with the loan, Mr. Tanler issued a
 
                                       51
<PAGE>
promissory note to the Company for $70,000, bearing interest at the rate of
5.33% per annum, which note is payable 60 days after demand by the Company. As
of October 31, 1997, there had been no payments on the loan and the aggregate
indebtedness under the loan was $76,316.
 
    In August 1996, Donald R. Hollis, a director of the Company, was granted an
option to purchase 8,000 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $1.13
per share in conjunction with becoming a director. Also in August 1996, Mr.
Hollis received an option to purchase 2,000 shares of Common Stock at an
exercise price of $1.13 per share in conjunction with entering into a consulting
agreement with the Company.
 
    In July 1997, in connection with the acceptance of an employment offer, Mark
Furtney, the Company's Vice President, Engineering, was granted an option to
purchase 40,000 shares of the Company's Common Stock at an exercise price of
$2.13 per share.
 
    In August 1997, the Company granted Ronald E.F. Codd an option to purchase
8,000 shares of Common Stock at an exercise price of $3.75 per share in
conjunction with becoming a director.
 
    The Company also has granted additional options to certain of its executive
officers. Such options are described further in the Management Section under
"Executive Compensation" and "Option Grants in Last Fiscal Year."
 
    The Company has entered into employment agreements with Messrs. Ford,
Tanler, Anderson, Parker, Pederson and Terrien. See "Management--Employment
Agreements and Change in Control Arrangements."
 
   
    In December 1997, the Company and certain holders of its outstanding
Preferred Stock (the "Lenders") entered into a Loan and Warrant Purchase
Agreement (the "Loan Agreement") to provide the Company with a source of funds
for its working capital requirements pending completion of the offering. The
Loan Agreement provided the Company with a revolving loan commitment of $3.0
million. Each loan to the Company under the Loan Agreement will bear interest at
the rate of 8.0% per annum, compounded annually, from the date funds are
provided. All unpaid advances received by the Company under the Loan Agreement,
together with accrued interest thereon, will be due and payable upon the earlier
of (i) ten days following the closing date of the offering or (ii) May 20, 1998
(such earlier date being the "Maturity Date"). If amounts outstanding under the
Loan Agreement are not fully paid on the Maturity Date, then the outstanding
unpaid balance will automatically convert on the Maturity Date into shares of
the Company's authorized Series D convertible redeemable preferred stock, or if
the Company has consummated the offering, shares of Common Stock, at the
conversion rate of one share for each $5.00 of principal and interest then
outstanding. To date, the Company has not requested advances from Lenders. If
the Company receives advances under the Loan Agreement, it intends to pay in
cash the outstanding balance of such indebtedness with a portion of the proceeds
received by the Company from the offering rather than having such sums convert
into equity.
    
 
   
    In consideration of the revolving loan commitment of the Lenders, the
Company issued warrants to the Lenders to purchase an aggregate of 30,000 shares
of the Company's authorized Series D convertible redeemable preferred stock
(which will be converted into a right to acquire an equal number of shares of
Common Stock following completion of the offering) at a per share purchase price
of $5.00. In the event the Company requests advances from the Lenders under the
Loan Agreement, the Company will be required to issue additional warrants on a
pro rata basis to the Lenders, with the number of shares subject to such
additional warrants equal to 4.0% of the principal amount of each advance from
the Lenders. Shares purchased upon exercise of the warrants are entitled to
certain registration rights. See "Description of Capital Stock-- Registration
Rights."
    
 
    The Company believes that all of the transactions set forth herein were made
on terms no less favorable to the Company than could have been obtained from
unaffiliated third parties. All future transactions, including loans (if any),
between the Company and its officers, directors, and principal stockholders and
their affiliates will be approved by a majority of the Board of Directors,
including a majority of the independent and disinterested outside directors of
the Board of Directors, and will be on terms no less favorable to the Company
than could be obtained from unaffiliated third parties.
 
                                       52
<PAGE>
INDEMNIFICATION
 
   
    The Company's Certificate of Incorporation limits the liability of its
directors for monetary damages arising from a breach of their fiduciary duty as
directors, except to the extent otherwise required by the Delaware General
Corporation Law. Such limitation of liability does not affect the availability
of equitable remedies such as injunctive relief or rescission.
    
 
    The Company's Bylaws provide that the Company shall indemnify its directors
and officers to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, including in
circumstances in which indemnification is otherwise discretionary under Delaware
law. The Company has entered into indemnification agreements with its officers
and directors containing provisions that may require the Company, among other
things, to indemnify such officers and directors against certain liabilities
that may arise by reason of their status or service as directors or officers
(other than liabilities arising from willful misconduct of a culpable nature),
to advance their expenses incurred as a result of any proceeding against them as
to which they could be indemnified, and to obtain directors' and officers'
insurance if available on reasonable terms.
 
                                       53
<PAGE>
                             PRINCIPAL STOCKHOLDERS
 
    The following table sets forth certain information known to the Company
regarding beneficial ownership of its Common Stock as of October 31, 1997, and
as adjusted to reflect the sale of shares offered hereby and the conversion of
all outstanding shares by Preferred Stock into shares of Common Stock and the
exercise of warrants to purchase 491,599 shares of Common Stock, by (i) each
person who is known by the Company to own beneficially more than five percent of
the Company's Common Stock, (ii) each of the Company's directors, (iii) each of
the Named Executive Officers and (iv) all current executive officers and
directors as a group.
 
   
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                               PERCENT BENEFICIALLY
                                                                                  NUMBER OF       OWNED(1)(2)(3)
                                                                                    SHARES     --------------------
                                                                                 BENEFICIALLY   BEFORE      AFTER
NAME AND ADDRESS OF BENEFICIAL OWNER(1)                                          OWNED(1)(2)   OFFERING   OFFERING
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ------------  ---------  ---------
<S>                                                                              <C>           <C>        <C>
Entities affiliated with Norwest Equity Partners(4)............................     3,048,700      26.16%     20.34%
  2800 Piper Jaffray Tower
  222 South Ninth Street
  Minneapolis, MN 55402
Entities affiliated with St. Paul Venture Capital, Inc.(5).....................     2,384,426      20.46      15.91
  8500 Normandale Lake Blvd.
  Suite 1940
  Bloomington, MN 55437
Entities affiliated with Sutter Hill Ventures(6)...............................     1,201,968      10.31       8.02
  755 Page Mill Road, Suite A-200
  Palo Alto, CA 94304
Pathfinder Venture Capital Fund III(7).........................................     1,197,164      10.27       7.99
  Suite 585, One Corporate Center
  7300 Metro Blvd.
  Edina, MN 55439
Entities affiliated with Menlo Ventures(8).....................................     1,035,756       8.89       6.91
  3000 Sand Hill Road
  Bldg. 4, Suite 100
  Menlo Park, CA 94025
Entities affiliated with Weiss, Peck & Greer(9)................................       736,433       6.32       4.91
  555 California Street
  Suite 3130
  San Francisco, CA 94104
Larry J. Ford(10)..............................................................       229,125       1.93       1.51
Robin L. Pederson..............................................................        34,400          *          *
Richard L. Tanler(11)..........................................................       169,247       1.43       1.12
Mary K. Trick(12)..............................................................        28,000       *             *
Rory C. (Butch) Terrien(13)....................................................        65,200          *          *
Ronald E.F. Codd...............................................................             0          *          *
Fredric R. (Rick) Boswell(5)...................................................     2,384,426       20.46     15.91
Promod Haque(4)................................................................     3,048,700       26.16     20.34
Donald R. Hollis(14)...........................................................        44,000          *          *
Jay H. Wein(15)................................................................       333,359        2.86      2.22
William H. Younger, Jr.(6).....................................................     1,201,968       10.31      8.02
All directors and executive officers as a group (14 persons)(16)...............     7,645,625       63.03%     49.44%
</TABLE>
    
 
- ------------------------
 
*    Represents beneficial ownership of less than 1% of the outstanding shares
    of Common Stock.
 
                                       54
<PAGE>
 (1) Beneficial ownership is determined in accordance with the rules of the
     Securities and Exchange Commission and includes voting or investment power
     with respect to securities. Unless otherwise indicated, the address for
     each listed stockholder is c/o Information Advantage Software, Inc., 7905
     Golden Triangle Drive, Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344-7227. To the Company's
     knowledge, except as indicated in the footnotes to this table and pursuant
     to applicable community property laws, the persons named in the table have
     sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of Common
     Stock. The number of shares of Common Stock beneficially owned includes
     shares issuable pursuant to warrants and stock options that are exercisable
     within 60 days of October 31, 1997.
 
 (2) Assumes no exercise of the Underwriters' over-allotment option. See
     "Underwriting."
 
 (3) Percentage of beneficial ownership is based on 11,655,359 shares of Common
     Stock outstanding as of October 31, 1997 and 14,989,359 shares of Common
     Stock to be outstanding after the closing of this offering. Shares issuable
     pursuant to warrants and stock options are deemed outstanding for computing
     the percentage of the person holding such warrants or options but are not
     deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of any other person.
 
 (4) Includes 1,930,792 shares held by Norwest Equity Partners IV, a Minnesota
     Limited Partnership, 1,117,908 shares held by Norwest Equity Partners V, a
     Minnesota Limited Partnership. Dr. Haque is a partner of Itasca Partners
     and Itasca Partners V, which are the General Partners of Norwest Equity
     Partners IV, a Minnesota Limited Partnership and Norwest Equity Partners V,
     a Minnesota Limited Partnership, respectively. Dr. Haque disclaims
     beneficial ownership of the shares held by Norwest Equity Partners IV, a
     Minnesota Limited Partnership and Norwest Equity Partners V, a Minnesota
     Limited Partnership, except to the extent of his pecuniary interest therein
     arising from his partnership interests in Itasca Partners and Itasca
     Partners V.
 
 (5) Includes 2,184,426 shares held by St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance
     Company, 200,000 shares held by St. Paul Venture Capital IV, L.L.C. Dr.
     Boswell is the Executive Vice President of St. Paul Venture Capital, Inc.,
     which is an affiliate of St. Paul Fire and Marine Insurance Company and a
     managing member of St. Paul Venture Capital IV, L.L.C. Dr. Boswell
     disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares held by St. Paul Fire and
     Marine Insurance Company and St. Paul Venture Capital IV, L.L.C.
 
 (6) Includes 716,632 shares of Common Stock held by Sutter Hill Ventures, a
     California Limited Partnership ("Sutter Hill"), 78,902 shares held by Mr.
     William H. Younger, Jr. as Trustee of a living trust and 406,434 shares
     held of record for 15 other individuals and entities associated with Sutter
     Hill. Mr. Younger is a General Partner of Sutter Hill and shares voting and
     investment power with respect to the shares held by Sutter Hill. Mr.
     Younger disclaims beneficial ownership of the shares held by Sutter Hill
     and the individuals and entities associated with Sutter Hill, except as to
     the shares held of record in his name and as to his partnership interest in
     Sutter Hill.
 
   
 (7) Messrs. Brian P. Johnson, Andrew J. Greenshields, Gary A. Stoltz, Jack
     Ahrens, Eugene Fischer and Ms. Barbara L. Santry are the General Partners
     of Pathfinder Venture Capital Fund III.
    
 
   
 (8) Includes 1,020,449 shares held by Menlo Ventures VI, L.P. and 15,307 shares
     held by Menlo Entrepreneurs Fund VI, L.P. Messrs. H. Dubose Montgomery,
     Thomas H. Bredt, Douglas C. Carlisle, John W. Jarve, Michael D. Laufer,
     M.D. and Ms. Sonja L. Hoel are the General Partners of MV Management VI,
     L.P., the General Partner of Menlo Ventures VI, L.P. and Menlo
     Entrepreneurs Fund VI, L.P. These individuals disclaim beneficial ownership
     of the shares held by Menlo Ventures VI, L.P. and Menlo Entrepreneurs Fund
     VI, L.P., except to the extent of their respective pecuniary interests
     therein.
    
 
   
 (9) Includes 334,340 shares of Common Stock held by Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture
     Associates III, L.P., and 402,093 shares of Common Stock held by WPG
     Enterprise Fund II, L.P. Messrs. Philip Greer, Gill Cogan, Phil Black and
     Christopher J. Schaepe and Ms. Ellen Feeney and Ms. Annette Bianchi are the
     General Partners of WPG Venture Partners III, L.P., the General Partner of
     Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Associates III, L.P. and WPG Enterprise Fund
     II, L.P. These individuals disclaim beneficial ownership of
    
 
                                       55
<PAGE>
   
     the shares held by Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture Associates III, L.P. and WPG
     Enterprise Fund II, L.P. except to the extent of their respective pecuniary
     interests therein.
    
 
 (10) Includes 201,125 shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to stock options
      which may be exercised within 60 days after October 31, 1997.
 
 (11) Includes 140,676 shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to stock options
      which may be exercised within 60 days after October 31, 1997.
 
 (12) Includes 18,800 shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to stock options
      which may be exercised within 60 days after October 31, 1997.
 
 (13) Includes 65,200 shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to stock options
      which may be exercised within 60 days after October 31, 1997.
 
 (14) Includes 4,000 shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to stock options
      which may be exercised within 60 days after October 31, 1997.
 
   
 (15) Includes 18,000 shares of Common Stock held in the aggregate by Douglas E.
      Wein, Steven L. Wein and Patricia J. Bazany, children of Mr. Wein, over
      which Mr. Wein retains voting power.
    
 
 (16) Includes 475,001 shares of Common Stock issuable pursuant to stock options
      which may be exercised within 60 days after October 31, 1997. If the
      over-allotment option is exercised in full, the percentage of shares
      beneficially owned will be 47.89%.
 
                                       56
<PAGE>
                          DESCRIPTION OF CAPITAL STOCK
 
    Upon the closing of this offering, the authorized capital stock of the
Company will consist of 60,000,000 shares of Common Stock, $0.01 par value, and
5,000,000 shares of Preferred Stock, $0.01 par value.
 
COMMON STOCK
 
   
    As of October 31, 1997, there were 11,655,359 shares of Common Stock
outstanding that were held of record by approximately 72 stockholders. There
will be 14,989,359 shares of Common Stock outstanding (assuming no exercise of
the Underwriters' over-allotment option and assuming no exercise after October
31, 1997 of outstanding options) after giving effect to the sale of the shares
of Common Stock to the public offered hereby and the conversion of the Company's
Preferred Stock into Common Stock at a one-to-one ratio.
    
 
    The holders of Common Stock are entitled to one vote per share on all
matters to be voted upon by the stockholders. Subject to preferences that may be
applicable to any outstanding Preferred Stock, the holders of Common Stock are
entitled to receive ratably such dividends, if any, as may be declared from time
to time by the Board of Directors out of funds legally available therefor. See
"Dividend Policy." In the event of the liquidation, dissolution, or winding up
of the Company, the holders of Common Stock are entitled to share ratably in all
assets remaining after payment of liabilities, subject to prior distribution
rights of Preferred Stock, if any, then outstanding. The Common Stock has no
preemptive or conversion rights or other subscription rights. There are no
redemption or sinking fund provisions applicable to the Common Stock. All
outstanding shares of Common Stock are fully paid and nonassessable, and the
shares of Common Stock to be issued upon completion of this offering will be
fully paid and nonassessable.
 
PREFERRED STOCK
 
    The Company's Certificate of Incorporation authorizes 5,000,000 shares of
Preferred Stock. The Board of Directors has the authority to issue the Preferred
Stock in one or more series and to fix the rights, preferences, privileges and
restrictions thereof, including dividend rights, dividend rates, conversion
rights, voting rights, terms of redemption, redemption prices, liquidation
preferences and the number of shares constituting any series or the designation
of such series, without further vote or action by the stockholders. The issuance
of Preferred Stock may have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a
change in control of the Company without further action by the stockholders and
may adversely affect the voting and other rights of the holders of Common Stock.
The issuance of Preferred Stock with voting and conversion rights may adversely
affect the voting power of the holders of Common Stock, including the loss of
voting control to others. At present, the Company has no plans to issue any of
the Preferred Stock.
 
ANTITAKEOVER EFFECTS OF PROVISIONS OF THE CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION, BYLAWS
  AND DELAWARE LAW
 
    CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION AND BYLAWS
 
   
    The Company's Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws provide that, upon the
closing of this offering, the Board of Directors will be divided into three
classes of directors, with each class serving a staggered three-year term. The
classification system of electing directors may tend to discourage a third party
from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of the
Company and may maintain the incumbency of the Board of Directors, as the
classification of the Board of Directors generally increases the difficulty of
replacing a majority of the directors. The Certificate of Incorporation and
Bylaws also provide that, effective upon the closing of this offering, all
stockholder actions must be effected at a duly called meeting and not by a
consent in writing. The Company's Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws do not
permit stockholders of the Company to call a special meeting of stockholders.
Further, provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation and Bylaws provide that
the stockholders may amend certain provisions of the Certificate of
Incorporation or Bylaws only with the affirmative vote of holders of 80% of the
Company's capital stock. These provisions of the Certificate of Incorporation
and Bylaws could discourage potential acquisition proposals and could delay or
prevent a change in control of the Company. These provisions are intended to
enhance the likelihood of continuity and stability in the composition of the
Board of Directors and in the policies formulated by the Board of Directors and
to discourage certain types of transactions that may involve an actual or
threatened change of control of the
    
 
                                       57
<PAGE>
Company. These provisions are designed to reduce the vulnerability of the
Company to an unsolicited acquisition proposal. The provisions also are intended
to discourage certain tactics that may be used in proxy fights. However, such
provisions could have the effect of discouraging others from making tender
offers for the Company's shares and as a consequence, they also may inhibit
fluctuations in the market price of the Company's shares that could result from
actual or rumored takeover attempts. Such provisions also may have the effect of
preventing changes in the management of the Company and may have an adverse
effect on the public trading price of the Company's Common Stock. See "Risk
Factors--Effect of Certain Charter Provisions; Antitakeover Effects of
Certificate of Incorporation, Bylaws, and Delaware Law."
 
    DELAWARE TAKEOVER STATUTE
 
    The Company is subject to Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation
Law ("Section 203"), which, subject to certain exceptions, prohibits a Delaware
corporation from engaging in any business combination with any interested
stockholder for a period of three years following the date that such stockholder
became an interested stockholder, unless: (i) prior to such date, the board of
directors of the corporation approved either the business combination or the
transaction that resulted in the stockholder becoming an interested stockholder;
(ii) upon consummation of the transaction that resulted in the stockholder
becoming an interested stockholder, the interested stockholder owned at least
85% of the voting stock of the corporation outstanding at the time the
transaction commenced, excluding for purposes of determining the number of
shares outstanding those shares owned (x) by persons who are directors and also
officers and (y) by employee stock plans in which employee participants do not
have the right to determine confidentially whether shares held subject to the
plan will be tendered in a tender or exchange offer; or (iii) on or subsequent
to such date, the business combination is approved by the board of directors and
authorized at an annual or special meeting of stockholders, and not by written
consent, by the affirmative vote of at least 66 2/3% of the outstanding voting
stock that is not owned by the interested stockholder.
 
    Section 203 defines business combination to include: (i) any merger or
consolidation involving the corporation and the interested stockholder; (ii) any
sale, transfer, pledge or other disposition of 10% or more of the assets of the
corporation involving the interested stockholder; (iii) subject to certain
exceptions, any transaction that results in the issuance or transfer by the
corporation of any stock of the corporation to the interested stockholder; (iv)
any transaction involving the corporation that has the effect of increasing the
proportionate share of the stock of any class or series of the corporation
beneficially owned by the interested stockholder; or (v) the receipt by the
interested stockholder of the benefit of any loans, advances, guarantees,
pledges or other financial benefits provided by or through the corporation. In
general, Section 203 defines an interested stockholder as any entity or person
beneficially owning 15% or more of the outstanding voting stock of the
corporation and any entity or person affiliated with or controlling or
controlled by such entity or person.
 
REGISTRATION RIGHTS
 
    After this offering, the holders of approximately 10,438,924 shares of
Common Stock (assuming the exercise of warrants to purchase 30,000 shares of
Common Stock held by holders of registration rights) will be entitled to certain
rights with respect to the registration of such shares under the Securities Act.
Under the terms of the agreement between the Company and the holders of such
registrable securities, if the Company proposes to register any of its
securities under the Securities Act, either for its own account or for the
account of other security holders exercising registration rights, such holders
are entitled to notice of such registration and are entitled to include share of
such Common Stock therein. Additionally, such holders are also entitled to
certain demand registration rights pursuant to which they may require the
Company to file a registration statement under the Securities Act at its expense
with respect to their shares of Common Stock, and the Company is required to use
its best efforts to effect such registration. Further, holders may require the
Company to file additional registration statements on Form S-3 at the Company's
expense. All of these registration rights are subject to certain conditions and
limitations, among them the right of the underwriters of an offering to limit
the number of shares included in such registration.
 
TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR
 
    The Transfer Agent and Registrar for the Common Stock is Norwest Bank
Minnesota, National Association, and its telephone number is (612) 450-4064.
 
                                       58
<PAGE>
                        SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE
 
    Upon completion of this offering, the Company will have 14,989,359 shares of
Common Stock outstanding. Of this amount, the 3,334,000 shares offered hereby
will be available for immediate sale in the public market as of the date of this
Prospectus. Approximately 11,221,369 additional shares will be available for
sale in the public market following the expiration of 180-day lockup agreements
with the Representatives of the Underwriters or the Company, subject in some
cases to compliance with the volume and other limitations of Rule 144.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                APPROXIMATE SHARES
DAYS AFTER DATE OF                             ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE
THIS PROSPECTUS                                        SALE                             COMMENT
- --------------------------------------------  ----------------------  --------------------------------------------
<S>                                           <C>                     <C>
Upon Effectiveness..........................          3,371,327       Freely tradable shares sold in offering and
                                                                        shares salable under Rule 144(k) that are
                                                                        not subject to 180-day lockup
90 days.....................................              2,299       Shares salable under Rule 144, 144(k) or 701
                                                                        that are not subject to 180-day lockup.
180 days....................................         11,181,743       Lockup released; shares salable under Rule
                                                                        144, 144(k) or 701
Over 180 days...............................            433,990       Restricted securities held for one year or
                                                                        less
</TABLE>
 
    In general, under Rule 144 as currently in effect, a person (or persons
whose shares are aggregated) who has beneficially owned shares for at least one
year is entitled to sell within any three-month period commencing 90 days after
the date of this Prospectus a number of shares that does not exceed the greater
of (i) 1% of the then outstanding shares of Common Stock (approximately 150,000
shares immediately after the offering) or (ii) the average weekly trading volume
during the four calendar weeks preceding such sale, subject to the filing of a
Form 144 with respect to such sale. A person (or persons whose shares are
aggregated) who is not deemed to have been an affiliate of the Company at any
time during the 90 days immediately preceding the sale who has beneficially
owned his or her shares for at least two years is entitled to sell such shares
pursuant to Rule 144(k) without regard to the limitations described above.
Persons deemed to be affiliates must always sell pursuant to Rule 144, even
after the applicable holding periods have been satisfied.
 
    The Company is unable to estimate the number of shares that will be sold
under Rule 144, since this will depend on the market price for the Common Stock
of the Company, the personal circumstances of the sellers and other factors.
Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the Common Stock,
and there can be no assurance that a significant public market for the Common
Stock will develop or be sustained after the offering. Any future sale of
substantial amounts of the Common Stock in the open market may adversely affect
the market price of the Common Stock offered hereby.
 
    The Company, its directors, executive officers, stockholders with
registration rights and certain other stockholders and optionholders have agreed
pursuant to the Underwriting Agreement and other agreements that they will not
sell any Common Stock without the prior consent of BancAmerica Robertson
Stephens for a period of 180 days from the date of this Prospectus (the "180-day
Lockup Period"), except that the Company may, without such consent, grant
options and sell shares pursuant to the Company's stock plans.
 
    Any employee of or consultant to the Company who purchased his or her shares
under the 1992 plan or pursuant to a written compensatory plan or contract is
entitled to rely on the resale provisions of Rule 701, which permits
nonaffiliates to sell their Rule 701 shares without having to comply with the
public information, holding period, volume limitation or notice provisions of
Rule 144 and permits affiliates to sell their Rule 701 shares without having to
comply with the Rule 144 holding period restrictions, in each case commencing 90
days after the date of this Prospectus. As of October 31, 1997, the holders of
options exercisable into approximately 2,257,113 shares of Common Stock will be
eligible to sell their shares upon the expiration of the 180-day Lockup Period,
subject in certain cases to vesting of such options.
 
                                       59
<PAGE>
   
    The Company intends to file a registration statement on Form S-8 under the
Securities Act to register 1,200,000 shares of Common Stock subject to
outstanding stock options or reserved for issuance under the 1997 Plan and the
Purchase Plan within 180 days after the date of this Prospectus, and thereafter
up to 2,364,984 shares of Common Stock subject to outstanding stock options or
reserved for issuance under the 1992 Stock Option Plan; thus permitting the
resale of such shares by nonaffiliates in the public market without restriction
under the Securities Act.
    
 
    In addition, after this offering, the holders of approximately 10,438,924
shares of Common Stock (assuming the exercise of warrants to purchase 30,000
shares of Common Stock held by holders of registration rights) will be entitled
to certain rights with respect to registration of such shares under the
Securities Act. Registration of such shares under the Securities Act would
result in such shares becoming freely tradeable without restriction under the
Securities Act (except for shares purchased by affiliates of the Company)
immediately upon the effectiveness of such registration. See "Description of
Capital Stock--Registration Rights."
 
                                       60
<PAGE>
                                  UNDERWRITING
 
    The Underwriters named below, acting through their representatives,
BancAmerica Robertson Stephens, NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, Inc., Piper
Jaffray Inc. and First Albany Corporation (the "Representatives"), have
severally agreed with the Company, subject to the terms and conditions of the
Underwriting Agreement, to purchase the number of shares of Common Stock set
forth opposite their respective names below. The Underwriters are committed to
purchase and pay for all shares if any are purchased. In the event of default by
an Underwriter, the Underwriting Agreement provides that, in certain
circumstances, purchase commitments of the non-defaulting Underwriters may be
increased or the Underwriting Agreement may be terminated.
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                    NUMBER OF
UNDERWRITER                                                                           SHARES
- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------  ----------
<S>                                                                                 <C>
BancAmerica Robertson Stephens....................................................
NationsBanc Montgomery Securities, Inc............................................
Piper Jaffray Inc.................................................................
First Albany Corporation..........................................................
                                                                                    ----------
  Total...........................................................................   3,334,000
                                                                                    ----------
                                                                                    ----------
</TABLE>
 
    The Representatives have advised the Company that the Underwriters propose
to offer the shares of Common Stock to the public at the initial public offering
price set forth on the cover page of this Prospectus and to certain dealers at
such price less a concession of not in excess of $     per share, of which
$     may be reallowed to other dealers. After the initial public offering, the
public offering price, concession, and reallowance to dealers may be reduced by
the Representatives. No such reduction shall change the amount of proceeds to be
received by the Company as set forth on the cover page of this Prospectus.
 
    The Company has granted to the Underwriters an option, exercisable during
the 30-day period after the date of this Prospectus, to purchase up to 500,100
additional shares of Common Stock at the same price per share as will be paid
for the 3,334,000 shares that the Underwriters have agreed to purchase. To the
extent that the Underwriters exercise such option, each of the Underwriters will
have a firm commitment, subject to certain conditions, to purchase approximately
the same percentage of such additional shares that the number of shares of
Common Stock to be purchased by it shown in the above table represents as a
percentage of the 3,334,000 shares offered hereby. If purchased, such additional
shares will be sold by the Underwriters on the same terms as those on which the
3,334,000 shares are being sold.
 
    The Underwriting Agreement contains covenants of indemnity among the
Underwriters and the Company against certain civil liabilities, including
liabilities under the Securities Act and liabilities arising from breaches of
representations and warranties contained in the Underwriting Agreement.
 
   
    Each officer and director who holds shares of the Company, holders
(including such officers and directors) of 11,615,734 shares of Common Stock and
all warrantholders of the Company and optionholders of the Company holding
options exercisable within the 180-day Lockup Period have agreed, for the
180-day Lockup Period, subject to certain exceptions, not to offer to sell,
contract to sell, or otherwise sell (including without limitation in a short
sale), dispose of, loan, pledge or grant any rights with respect to any shares
of Common Stock, any options or warrants to purchase any shares of Common Stock,
or any securities convertible into, exercisable for or exchangeable for shares
of Common Stock owned as of the date of this Prospectus directly by such holders
or with respect to which they have the power of disposition, without the prior
written consent of BancAmerica Robertson Stephens. However, BancAmerica
Robertson Stephens may, in its sole discretion and at any time or from time to
time without notice, release all or any portion of the securities subject to
lock-up agreements.
    
 
    There are no agreements between the Representatives and any of the Company's
stockholders providing consent by the Representatives to the sale of shares
prior to the expiration of the 180-day Lockup Period.
 
                                       61
<PAGE>
    In addition, the Company has agreed that during the 180-day Lockup Period,
the Company will not, without the prior written consent of BancAmerica Robertson
Stephens, subject to certain exceptions, issue, offer to sell, sell, contract to
sell (including without limitation in a short sale), dispose of, loan, pledge or
grant any rights with respect to any shares of Common Stock, any options or
warrants to purchase any shares of Common Stock or any securities convertible
into, exercisable for or exchangeable for shares of Common Stock other than the
Company's sale of shares in this offering, the issuance of Common Stock upon the
exercise of outstanding options, and the Company's issuance of options and
shares under existing employee stock option and stock purchase plans. See
"Shares Eligible For Future Sale."
 
    The Underwriters do not intend to confirm sales to any accounts over which
they exercise discretionary authority.
 
    Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for the Common Stock
of the Company. Consequently, the initial public offering price for the Common
Stock offered hereby will be determined through negotiations among the Company
and the Representatives. Among the factors to be considered in such negotiations
are prevailing market conditions, certain financial information of the Company,
market valuations of other companies that the Company and the Representatives
believe to be comparable to the Company, estimates of the business potential of
the Company and the industry in which it competes, an assessment of the
Company's management, its past and present operations, the prospects for, and
timing of, future revenues of the Company, the present state of the Company's
development and other factors deemed relevant. There can be no assurance that an
active trading market will develop for the Common Stock or that the Common Stock
will trade in the public market subsequent to the offering at or above the
initial offering price.
 
   
    The Representatives have advised the Company that, pursuant to Regulation M
under the Securities Act, certain persons participating in the Offering may
engage in transactions, including stabilizing bids, syndicate covering
transactions or the imposition of penalty bids which may have the effect of
stabilizing or maintaining the market price of the Common Stock at a level above
that which might otherwise prevail in the open market. A "stabilizing bid" is a
bid for or the purchase of the Common Stock on behalf of the Underwriters for
the purpose of fixing or maintaining the price of the Common Stock. A "syndicate
covering transaction" is the bid for or the purchase of the Common Stock on
behalf of the Underwriters to reduce a short position incurred by the
Underwriters in connection with the Offering. A "penalty bid" is an arrangement
permitting the Representatives to reclaim the selling concession otherwise
accruing to an Underwriter or syndicate member in connection with the Offering
if the Common Stock originally sold by such Underwriter or syndicate member is
purchased by the Representatives in a syndicate covering transaction and has
therefore not been effectively placed by such Underwriter or syndicate member.
The Representatives have advised the Company that such transactions may be
effected on the Nasdaq National Market or otherwise and, if commenced, may be
discontinued at any time.
    
 
    The Underwriters have reserved for sale, at the initial public offering
price, up to 5% of the Common Stock offered hereby for certain individuals
designated by the Company who have expressed an interest in purchasing such
shares of Common Stock in the offering. The number of shares available for sale
to the general public will be reduced to the extent such persons purchase such
reserved shares. Any reserved shares not so purchased will be offered by the
Underwriters to the general public on the same basis as other shares offered
hereby.
 
                                       62
<PAGE>
                                 LEGAL MATTERS
 
    The validity of the Common Stock offered hereby will be passed upon for the
Company by Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP, Menlo
Park, California. Certain legal matters in connection with the offering will be
passed upon for the Company by Briggs and Morgan, Professional Association,
Minneapolis, Minnesota. Certain legal matters in connection with the offering
will be passed upon for the Underwriters by Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison LLP,
Palo Alto, California.
 
                                    EXPERTS
 
    The consolidated financial statements as of January 31, 1996 and 1997 and
October 31, 1997 and for each of the three years in the period ended January 31,
1997 and for the nine months ended October 31, 1997 included in this Prospectus
have been so included in reliance on the report of Price Waterhouse LLP,
independent accountants, given on the authority of said firm as experts in
auditing and accounting.
 
                             ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
 
    The Company has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the
"Commission"), Washington, D.C. 20549, a Registration Statement on Form S-1
under the Securities Act with respect to the Common Stock offered hereby. This
Prospectus does not contain all of the information set forth in the Registration
Statement and the exhibits and schedules to the Registration Statement. For
further information with respect to the Company and such Common Stock offered
hereby, reference is made to the Registration Statement and the exhibits and
schedules filed as a part of the Registration Statement. Statements contained in
this Prospectus concerning the contents of any contract or any other document
referred to are not necessarily complete; reference is made in each instance to
the copy of such contract or document filed as an exhibit to the Registration
Statement. Each such statement is qualified by such reference to such exhibit.
The Registration Statement, including exhibits and schedules thereto, may be
inspected without charge at the Commission's principal office in Washington,
D.C., and copies of all or any part thereof may be obtained from such office
after payment of fees prescribed by the Commission. The Commission maintains a
Web site that contains reports, proxy and information statements and other
information regarding registrants that file electronically with the Commission
at http://www.sec.gov.
 
                                       63
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
                   INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                          PAGE
                                                                                        ---------
Report of Independent Accountants.....................................................     F-2
<S>                                                                                     <C>
Consolidated Financial Statements:
  Consolidated Balance Sheet as of January 31, 1996 and 1997 and October 31, 1997.....     F-3
  Consolidated Statement of Operations for the Years Ended January 311995, 1996 and
    1997 and for the Nine Months Ended October 31, 1996 (Unaudited) and 1997..........     F-4
  Consolidated Statement of Stockholders' Equity (Deficit) for the Years Ended January
    31, 1995, 1996 and 1997 and for the Nine Months Ended October 31, 1997............     F-5
  Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows for the Years Ended January 31, 1995, 1996 and
    1997 and for the Nine Months Ended October 31, 1996 (Unaudited) and 1997..........     F-6
  Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements..........................................     F-7
</TABLE>
 
                                      F-1
<PAGE>
                       REPORT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
 
   
To the Board of Directors and Stockholders of
Information Advantage, Inc.
    
 
   
    In our opinion, the accompanying consolidated balance sheet and the related
consolidated statements of operations, of stockholders' deficit and of cash
flows present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of
Information Advantage, Inc. and its subsidiaries at January 31, 1996 and 1997
and October 31, 1997, and the results of their operations and their cash flows
for each of the three years in the period ended January 31, 1997 and for the
nine months ended October 31, 1997, in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles. These financial statements are the responsibility of the
Company's management; our responsibility is to express an opinion on these
financial statements based on our audits. We conducted our audits of these
statements in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards which
require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about
whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit
includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and
disclosures in the financial statements, assessing the accounting principles
used and significant estimates made by management, and evaluating the overall
financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a
reasonable basis for the opinion expressed above.
    
 
/s/ PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP
PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP
 
   
Minneapolis, Minnesota
November 13, 1997
    
 
                                      F-2
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
                           CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
   
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                             JANUARY 31,          OCTOBER 31, 1997
                                                                         --------------------  ----------------------
                                                                           1996       1997      ACTUAL
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------   PRO FORMA
                                                                                                          -----------
                                                                                                          (UNAUDITED)
                                                                                                           (NOTE 2)
<S>                                                                      <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>
ASSETS
Current assets:
  Cash and cash equivalents............................................  $   1,939  $     874  $   3,011   $   3,011
  Accounts receivable..................................................      1,562      3,215      6,537       6,537
  Receivable from officer..............................................     --             70         76          76
  Prepaid expenses and other current assets............................        112        318        864         864
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
    Total current assets...............................................      3,613      4,477     10,488      10,488
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Furniture and equipment................................................        611      1,294      2,338       2,338
Other assets...........................................................         97        147        139         139
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                         $   4,321  $   5,918  $  12,965   $  12,965
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
 
LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE PREFERRED STOCK AND
   STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY (DEFICIT)
 
Current liabilities:
  Line of credit borrowings............................................  $  --      $  --      $   1,685   $   1,685
  Current portion--long-term debt......................................        275        790        919         919
  Accounts payable.....................................................        419        580        929         929
  Accrued expenses.....................................................        552      1,838      2,682       2,682
  Deferred revenue.....................................................      1,270      3,371      4,888       4,888
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
    Total current liabilities..........................................      2,516      6,579     11,103      11,103
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Long-term debt, less current portion...................................        275      1,244      1,135       1,135
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
    Total liabilities..................................................      2,791      7,823     12,238      12,238
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
 
COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES (NOTES 6 and 8)
Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock, $0.01 par value.......      5,337      5,337      5,337      --
Series B convertible redeemable preferred stock, $0.01 par value.......      7,150      7,150      7,150      --
Series C convertible redeemable preferred stock, $0.01 par value.......     --          4,923      4,923      --
Series D convertible redeemable preferred stock, $0.01 par value.......     --         --          7,000      --
Stockholders' equity (deficit):
  Common stock, $0.01 par value; 60,000,000 shares authorized; 979,259,
    1,059,139, 1,680,426 and 11,655,359 shares issued and outstanding,
    respectively.......................................................         10         11         17         117
  Additional paid-in-capital...........................................        847      1,007      2,665      26,975
  Cumulative translation adjustments...................................         19         19         17          17
  Accumulated deficit..................................................    (11,833)   (20,352)   (26,382)    (26,382)
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)...................................    (10,957)   (19,315)   (23,683)        727
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                         $   4,321  $   5,918  $  12,965   $  12,965
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                         ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
</TABLE>
    
 
  The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
                                  statements.
 
                                      F-3
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
                      CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                                 NINE MONTHS ENDED
                                                               YEARS ENDED JANUARY 31,              OCTOBER 31,
                                                           --------------------------------  -------------------------
                                                             1995       1996        1997                       1997
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------      1996       ----------
                                                                                             -------------
                                                                                              (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                                        <C>        <C>        <C>         <C>            <C>
Revenues:
  License................................................  $   1,826  $   2,686  $    6,491    $   4,786    $    9,087
  Service................................................      1,991      2,956       5,255        3,628         8,414
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
        Total revenues...................................      3,817      5,642      11,746        8,414        17,501
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
Cost of revenues:
  License................................................         72        118         132           94           107
  Service................................................      1,636      2,129       3,308        2,263         5,500
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
        Total cost of revenues...........................      1,708      2,247       3,440        2,357         5,607
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
 
Gross margin.............................................      2,109      3,395       8,306        6,057        11,894
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
 
Operating expenses:
  Sales and marketing....................................      3,406      3,854      11,350        7,407        12,305
  Research and development...............................      2,162      2,089       3,189        2,142         3,917
  General and administrative.............................        853      1,247       2,147        1,488         1,539
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
        Total operating expenses.........................      6,421      7,190      16,686       11,037        17,761
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
Loss from operations.....................................     (4,312)    (3,795)     (8,380)      (4,980)       (5,867)
 
Other income (expense):
  Interest expense.......................................       (102)      (110)       (244)        (181)         (177)
  Interest income........................................         19        116         148          141            88
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
        Total other income (expense).....................        (83)         6         (96)         (40)          (89)
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
Net loss.................................................  $  (4,395) $  (3,789) $   (8,476)   $  (5,020)   $   (5,956)
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
                                                           ---------  ---------  ----------       ------    ----------
Unaudited pro forma net loss per share...................                        $    (0.83)                $    (0.51)
                                                                                 ----------                 ----------
                                                                                 ----------                 ----------
Shares used in computing unaudited pro forma net loss per
  share..................................................                        10,207,765                 11,622,166
                                                                                 ----------                 ----------
                                                                                 ----------                 ----------
</TABLE>
 
  The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
                                  statements.
 
                                      F-4
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF STOCKHOLDERS' DEFICIT
                      (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                               COMMON STOCK       ADDITIONAL     CUMULATIVE                        TOTAL
                                          ----------------------    PAID-IN      TRANSLATION     ACCUMULATED   STOCKHOLDERS'
                                           SHARES      AMOUNT       CAPITAL      ADJUSTMENTS       DEFICIT        DEFICIT
                                          ---------  -----------  -----------  ---------------  -------------  -------------
<S>                                       <C>        <C>          <C>          <C>              <C>            <C>
Balance, January 31, 1994...............    973,659   $      10    $     841      $  --           $  (3,606)     $  (2,755)
  Preferred stock issuance costs........     --          --           --             --                 (17)           (17)
  Stock options.........................      2,000      --                2         --              --                  2
  Translation adjustments...............     --          --           --             --              --             --
  Net loss..............................     --          --           --             --              (4,395)        (4,395)
                                                             --
                                          ---------               -----------           ---     -------------  -------------
Balance, January 31, 1995...............    975,659          10          843         --              (8,018)        (7,165)
  Preferred stock issuance costs........     --          --           --             --                 (26)           (26)
  Stock options.........................      3,600      --                4         --              --                  4
  Translation adjustments...............     --          --           --                 19          --                 19
  Net loss..............................     --          --           --             --              (3,789)        (3,789)
                                                             --
                                          ---------               -----------           ---     -------------  -------------
Balance, January 31, 1996...............    979,259          10          847             19         (11,833)       (10,957)
  Preferred stock issuance costs........     --          --           --             --                 (43)           (43)
  Stock options.........................     79,880           1          160         --              --                161
  Translation adjustments...............     --          --           --             --              --             --
  Net loss..............................     --          --           --             --              (8,476)        (8,476)
                                                             --
                                          ---------               -----------           ---     -------------  -------------
Balance, January 31, 1997...............  1,059,139          11        1,007             19         (20,352)       (19,315)
  Preferred stock issuance costs........     --          --           --             --                 (74)           (74)
  Stock options.........................    187,296           2          905         --              --                907
  Stock purchase warrants exercised.....    433,991           4          753         --              --                757
  Translation adjustments...............     --          --           --                 (2)         --                 (2)
  Net loss..............................     --          --           --             --              (5,956)        (5,956)
                                                             --
                                          ---------               -----------           ---     -------------  -------------
Balance, October 31, 1997...............  1,680,426   $      17    $   2,665      $      17       $ (26,382)     $ (23,683)
                                                             --
                                                             --
                                          ---------               -----------           ---     -------------  -------------
                                          ---------               -----------           ---     -------------  -------------
</TABLE>
 
  The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
                                  statements.
 
                                      F-5
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                      CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
                                 (IN THOUSANDS)
 
   
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                                       NINE MONTHS ENDED
                                                                       YEARS ENDED JANUARY 31,            OCTOBER 31,
                                                                   -------------------------------  ------------------------
                                                                     1995       1996       1997                      1997
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------      1996       ---------
                                                                                                    -------------
                                                                                                     (UNAUDITED)
<S>                                                                <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>            <C>
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
  Net loss.......................................................  $  (4,395) $  (3,789) $  (8,476)   $  (5,020)   $  (5,956)
  Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used by operating
    activities:
    Depreciation and amortization................................        242        193        470          277        1,199
    Interest expense converted to preferred stock................     --             58     --           --           --
    Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
      Accounts receivable........................................        256       (801)    (1,653)      (1,618)      (3,322)
      Prepaid expenses and other current assets..................       (111)        (1)      (276)        (243)        (546)
      Accounts payable...........................................         53         15        161          371          349
      Accrued expenses...........................................        267         27      1,286          527          844
      Deferred revenue...........................................        431        670      2,101          754        1,117
      Other......................................................         71        (18)       (50)         (22)           8
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
        Net cash used by operating activities....................     (3,186)    (3,646)    (6,437)      (4,974)      (6,307)
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:
  Additions to furniture and equipment...........................       (231)       (32)      (592)        (529)        (875)
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
  Net cash used by investing activities..........................       (231)       (32)      (592)        (529)        (875)
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
  Proceeds from exercise of stock options........................          2          4         86           74          217
  Proceeds from exercise of stock purchase warrants..............     --         --         --           --              757
  Proceeds from sale of convertible redeemable preferred stock,
    net
    of expenses..................................................      2,483      5,067      4,880        4,880        6,926
  Proceeds from issuance of notes payable-stockholders...........      1,000      1,000     --           --           --
  Borrowings under lines of credit...............................         90     --         --           --            1,685
  Repayments on lines of credit..................................     --           (435)    --           --           --
  Proceeds from long-term debt...................................     --         --          1,500        1,500          400
  Principal payments on long-term debt...........................       (170)      (217)      (502)        (279)        (666)
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
  Net cash provided by financing activities......................      3,405      5,419      5,964        6,175        9,319
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents.............        (12)     1,741     (1,065)         672        2,137
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of period...................        210        198      1,939        1,939          874
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
Cash and cash equivalents, end of period.........................  $     198  $   1,939  $     874    $   2,611    $   3,011
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
SUPPLEMENTAL CASH FLOW INFORMATION:
  Cash paid during the year for interest.........................  $     105  $     132  $     234    $     171    $     168
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
                                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------       ------    ---------
</TABLE>
    
 
  The accompanying notes are an integral part of these consolidated financial
                                  statements.
 
                                      F-6
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
                   NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 1--ORGANIZATION
 
    Information Advantage develops, markets and supports enterprise scalable
on-line analytical processing software that is designed to allow large numbers
of users to access and analyze large amounts of data to make quick and more
informed business decisions. The Company's relational server-based solution,
DecisionSuite, provides powerful, robust and flexible analysis processing
capabilities that transform raw data into meaningful information from a wide
range of desktop and Internet platforms. The Company also provides a
comprehensive range of related training, consulting and customer support
services.
 
NOTE 2--SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
 
BASIS OF PRESENTATION
 
    The consolidated financial statements include accounts of the Company and
wholly-owned subsidiaries operating in the United Kingdom and Germany. All
significant intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated.
 
    Information for the nine months ended October 31, 1996 is unaudited. The
information furnished in the unaudited October 31, 1996 statements of operations
and cash flows include all adjustments, consisting only of normal recurring
accruals, which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair
presentation of such financial statements.
 
REVERSE STOCK SPLIT
 
   
    On October 8, 1997, the Company's Board of Directors approved a reverse
1-for-2 1/2 stock split which became effective on December 3, 1997. The effect
of the reverse stock split has been reflected for all periods presented in the
accompanying financial statements.
    
 
PRO FORMA BALANCE SHEET (UNAUDITED)
 
    If the offering contemplated by this Prospectus is consummated, all of the
convertible redeemable preferred stock outstanding at the closing date will be
converted share for share into 9,483,334 shares of common stock. In addition,
639,739 of the 783,158 stock purchase warrants outstanding as of October 31,
1997 will be exercised automatically and converted into 491,599 shares of common
stock if not exercised prior to the closing of this offering. The unaudited pro
forma balance sheet reflects the conversion of outstanding convertible
redeemable preferred stock and common stock warrants at October 31, 1997 into
shares of common stock.
 
USE OF ESTIMATES
 
    The preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and
assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and
disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial
statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the
reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
 
FOREIGN CURRENCY TRANSLATION
 
    All assets and liabilities of the Company's foreign subsidiaries are
translated from local currencies to U.S. dollars at period end rates of
exchange, while the consolidated statement of operations is translated at the
average exchange rates during the period. The functional currency for the
Company's United Kingdom and
 
                                      F-7
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 2--SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
German subsidiaries is the respective local currencies. Translation adjustments
arising from the translation of net assets located outside of the United States
into U.S. dollars are recorded as a separate component of stockholders' equity.
Transaction gains or losses on sales to foreign customers which are denominated
in their local currencies are recorded in the statement of operations. The
Company has not experienced any material transaction gains or losses.
 
CASH AND CASH EQUIVALENTS
 
    For purposes of the statement of cash flows, the Company considers all
highly liquid investments purchased with a maturity of three months or less to
be cash equivalents.
 
FAIR VALUE OF FINANCIAL INSTRUMENTS
 
    Cash and cash equivalents are valued at amounts which approximate fair
value. The fair value of all other financial instruments approximates cost as
stated.
 
REVENUE RECOGNITION AND SIGNIFICANT CUSTOMERS
 
   
    Revenues derived from software licenses are recognized upon (a) the
execution of a license agreement, (b) delivery of the software product (c)
reasonable assurance of customer acceptance of the software and collectibility
of the receivable, and (d) fulfillment of any other of the Company's contract
obligations. For software provided for demonstration or pilot purposes, or where
significant post-delivery obligations exist, revenues are deferred until
execution of a license agreement and fulfillment of all revenue recognition
requirements. Revenues derived from maintenance contracts which are bundled with
the initial licenses and all revenues from extended maintenance contracts are
deferred and recognized ratably over the term of the maintenance contract.
Revenues from maintenance contracts are included in services revenues. Revenues
from training and consulting services are recognized as the services are
performed. The Company's policy is in compliance with the provisions of the
American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' Statement of Position 91-1,
"Software Revenue Recognition."
    
 
   
    Financial instruments which potentially subject the Company to credit risk
consist primarily of accounts receivable. The Company grants credit to customers
in the ordinary course of business. Three different customers accounted for
approximately 20%, 17% and 12%, respectively, of total revenues during 1995.
Different individual customers accounted for approximately 14% and 10% of
revenues during 1996 and 1997, respectively. For the nine months ended October
31, 1997, no single customer accounted for greater than 10% of total revenues.
Receivables from the individual significant customer in 1996 represented
approximately 9% of total receivables at January 31, 1996. As of October 31,
1997, a single customer accounted for 21% of total accounts receivable.
    
 
    Accounts receivable are stated net of the related allowance for doubtful
accounts of $21, $101 and $101 as of January 31, 1996 and 1997 and October 31,
1997, respectively.
 
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
 
    Expenditures for research and software development are expensed as incurred.
Such costs are required to be expensed until the point that technological
feasibility of the product is established and the realizability of any
capitalized costs is determined. Technological feasibility is evidenced by a
working model. The period between achieving technological feasibility and the
general availability to the public of such software has been short.
 
                                      F-8
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 2--SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
Consequently, costs otherwise capitalizable after technological feasibility is
achieved have been expensed because they have been insignificant to both total
assets and net loss.
 
FURNITURE AND EQUIPMENT
 
    Furniture and equipment, including those assets acquired under capital
leases, consists of computers and office equipment, and is depreciated using the
straight-line method over the estimated useful lives of the assets, which
generally range from 3 to 5 years. Significant additions or improvements
extending asset lives are capitalized, while repairs and maintenance are charged
to expense as incurred. Amortization of assets under capital leases is included
in depreciation expense. The amount of leased equipment consists of the
following:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                              JANUARY 31,
                                                         ----------------------  OCTOBER 31,
                                                            1996        1997        1997
                                                         ----------  ----------  -----------
<S>                                                      <C>         <C>         <C>
Equipment cost.........................................  $      441  $      927   $   1,215
Less: Accumulated amortization.........................        (130)       (336)       (590)
                                                         ----------  ----------  -----------
                                                         $      311  $      591   $     625
                                                         ----------  ----------  -----------
                                                         ----------  ----------  -----------
</TABLE>
 
INCOME TAXES
 
    Income taxes are accounted for on the liability method in accordance with
Statement of Financial Accounting Standards (SFAS) No. 109, "Accounting for
Income Taxes." Under the liability method, deferred tax assets and liabilities
are determined based on the difference between the financial statement and tax
bases of assets and liabilities reduced by a valuation allowance, as necessary.
 
UNAUDITED PRO FORMA NET LOSS PER SHARE
 
    Unaudited pro forma net loss per share is based on the unaudited pro forma
weighted average number of shares of common stock and common equivalent shares
outstanding for the period. The unaudited pro forma weighted average number of
shares assumes the conversion of the Company's convertible redeemable preferred
stock into 9,483,334 shares of common stock, and the automatic conversion of
convertible preferred stock warrants to 491,599 shares of Common Stock, which
will occur upon completion of the offering. Because of the significant impact of
the assumed conversion on the Company's capital structure and earnings per
share, historical earnings per share have been excluded from the financial
statements. Pursuant to certain Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Staff
Accounting Bulletins, all common stock, warrants and options issued by the
Company with exercise prices below the initial public offering (IPO) price
during the 12-month period preceding the date of the initial filing of the
Registration Statement have been included in the calculation of net loss per
share, using the treasury stock method based on the assumed IPO price, as if
they were outstanding for all prior periods presented.
 
RECENTLY ISSUED ACCOUNTING STANDARDS
 
    In February 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement
No. 128, "Earnings Per Share" (SFAS No. 128). SFAS No. 128 applies to entities
with publicly held common stock and is effective for financial statements issued
for periods ending after December 15, 1997. Under SFAS No. 128 the presentation
of primary earnings per share is replaced with a presentation of basic earnings
per share. SFAS No. 128 requires dual presentation of basic and diluted earnings
per share for entities with complex capital structures. Basic
 
                                      F-9
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 2--SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES (CONTINUED)
earnings per share includes no dilution and is computed by dividing net income
(loss) available to common stockholders by the weighted average number of common
shares outstanding for the period. Diluted earnings per share reflects the
potential dilution of securities that could share in the earnings of an entity,
similar to fully diluted earnings per share. Management believes the adoption of
SFAS No. 128 will not have a material effect on the financial statements.
 
    In June 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued Statement No.
130, "Reporting Comprehensive Income" (SFAS No. 130). SFAS No. 130 is effective
for financial statements for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 1997.
This standard defines comprehensive income as the changes in equity of an
enterprise except those resulting from stockholder transactions. All components
of comprehensive income are required to be reported in a new financial
statement. Management believes the adoption of SFAS No. 130 will not have a
material effect on the Company's financial statements.
 
    In June 1997, the Financial Accounting Standards Board also issued Statement
No. 131, "Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related Information"
(SFAS No. 131). SFAS No. 131 is effective for financial statements for periods
beginning after December 15, 1997. SFAS No. 131 establishes standards for
disclosures about operating segments, products and services, geographic areas
and major customers. Management believes the adoption of SFAS No. 131 will not
have a material effect on the Company's financial statements.
 
    The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' has approved a new
Statement of Position (SOP), SOP 97-2 which will supersede Statement of Position
91-1, "Software Revenue Recognition." Management has assessed this new statement
and believes that its adoption will not have a material effect on the timing of
the Company's revenue recognition or cause changes to its revenue recognition
policies.
 
NOTE 3--FINANCIAL STATEMENT COMPONENTS
 
Furniture and equipment consists of the following:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                    JANUARY 31,
                                                                --------------------  OCTOBER 31,
                                                                  1996       1997        1997
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
<S>                                                             <C>        <C>        <C>
Computer equipment............................................  $     785  $   1,615   $   2,325
Furniture and office equipment................................        474        722       1,572
Less: Accumulated depreciation................................       (648)    (1,043)     (1,559)
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                $     611  $   1,294   $   2,338
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
</TABLE>
 
Accrued expenses consist of the following:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                    JANUARY 31,
                                                                --------------------  OCTOBER 31,
                                                                  1996       1997        1997
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
<S>                                                             <C>        <C>        <C>
Accrued wages and benefits....................................  $     365  $   1,294   $   2,076
Other accrued expenses........................................        187        544         606
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                $     552  $   1,838   $   2,682
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                ---------  ---------  -----------
</TABLE>
 
NOTE 4--LINE OF CREDIT
 
    The Company has a $2.0 million working capital line of credit with a bank.
Borrowings are limited to the lesser of $2.0 million or 70% of eligible accounts
receivable. Borrowings bear interest at an annual rate of 1.75%
 
                                      F-10
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 4--LINE OF CREDIT (CONTINUED)
above the bank's prime rate (8.25% at January 31, and 8.50% at October 31, 1997)
and are collateralized by all of the Company's assets. The agreement expired on
September 3, 1997 and was renewed through September 2, 1998 under substantially
the same terms. Borrowings outstanding under this line at January 31, 1996 and
1997 and October 31, 1997 were $0, $0, and $1,685, respectively. The line of
credit agreement contains certain covenants pertaining to operating results and
certain other financial ratios. At October 31, 1997, the Company was in
compliance with these covenants.
 
NOTE 5--LONG-TERM DEBT
 
Long-term debt consists of the following:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                     JANUARY 31,
                                                                 --------------------  OCTOBER 31,
                                                                   1996       1997        1997
                                                                 ---------  ---------  -----------
<S>                                                              <C>        <C>        <C>
Subordinated note payable; bears interest at 13.5% per annum;
  due in varying monthly installments through April 1999;
  secured by certain Company assets............................  $  --      $   1,397   $   1,065
Capital lease obligations; bear interest at 8.0% to 13.5% per
  annum; due in varying monthly installments through October
  2000.........................................................        382        581         589
Equipment note payable; bears interest at 1.75% above prime
  (8.50% at October 31, 1997); due in 30 monthly installments
  of $15 through September 3, 2000.............................     --         --             400
Note payable; bears interest at 10% per annum; due in quarterly
  installments of $28, plus accrued interest, through June
  1997.........................................................        168         56      --
                                                                 ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                       550      2,034       2,054
Current portion--long-term debt................................       (275)      (790)       (919)
                                                                 ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                 $     275  $   1,244   $   1,135
                                                                 ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                                 ---------  ---------  -----------
</TABLE>
 
Future payments of long-term debt are as follows:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
YEARS ENDING JANUARY 31,
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                                                                                    <C>
1998.................................................................................  $     363
1999.................................................................................      1,206
2000.................................................................................        694
2001.................................................................................        163
                                                                                       ---------
                                                                                           2,426
Less: Amount representing interest...................................................       (372)
                                                                                       ---------
                                                                                       $   2,054
                                                                                       ---------
                                                                                       ---------
</TABLE>
 
                                      F-11
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 6--OPERATING LEASES
 
   
    The Company leases equipment and office space in several facilities under
non-cancelable operating leases which expire on various dates through June 2002.
Rental expense under such leases were $571, $547 and $721, for the years ended
January 31, 1995, 1996 and 1997, respectively and $644 for the nine months ended
October 31, 1997. Future minimum payments under the lease agreements are as
follows:
    
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
YEARS ENDING JANUARY 31,
- -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                                                                                    <C>
1998.................................................................................  $     574
1999.................................................................................        704
2000.................................................................................        667
2001.................................................................................        373
2002.................................................................................         86
                                                                                       ---------
                                                                                       $   2,404
                                                                                       ---------
                                                                                       ---------
</TABLE>
 
NOTE 7--INCOME TAXES
 
    At October 31, 1997, the Company had net operating loss carryforwards of
approximately $20 million for income tax purposes. The net operating loss
carryforwards will begin to expire in 2007. Utilization of these net operating
loss carryforwards in the future by the Company may be limited or deferred
subject to Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code. No future tax benefit for
such carryforwards or other temporary differences has been recognized since
utilization of such benefits is not presently deemed by management to be more
likely than not based on the weight of available evidence.
 
    Deferred income taxes reflect the tax effects of temporary differences
between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting
purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of
the Company's deferred tax liabilities and assets are as follows:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                  JANUARY 31,
                                                              --------------------  OCTOBER 31,
                                                                1996       1997        1997
                                                              ---------  ---------  -----------
<S>                                                           <C>        <C>        <C>
Deferred tax liabilities:
  Tax depreciation in excess of financial reporting.........  $      36  $      37   $  --
                                                              ---------  ---------  -----------
Deferred tax assets:
  Net operating loss carryforward...........................      3,638      6,284       7,955
  Vacation and other accruals...............................        313        851         772
  Book depreciation in excess of tax........................     --         --              89
  Research and development credit carryforward..............     --             48          85
  Accounts receivable allowance.............................          8         33          39
  Amortization..............................................        168         49      --
                                                              ---------  ---------  -----------
    Total deferred tax assets...............................      4,127      7,265       8,940
                                                              ---------  ---------  -----------
Valuation allowance.........................................     (4,091)    (7,228)     (8,940)
                                                              ---------  ---------  -----------
  Total net deferred income taxes...........................  $  --      $  --       $  --
                                                              ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                              ---------  ---------  -----------
</TABLE>
 
                                      F-12
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 8--CAPITAL STRUCTURE
 
    The Company has the following authorized capital stock: 60,000,000 common
shares, 4,000,000 Series A convertible redeemable preferred shares, 4,000,000
Series B convertible redeemable preferred shares, 1,633,198 Series C convertible
redeemable preferred shares, 1,400,000 Series D convertible redeemable preferred
shares, 4,000,000 Series E convertible redeemable preferred shares, 4,000,000
Series F convertible redeemable preferred shares, 1,633,198 Series G convertible
redeemable preferred shares, and 1,400,000 Series H convertible redeemable
preferred shares (collectively, the Preferred Shares), all of which have $0.01
par value. The Preferred Shares are convertible, at the option of the holder,
into common stock on a share for share basis, have certain voting rights and
provide for certain liquidation preferences. The conversion feature is automatic
upon the closing of an initial public offering of the Company's common stock.
 
SERIES A CONVERTIBLE REDEEMABLE PREFERRED STOCK
 
    During March 1993, the Company issued 1,558,000 shares of Series A
convertible redeemable preferred stock for $1.50 per share. Total proceeds were
$2,310, net of expenses. As part of this sale, preferred stockholders were
issued warrants to purchase 779,000 shares of common stock at $1.50 per share.
These warrants expire on March 10, 1998. Using an option-pricing model the fair
value of the warrants was immaterial.
 
    During February 1994, the Company completed the sale of an additional
1,999,990 shares of Series A convertible redeemable preferred stock at $1.50 per
share. In anticipation of this sale, certain preferred stockholders had, as of
January 31, 1994, advanced $500 to the Company. In February 1994, these advances
were applied to the purchase price of the shares acquired. Total proceeds from
the sale, including the initial stockholder advances, were $2,983, net of
expenses. Total proceeds from the sales of all shares of Series A convertible
redeemable preferred stock were $5,293, net of expenses, with 3,557,990 shares
outstanding.
 
SERIES B CONVERTIBLE REDEEMABLE PREFERRED STOCK
 
    During June 1995, the Company completed the sale of 3,010,515 shares of
Series B convertible redeemable preferred stock at $2.375 per share to
substantially all of the preferred stockholders who purchased preferred stock in
February 1994 and several new investors. In anticipation of this sale, certain
preferred stockholders had, as of January 31, 1995, advanced $1,000 to the
Company. Such advances were reflected as notes payable-- stockholders in the
balance sheet at January 31, 1995. Additionally during February 1995, the
Company obtained an additional $1,000 of advances from the preferred
stockholders. As a condition of the advances, such stockholders received
warrants to purchase 294,734 common shares at $2.375 per share for a period of
four years from the date of issuance. Using the fair value method prescribed in
SFAS No. 123, the fair value of the warrants was immaterial. In June 1995, these
advances were applied to the purchase price of the shares acquired. Total
proceeds from the sale were $7,124, net of expenses.
 
SERIES C CONVERTIBLE REDEEMABLE PREFERRED STOCK
 
    During March 1996, the Company sold 1,514,837 shares of Series C convertible
redeemable preferred stock at $3.25 per share to substantially all existing
preferred stockholders and several new investors. Total proceeds from the sale
were $4,880, net of expenses.
 
                                      F-13
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 8--CAPITAL STRUCTURE (CONTINUED)
SERIES D CONVERTIBLE REDEEMABLE PREFERRED STOCK
 
    During February 1997, the Company sold 1,399,992 shares of Series D
convertible redeemable preferred stock at $5.00 per share to both existing and
several new investors. Total proceeds from the sale were $6,926, net of
expenses.
 
MANDATORY PREFERRED STOCK REDEMPTION
 
    One-fourth of the Series A and E convertible redeemable preferred shares are
subject to redemption during each of the fiscal years from 1998 through 2000,
with the balance to be redeemed during fiscal year 2001. One-fourth of the
Series B and F convertible redeemable preferred shares are subject to redemption
during each of the fiscal years from 2000 through 2002, with the balance to be
redeemed during fiscal year 2003. One-fourth of the Series C and G convertible
redeemable preferred shares are subject to redemption during each of the fiscal
years from 2001 through 2003, with the balance to be redeemed during fiscal year
2004. One-fourth of the Series D and H convertible redeemable preferred shares
are subject to redemption during each of the fiscal years from 2002 through
2004, with the balance to be redeemed during fiscal year 2005. The redemption
price shall equal the per share issuance price plus any unpaid and accumulated
or accrued dividends on the preferred stock. The Preferred Shares are recorded
at redemption value which also is the Preferred Shares liquidation value. In the
event any dividend or distribution is declared or made with respect to the
common stock, a comparable dividend or distribution must be simultaneously
declared or made with respect to the Preferred Shares. There have been no
dividends declared or paid through October 31, 1997.
 
    Future redemptions of the Series A, B, C and D convertible redeemable
preferred shares outstanding as of October 31, 1997 are as follows:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
YEARS ENDING JANUARY 31,
- ---------------------------------------------------------------
<S>                                                              <C>
1998...........................................................  $   1,334
1999...........................................................      1,334
2000...........................................................      3,122
2001...........................................................      4,353
2002...........................................................      4,768
Thereafter.....................................................      9,499
                                                                 ---------
                                                                 $  24,410
                                                                 ---------
                                                                 ---------
</TABLE>
 
CAPITAL STRUCTURE CHANGES
 
    In September 1997, subject to certain conditions, the Board of Directors
authorized the reincorporation of the Company in Delware, increased the
authorized shares of the Company and designated a par value of $0.01 for common
and convertible redeemable preferred shares. All applicable share data included
in the financial statements has been adjusted to give retroactive effect to such
action. In addition, the Company authorized 5,000,000, $.01 par value preferred
shares to be effective subsequent to the closing of an initial public offering.
 
                                      F-14
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 8--CAPITAL STRUCTURE (CONTINUED)
OTHER WARRANTS
 
    In conjunction with certain bank financing activities, the Company issued a
warrant in March 1995 to its bank to purchase 15,000 common shares at $2.00 per
share. The warrant expires on March 30, 2000. In conjunction with certain other
financings in fiscal 1996 and 1997, the Company issued warrants to a different
lender to purchase 33,683 Series B convertible redeemable preferred shares at
$2.375 per share. The warrants expire on September 29, 1999 (13,473 shares) and
November 20, 2000 (20,210 shares). In addition, the Company issued an additional
warrant to this lender in fiscal 1997 to purchase 94,736 Series C convertible
redeemable preferred shares at $3.25 per share, which expires on April 12, 2003.
Using the fair value method prescribed in SFAS No. 123, the fair value of the
warrants was immaterial.
 
    As of October 31, 1997, the Company had outstanding 783,158 stock purchase
warrants at conversion prices ranging from $1.50 to $3.25. Of these, 639,739
warrants will be automatically exercised and converted into 491,599 shares of
common stock if not exercised prior to the closing of this offering.
 
NOTE 9--STOCK OPTION AND EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLANS
 
STOCK OPTION PLANS
 
   
    The Company has a stock incentive plan (the "1992 Stock Option Plan") that
reserves a total of 2,640,000 shares of common stock for issuance of stock
options to employees, officers and directors.
    
 
    In September 1997, the Company's Board of Directors adopted, subject to
stockholder approval, the 1997 Equity Incentive Plan (the "1997 Plan"). The
number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance under the 1997 Plan is
equal to 1,000,000, plus the number of remaining shares available for grant
under the Company's 1992 Stock Option Plan at the effective date of the
offering. Beginning February 1, 1999 and each year thereafter, the number of
shares reserved for issuance will automatically increase by the lesser of
400,000 shares or 3.5% of the total number of shares of common stock then
outstanding.
 
    The option price for stock options granted is determined by the Company's
Board of Directors on the date of grant. Canceled options are available for
future grant and unvested options issued to employees are canceled when their
employment with the Company terminates. Generally, options granted to employees
vest over a five-year period and expire ten years after the date of grant.
 
    The Company records compensation related to stock options using the
intrinsic value method of APB No. 25. Compensation related to stock options
granted below fair market value through October 31, 1997 approximates $1.1
million. Such compensation is considered deferred compensation and amortized
over the vesting period of the related options.
 
    The Company has adopted the disclosure-only provisions of SFAS No. 123. For
purposes of the pro forma disclosures below, the estimated fair value of the
options is amortized to expense over the options' vesting period. Had
compensation cost for the Company's stock plan been determined based on the
minimum value at the grant date for awards during fiscal years 1996, 1997 and
during the nine months ended October 31, 1997,
 
                                      F-15
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 9--STOCK OPTION AND EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLANS (CONTINUED)
consistent with the provisions of SFAS No. 123, the Company's net losses would
have been increased to the pro forma amounts indicated below:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                           JANUARY 31,
                                                    --------------------------  OCTOBER 31,
                                                        1996          1997          1997
                                                    ------------  ------------  ------------
<S>                                                 <C>           <C>           <C>
Net loss--as reported.............................  $     (3,789) $     (8,476) $     (5,956)
Net loss--pro forma...............................        (3,830)       (8,595)       (6,357)
</TABLE>
 
    The minimum value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant
using the Black-Scholes option-pricing model with the following weighted-average
assumptions used for grants in fiscal years 1996, 1997, and for the nine months
ended October 31, 1997, respectively; dividend yield of 0%; risk-free interest
rates of 6.7%, 6.4% and 6.3%; and expected lives of 8.5 years. Volatility
factors are not applicable to non-public companies.
 
    A summary of the stock option activity is as follows:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                     WEIGHTED-
                                                                                      AVERAGE
                                                                  EXERCISE PRICE     EXERCISE
                                                      OPTIONS        PER SHARE         PRICE
                                                     ----------  -----------------  -----------
<S>                                                  <C>         <C>                <C>
Outstanding at January 31, 1994....................     257,600    $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.05
 
Granted............................................     340,640       $1.125         $    1.13
Exercised..........................................      (2,000)   $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.10
Canceled...........................................     (26,600)   $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.13
                                                     ----------
 
Outstanding at January 31, 1995....................     569,640    $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.10
 
Granted............................................     767,633       $1.125         $    1.13
Exercised..........................................      (3,600)   $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.03
Canceled...........................................     (60,040)   $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.13
                                                     ----------
 
Outstanding at January 31, 1996....................   1,273,633    $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.10
 
Granted............................................     736,120       $1.125         $    1.13
Exercised..........................................     (79,880)   $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.08
Canceled...........................................    (153,220)   $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.13
                                                     ----------
Outstanding at January 31, 1997....................   1,776,653    $0.875 - $1.125   $    1.13
 
Granted............................................     719,900   $1.125 - $8.75     $    2.51
Exercised..........................................    (187,296)   $0.875 - $2.125   $    1.16
Canceled...........................................     (52,144)  $1.125 - $7.50     $    1.27
                                                     ----------
Outstanding at October 31, 1997....................   2,257,113   $0.875 - $8.75     $    1.55
                                                     ----------
                                                     ----------
</TABLE>
 
    Stock options exercisable at January 31, 1995, 1996 and 1997 and at October
31, 1997 were 112,120, 220,040 and 409,986, and 742,993, respectively. The
weighted-average fair value of options granted during fiscal years 1996 and 1997
during the nine months ended October 31, 1997 using the Black-Scholes
option-pricing model was $0.22, $0.46 and $2.27 per share, respectively.
 
                                      F-16
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 9--STOCK OPTION AND EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLANS (CONTINUED)
    The following table summarizes information about fixed-price stock options
outstanding at October 31, 1997:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                           OPTIONS OUTSTANDING
                                -----------------------------------------    OPTIONS EXERCISABLE
                                                WEIGHTED-                  ------------------------
                                                 AVERAGE       WEIGHTED-                 WEIGHTED-
                                                REMAINING       AVERAGE                   AVERAGE
                                  NUMBER      CONTRACTURAL     EXERCISE      NUMBER      EXERCISE
RANGE OF EXERCISE PRICES        OUTSTANDING       LIFE           PRICE     EXERCISABLE     PRICE
- ------------------------------  -----------  ---------------  -----------  -----------  -----------
<S>                             <C>          <C>              <C>          <C>          <C>
$0.875 - $2.125                  2,004,213            8.1      $   1.210      742,993    $   1.125
$3.750 - $5.625                    195,500            9.8      $   4.000       --           --
$7.50 - $8.75                       57,400            9.9      $   7.750       --           --
                                -----------                                -----------
  Totals                         2,257,113                                    742,993
                                -----------                                -----------
                                -----------                                -----------
</TABLE>
 
EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN
 
    In September 1997, the Board of Directors adopted, subject to stockholder
approval, the Company's 1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan (the "Purchase Plan").
Under the Purchase Plan, eligible employees may purchase on each purchase date,
as defined, shares of common stock at 85% of its fair market value, up to the
lesser of 500 shares or 15% of the employee's compensation. In addition, 200,000
shares of common stock have been reserved for issuance under the Purchase Plan.
 
NOTE 10--BENEFIT PLAN
 
    The Company offers its employees a 401(k) savings plan. Eligible employees
may elect to contribute a portion of their salaries up to limits defined by the
Internal Revenue Code. The Company may, at its sole discretion, match up to 6%
of employee contributions. There have been no employer contributions to date.
The Company also offers employees of its subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and
Germany a defined contribution plan. The Company does not offer other
post-retirement or post-employment benefits.
 
NOTE 11--RELATED PARTY TRANSACTION
 
    At January 31, and October 31, 1997, the Company has a receivable from an
officer in the amount of $70 and $76, respectively. The receivable bears
interest at 5.3%, is secured by 28,572 shares of Company common stock and is due
sixty days after demand by the Company.
 
NOTE 12--SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC AREAS
 
    The Company operates in one industry segment, the development and marketing
of business analysis software products for data warehouse applications and
related services. International operations include operations in the United
Kingdom and Germany by the Company's wholly-owned subsidiaries. The Company's
subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Germany sell the Company's software
products and services in Europe.
 
                                      F-17
<PAGE>
                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
             NOTES TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
 
               (IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT SHARE AND PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
 
NOTE 12--SEGMENT AND GEOGRAPHIC AREAS (CONTINUED)
The following table presents a summary of operating information and certain
balance sheet information by geographic region:
 
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                                       NINE
                                                         FISCAL YEARS ENDED           MONTHS
                                                             JANUARY 31,               ENDED
                                                   -------------------------------  OCTOBER 31,
                                                     1995       1996       1997        1997
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
<S>                                                <C>        <C>        <C>        <C>
Revenues:
  Domestic operations............................  $   2,872  $   5,037  $  10,629   $  16,136
  International operations.......................        945        605      1,117       1,365
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Consolidated.....................................  $   3,817  $   5,642  $  11,746   $  17,501
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Net income (loss):
  Domestic operations............................  $  (4,404) $  (3,437) $  (7,495)  $  (4,966)
  International operations.......................          9       (352)      (981)       (990)
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Consolidated.....................................  $  (4,395) $  (3,789) $  (8,476)  $  (5,956)
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Identifiable assets:
  Domestic operations............................  $   1,200  $   3,809  $   4,942   $  11,275
  International operations.......................        399        512        976       1,690
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
Consolidated.....................................  $   1,599  $   4,321  $   5,918   $  12,965
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
                                                   ---------  ---------  ---------  -----------
</TABLE>
 
NOTE 13--NON-CASH TRANSACTIONS
 
    During 1995, 1996, 1997, and during the nine months ended October 31, 1996
and 1997, the Company acquired $124, $303, $486, $340, $288, respectively, of
fixed assets through capital leases.
 
    During 1996, $2 million of notes payable--stockholders was converted to
Series B convertible redeemable preferred stock at $0.95 per share.
 
                                      F-18
<PAGE>
                                 [LOGO]
<PAGE>
                                    PART II
                     INFORMATION NOT REQUIRED IN PROSPECTUS
 
ITEM 13. OTHER EXPENSES OF ISSUANCE AND DISTRIBUTION
 
    The following table sets forth the costs and expenses, other than
underwriting discounts and commissions, payable by the Company in connection
with the sale of Common Stock being registered. All amounts are estimates except
the SEC registration fee and the NASD filing fees.
 
<TABLE>
<S>                                                               <C>
SEC registration fee............................................  $   9,295
NASD fee........................................................      3,376
Nasdaq National Market listing fee..............................     24,171
Printing and engraving expenses.................................    225,000
Legal fees and expenses.........................................    500,000
Accounting fees and expenses....................................    150,000
Blue sky fees and expenses......................................      5,000
Transfer agent fees.............................................     13,000
Miscellaneous fees and expenses.................................    270,158
                                                                  ---------
  Total.........................................................  $1,200,000
                                                                  ---------
                                                                  ---------
</TABLE>
 
ITEM 14. INDEMNIFICATION OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS
 
    Section 145 of the Delaware General Corporation Law authorizes a court to
award or a corporation's Board of Directors to grant indemnification to
directors and officers in terms sufficiently broad to permit such
indemnification under certain circumstances for liabilities (including
reimbursement for expenses incurred) arising under the Securities Act of 1933,
as amended (the "Securities Act"). Article VII, Section 6, of the Registrant's
Bylaws provides for mandatory indemnification of its directors and officers and
permissible indemnification of employees and other agents to the maximum extent
permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law. The Registrant's Restated
Certificate of Incorporation provides that, pursuant to Delaware law, its
directors shall not be liable for monetary damages for breach of the directors'
fiduciary duty as directors to the Company and its stockholders. This provision
in the Restated Certificate of Incorporation does not eliminate the directors'
fiduciary duty, and in appropriate circumstances equitable remedies such as
injunctive or other forms of non-monetary relief will remain available under
Delaware law. In addition, each director will continue to be subject to
liability for breach of the director's duty of loyalty to the Company for acts
or omissions not in good faith or involving intentional misconduct, for knowing
violations of law, for actions leading to improper personal benefit to the
director, and for payment of dividends or approval of stock repurchases or
redemptions that are unlawful under Delaware law. The provision also does not
affect a director's responsibilities under any other law, such as the federal
securities laws or state or federal environmental laws. The Registrant has
entered into Indemnification Agreements with its officers and directors, a form
of which is attached as Exhibit 10.1 hereto and incorporated herein by
reference. The Indemnification Agreements provide the Registrant's officers and
directors with further indemnification to the maximum extent permitted by the
Delaware General Corporation Law." The Registrant maintains directors and
officers liabilities insurance. Reference is made to Section 8(b) of the
Underwriting Agreement contained in Exhibit 1.1 hereto, indemnifying officers
and directors of the Registrant against certain liabilities.
 
ITEM 15. RECENT SALES OF UNREGISTERED SECURITIES
 
   
    The following transactions reflect the issuance during the previous three
years of securities not registered under the Securities Act:
    
 
   
    1.  In December 1997, the Company issued warrants to purchase a total of
30,000 shares of Series D convertible redeemable preferred stock to certain
holders of outstanding Preferred Stock, at a per share
    
 
                                      II-1
<PAGE>
purchase price of $5.00, in conjunction with a $3.0 million revolving loan
commitment from such investors to the Company. In the event the Company requests
advances from such lenders, the Company will be required to issue additional
warrants on a pro rata basis to the lenders, with the number of shares subject
to such additional warrants equal to 4% of the principal amount of each advance
from the lenders.
 
    2.  As of July 31, 1997, the Company had issued and sold 129,560 shares of
its Common Stock to employees and consultants at a price of $.875 or $1.125 per
share pursuant to exercises of options under its 1992 Stock Option Plan.
 
    3.  On June 2, 1995, the Company issued 3,010,515 shares of Series B
Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $7,150,000 to a
group of 27 investors.
 
   
    4.  On March 13, 1996, the Company issued 1,514,837 shares of Series C
Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of approximately $4,923,000 to a
group of 22 investors.
    
 
    5.  On February 28, 1997, the Company issued 1,399,992 shares of Series D
Preferred Stock for an aggregate purchase price of $7,000,000 to a group of 29
investors.
 
    6.  On October 20, 1994 and February 28, 1995, the Company issued warrants
to purchase a total of 294,734 shares of Common Stock to a group of three
investors in conjunction with loans made by such investors to the Company with
an aggregate exercise price of approximately $700,000.
 
    7.  On March 31, 1995, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 15,000
shares of Common Stock to a lender of the Company with an aggregate exercise
price of $30,000.
 
    8.  On September 29, 1995, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 13,473
shares of Series B Preferred Stock with an aggregate exercise price of
approximately $32,000 to a lender.
 
    9.  On April 12, 1996, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 94,736
shares of Series C Preferred Stock of the Company with an aggregate exercise
price of approximately $308,000 to a lender.
 
    10. On November 20, 1996, the Company issued a warrant to purchase 20,210
shares of Series B Preferred Stock with an aggregate exercise price of
approximately $48,000 to a lender.
 
   
    The issuances described in Items 15(1) - (10) were exempt from registration
under the Securities Act in reliance upon Rule 701 promulgated under the
Securities Act or Section 4(2) of the Securities Act as transactions by an
issuer not involving any public offering. In addition, the recipients of
securities in each such transaction represented their intentions to acquire the
securities for investment only and not with a view to or for sale in connection
with any distribution thereof and appropriate legends were affixed to the share
certificates issued in such transactions. All recipients had adequate access,
through their relationships with the Registrant, to information about the
Registrant.
    
 
                                      II-2
<PAGE>
ITEM 16. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
 
    (a)  Exhibits
 
   
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
EXHIBIT NO.   DESCRIPTION
- ------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<C>           <S>
       1.1+   Form of Underwriting Agreement.
 
       3.1    Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant, as amended to date.
 
       3.2    Form of Certificate of Incorporation to be filed upon the closing of the offering made hereby.
 
       3.3+   Bylaws of the Registrant.
 
       4.1+   Reference is made to Exhibits 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.
 
       4.2    Specimen Common Stock certificate.
 
       4.3+   1993 Stock Purchase Agreement.
 
       5.1+   Opinion of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP.
 
      10.1+   Form of Indemnification Agreement.
 
      10.2    1992 Stock Option Plan, as amended.
 
      10.3+   1997 Equity Incentive Plan.
 
      10.4    1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, as amended.
 
      10.5+   Employment Agreement between the Company and Larry J. Ford, dated April 19, 1995 ("Ford Agreement").
 
      10.6+   Amendment to the Ford Agreement, dated May 23, 1995.
 
      10.7+   Amended and Restated Employment Agreement between the Company and Richard L. Tanler, dated June 11,
                1992.
 
      10.8+   Promissory Note between the Company and Richard Tanler, dated April 11, 1996.
 
      10.9+   Employment Agreement between the Company and Richard S. Parker, dated June 11, 1992.
 
     10.10+   Employment Agreement between the Company and Rory C. (Butch) Terrien, dated June 11, 1992.
 
     10.11+   Offer Letter to Robin L. Pederson, dated March 6, 1996.
 
     10.12+   Offer Letter to Donald W. Anderson, executed November 4, 1996.
 
     10.13+   Amended and Restated Business Loan Agreement between the Company and Silicon Valley Bank, dated
                September 3, 1997.
 
     10.14+   Subordinated Loan and Security Agreement between the Company and Comdisco, Inc., dated April 12, 1996.
 
     10.15+   Severance Agreement between the Company and Larry J. Ford, dated November 10, 1997.
 
     10.16+   Form of Severance Agreement between the Company and Richard L. Tanler, Robin L. Pederson, Rory C.
                (Butch) Terrien, Donald W. Anderson, Richard S. Parker, Mark Furtney, Mary K. Trick, Keith Deane and
                Michael Gaard, dated November 10, 1997.
 
     10.17    Loan and Warrant Purchase Agreement between the Company and certain holders of Preferred Stock, dated
                December 4, 1997.
 
      11.1+   Pro forma Net Loss Per Share.
 
      21.1+   Subsidiaries of the Registrant.
 
      23.1    Consent of Price Waterhouse LLP.
 
      23.2+   Consent of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP. Reference is made to Exhibit
                5.1.
</TABLE>
    
 
                                      II-3
<PAGE>
   
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
EXHIBIT NO.   DESCRIPTION
- ------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<C>           <S>
      24.1+   Power of Attorney for Larry J. Ford, Donald W. Anderson, Richard L. Tanler, Promod Haque, Fredric R.
                Boswell, Jay H. Wein, William H. Younger, Jr. and Ronald E.F. Codd.
 
      24.2+   Power of Attorney for Donald R. Hollis.
 
      27.1+   Financial Data Schedule.
</TABLE>
    
 
- ------------------------
 
+   Previously filed.
 
    (B) FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
 
    Schedules have been omitted because the information required to be set forth
therein is not applicable or is readily available in the financial statements or
notes thereto.
 
ITEM 17. UNDERTAKINGS
 
    The Registrant hereby undertakes to provide to the Underwriters at the
closing specified in the Underwriting Agreement, certificates in such
denominations and registered in such names as required by the Underwriters to
permit prompt delivery to each purchaser.
 
    Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act
may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the
Registrant pursuant to the Delaware General Corporation Law, the Restated
Certificate of Incorporation or the Bylaws of the Registrant, the Underwriting
Agreement, or otherwise, the Registrant has been advised that in the opinion of
the Securities and Exchange Commission such indemnification is against public
policy as expressed in the Securities Act, and is, therefore, unenforceable. In
the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than
the payment by the Registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director,
officer, or controlling person of the Registrant in the successful defense of
any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or
controlling person in connection with the securities being registered hereunder,
the Registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been
settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction
the question of whether such indemnification by it is against public policy as
expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication
of such issue.
 
    The Registrant hereby undertakes that:
 
    (1) For purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, the
information omitted from the form of Prospectus filed as part of this
Registration Statement in reliance upon Rule 430A and contained in a form of
Prospectus filed by the Registrant pursuant to Rule 424(b)(1) or (4) or 497(h)
under the Securities Act shall be deemed to be part of this Registration
Statement as of the time it was declared effective.
 
    (2) For the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act,
each post-effective amendment that contains a form of Prospectus shall be deemed
to be a new Registration Statement relating to the securities offered therein,
and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the
initial bona fide offering thereof.
 
                                      II-4
<PAGE>
                                   SIGNATURES
 
   
    Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, the
registrant has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its
behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Eden
Prairie, State of Minnesota, on this 5th day of December, 1997.
    
 
                                          INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
 
                                          By:        /s/ LARRY J. FORD
 
                                          --------------------------------------
 
                                                      Larry J. Ford
 
                                          PRESIDENT AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
 
                               POWER OF ATTORNEY
 
   
    PURSUANT TO THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED, THIS
REGISTRATION STATEMENT HAS BEEN SIGNED BY THE FOLLOWING PERSONS IN THE
CAPACITIES AND ON THE DATES INDICATED:
    
 
   
          NAME                       TITLE                    DATE
- -------------------------  --------------------------  -------------------
 
                           President, Chief Executive
    /s/ LARRY J. FORD        Officer and Director
- -------------------------    (Principal Executive       December 5, 1997
      Larry J. Ford          Officer)
 
                           Chief Financial Officer,
 /s/ DONALD W. ANDERSON      Vice President
- -------------------------    (Principal Financial and   December 5, 1997
   Donald W. Anderson        Accounting Officer)
 
                           Chairman of the Board of
   * RICHARD L. TANLER       Directors and Senior
- -------------------------    Vice President,            December 5, 1997
    Richard L. Tanler        Strategic Planning and
                             Marketing
 
     * PROMOD HAQUE
- -------------------------  Director                     December 5, 1997
      Promod Haque
 
  * FREDRIC R. BOSWELL
- -------------------------  Director                     December 5, 1997
   Fredric R. Boswell
 
   * DONALD R. HOLLIS
- -------------------------  Director                     December 5, 1997
    Donald R. Hollis
 
    
 
                                      II-5
<PAGE>
 
   
          NAME                       TITLE                    DATE
- -------------------------  --------------------------  -------------------
 
      * JAY H. WEIN
- -------------------------  Director                     December 5, 1997
       Jay H. Wein
 
* WILLIAM H. YOUNGER, JR.
- -------------------------  Director                     December 5, 1997
 William H. Younger, Jr.
 
   * RONALD E.F. CODD
- -------------------------  Director                     December 5, 1997
    Ronald E.F. Codd
 
   *By:  /s/ Donald W.
        Anderson
- -------------------------
   Donald W. Anderson
   (ATTORNEY-IN-FACT)
 
    
 
                                      II-6
<PAGE>
                                 EXHIBIT INDEX
 
   
<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
EXHIBIT NO.   DESCRIPTION
- ------------  ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
<C>           <S>
       1.1+   Form of Underwriting Agreement.
 
       3.1    Certificate of Incorporation of the Registrant, as amended to date.
 
       3.2    Form of Certificate of Incorporation to be filed upon the closing of the offering made hereby.
 
       3.3+   Bylaws of the Registrant.
 
       4.1+   Reference is made to Exhibits 3.1, 3.2 and 3.3.
 
       4.2    Specimen Common Stock certificate.
 
       4.3+   1993 Stock Purchase Agreement.
 
       5.1+   Opinion of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP.
 
      10.1+   Form of Indemnification Agreement.
 
      10.2    1992 Stock Option Plan, as amended.
 
      10.3+   1997 Equity Incentive Plan.
 
      10.4    1997 Employee Stock Purchase Plan, as amended.
 
      10.5+   Employment Agreement between the Company and Larry J. Ford, dated April 19, 1995 ("Ford Agreement").
 
      10.6+   Amendment to the Ford Agreement, dated May 23, 1995.
 
      10.7+   Amended and Restated Employment Agreement between the Company and Richard L. Tanler, dated June 11,
                1992.
 
      10.8+   Promissory Note between the Company and Richard Tanler, dated April 11, 1996.
 
      10.9+   Employment Agreement between the Company and Richard S. Parker, dated June 11, 1992.
 
     10.10+   Employment Agreement between the Company and Rory C. (Butch) Terrien, dated June 11, 1992.
 
     10.11+   Offer Letter to Robin L. Pederson, dated March 6, 1996.
 
     10.12+   Offer Letter to Donald W. Anderson, executed November 4, 1996.
 
     10.13+   Amended and Restated Business Loan Agreement between the Company and Silicon Valley Bank, dated
                September 3, 1997.
 
     10.14+   Subordinated Loan and Security Agreement between the Company and Comdisco, Inc., dated April 12, 1996.
 
     10.15+   Severance Agreement between the Company and Larry J. Ford, dated November 10, 1997.
 
     10.16+   Form of Severance Agreement between the Company and Richard L. Tanler, Robin L. Pederson, Rory C.
                (Butch) Terrien, Donald W. Anderson, Richard S. Parker, Mark Furtney, Mary K. Trick, Keith Deane and
                Michael Gaard, dated November 10, 1997.
 
     10.17    Loan and Warrant Purchase Agreement between the Company and certain holders of Preferred Stock, dated
                December 4, 1997.
 
      11.1+   Pro forma Net Loss Per Share.
 
      21.1+   Subsidiaries of the Registrant.
 
      23.1    Consent of Price Waterhouse LLP.
 
      23.2+   Consent of Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP. Reference is made to Exhibit
                5.1.
 
      24.1+   Power of Attorney for Larry J. Ford, Donald W. Anderson, Richard L. Tanler, Promod Haque, Fredric R.
                Boswell, Jay H. Wein, William H. Younger, Jr. and Ronald E.F. Codd.
 
      24.2+   Power of Attorney for Donald R. Hollis.
 
      27.1+   Financial Data Schedule.
</TABLE>
    
 
- ------------------------
 
   
+   Previously filed.
    

<PAGE>

                              AMENDED AND RESTATED
                          CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
                                       OF 
                      INFORMATION ADVANTAGE SOFTWARE, INC.

     The undersigned hereby certifies as follows:

     1.   The original Certificate of Incorporation of Information Advantage 
Software, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Corporation"), was filed with 
the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware on September 26, 1997.  

     2.   The Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the 
Corporation set forth below was adopted pursuant to Sections 242 and 245 of 
the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware and was authorized by a 
written consent of majority of the Corporation's shareholders pursuant to 
Section 228 of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware.

     3.   The Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation of the 
Corporation reads in its entirety as follows:

                                    ARTICLE 1
   
     The name of the corporation is Information Advantage, Inc. (hereinafter 
referred to as the "Corporation").
    
                                    ARTICLE 2

     The address of the Corporation's registered office in the State of 
Delaware is The Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, 
Delaware 19801, County of New Castle.  The name of its registered agent at 
such address is The Corporation Trust Company.

                                    ARTICLE 3

     The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or 
activity for which corporations may be organized under the General 
Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (hereinafter referred to as the 
"GCL").

                                    ARTICLE 4
   
     4.1  AUTHORIZED CAPITAL.  The total number of shares of stock which the 
Corporation shall have authority to issue is 65,000,000 shares, consisting of 
60,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share (hereinafter 
referred to as the "Common Stock"), and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, 
par value $0.01 per share (hereinafter referred to as the "Preferred  
Stock").  The powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, 
optional or other special rights (and the qualifications, limitations or 
restrictions thereof) of the Common Stock and the Preferred Stock are as set 
forth in this Article 4.
    

<PAGE>

     4.2  COMMON STOCK.  The Common Stock shall be subject to the express 
terms of the Preferred Stock established pursuant to Section 4.3 of this 
Article 4 and any other series of Preferred Stock set forth in the Preferred 
Stock Designation (as defined below in Section 4.4 of this Article 4) 
relating thereto.  Each holder of Common Stock shall have one vote in respect 
of each share of Common Stock held by such holder of record on the books of 
the Corporation for the election of directors and on all other matters on 
which stockholders of the Corporation are entitled to vote.  The holders of 
shares of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive, when and if declared by 
the Board of Directors, out of the assets of the Corporation which are by law 
available therefor, dividends payable either in cash, in stock or otherwise.

     4.3  SERIES A, B, C, D, E, F, G AND H CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK.  
There is hereby created the following series of convertible Preferred Stock:  
(i) series A convertible preferred shares ("Series A Preferred Stock") 
consisting of 10,000,000 shares; (ii) series B convertible preferred shares 
("Series B Preferred Stock") consisting of 10,000,000 shares; (iii) series C 
convertible preferred shares ("Series C Preferred Stock") consisting of 
4,082,995 shares; (iv) series D convertible preferred shares ("Series D 
Preferred Stock") consisting of 3,500,000 shares; (v) series E convertible 
preferred shares ("Series E Preferred Stock") consisting of 10,000,000 
shares; (vi) series F convertible preferred shares ("Series F Preferred 
Stock") consisting of 10,000,000 shares; (vii) series G convertible preferred 
shares ("Series G Preferred Stock") consisting of 4,082,995 shares; and 
(viii) series H convertible preferred shares ("Series H Preferred Stock") 
consisting of 3,500,000 shares.  The shares of Series A Preferred Stock, 
Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock, Series D Preferred Stock, 
Series E Preferred Stock, Series F Preferred Stock, Series G Preferred Stock 
and Series H Preferred Stock are referred to herein collectively as the 
"Convertible Preferred Stock".

     (A)  VOTING PRIVILEGES.

          (1)  GENERAL.  Each holder of Convertible Preferred Stock shall have
     that number of votes on all matters submitted to the stockholders that is
     equal to the number of shares of Common Stock into which such holder's
     shares of Convertible Preferred Stock are then convertible, as hereinafter
     provided.  Each holder of Common Stock shall have one vote on all matters
     submitted to the stockholders for each share of Common Stock standing in
     the name of such holder on the books of the Corporation. Except as
     otherwise provided herein, and except as otherwise required by agreement or
     law, the shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall vote as a single
     class on all matters submitted to the stockholders.

          (2)  ELECTION OF DIRECTORS: GENERAL.  Four of the Purchasers under the
     Purchase Agreements hereinafter referred to shall be entitled to elect
     directors of the Corporation and to exercise any right of removal or
     replacement of such directors to the following extent: St. Paul Fire and
     Marine Insurance Company ("St. Paul") shall elect one director, Norwest
     Equity Partners IV, a Minnesota Limited Partnership ("Norwest"), shall
     elect one director, Menlo Ventures VI, L.P. ("Menlo") shall elect one
     director and Sutter Hill Ventures, a California Limited Partnership
     ("Sutter Hill") 

                                       2

<PAGE>

     shall elect one director.  St. Paul, Norwest, Menlo and Sutter Hill 
     shall each be referred to herein as a "Convertible Preferred Holder".

     The right of a Convertible Preferred Holder to elect a director as set
     forth above shall terminate from and after the earlier of (i) the date on
     which such Convertible Preferred Holder no longer holds a number of shares
     of Convertible Preferred Stock and/or Common Stock equal to at least 10% of
     the number of shares of Convertible Preferred Stock purchased by such
     Convertible Preferred Holder under the Purchase Agreements (in each case
     appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits, stock dividends,
     reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes hereafter effected) or
     (ii) the first date on which all of the shares of Convertible Preferred
     Stock owned by such Convertible Preferred Holder have been converted into
     shares of Common Stock under the circumstances contemplated under
     "Mandatory Conversion" below.

     So long as any of the Convertible Preferred Holders is entitled to elect a
     director as set forth above, (i) the Board of Directors of the Corporation
     shall consist of not more than seven members, (ii) the holders of the
     Common Stock (other than the Convertible Preferred Holders), exclusively
     and voting as a single class, shall be entitled, by a vote of a majority of
     the outstanding shares of Common Stock held by such holders, to elect two
     directors of the Corporation and to exercise any right of removal or
     replacement of such directors, and (iii) the election of a seventh
     director, who shall have relevant industry experience and shall not be an
     affiliate of any holder of Common Stock or Convertible Preferred Stock,
     shall require the vote of a majority of the directors elected by the
     Convertible Preferred Holders and of a majority of the directors elected by
     the holders of the Common Stock, as set forth above.

          No delay or failure by the Convertible Preferred Holders or the other
     holders of Common Stock to elect members of the Board of Directors whom
     such holders are entitled to elect shall invalidate the election of the
     remaining members of the Board of Directors as set forth above.

          (3)  ELECTION OF DIRECTORS: CERTAIN EVENTS OF DEFAULT.  Upon the
     occurrence of an Event of Default as defined in the Stock Purchase
     Agreement dated March 9, 1993, as amended (the "First Purchase Agreement"),
     in the Stock Purchase Agreement dated February 15, 1994, as amended (the
     "Second Purchase Agreement"), in the Stock Purchase Agreement dated June 1,
     1995, as amended (the "Third Purchase Agreement"), in the Stock Purchase
     Agreement dated March 13, 1996, as amended (the "Fourth Purchase
     Agreement"), or in the Stock Purchase Agreement dated February 27, 1997
     (the "Fifth Purchase Agreement", and together with the First Purchase
     Agreement, the Second Purchase Agreement, the Third Purchase Agreement and
     the Fourth Purchase Agreement, the "Purchase Agreements") among the
     Corporation and the Purchasers named therein, and so long as such Event of
     Default continues unremedied, then, unless such Event of Default shall have
     been waived by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of
     Convertible Preferred Stock, the holders of a majority of the outstanding
     shares of Convertible Preferred Stock shall be entitled to designate a
     majority of the Board of Directors of the Corporation as hereinafter
     provided.  In the event the holders of the outstanding shares of
     Convertible Preferred Stock are entitled to designate a majority 

                                       3

<PAGE>

     of the Board of Directors of the Corporation pursuant to the immediately 
     preceding sentence, the Corporation shall, immediately upon receiving 
     written notice from the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares 
     of Convertible Preferred Stock, call a special stockholders' meeting to be 
     held as soon as possible, but in any event within fifteen days of the date
     of the notice of such meeting.  At such special stockholders' meeting a 
     majority of the directors of the Corporation shall be elected from 
     designees nominated by the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares
     of Convertible Preferred Stock.  Any right to continue to designate a 
     majority of the Board of Directors of the Corporation shall expire, and a
     stockholders' meeting to elect new directors shall be called, two months 
     after the later of (a) the curing of the Event of Default upon which the 
     right was exercised, or (b) the curing of any Event of Default occurring 
     after the Event of Default upon which such right was exercised.  When, to
     its knowledge, any Event of Default described herein has occurred or 
     exists, the Corporation agrees to give written notice within three 
     business days of such Event of Default to the holders of all outstanding
     shares of Convertible Preferred Stock.  If the holder of any shares of 
     Convertible Preferred Stock shall give any notice or take any other actions
     in respect of a claimed Event of Default, the Corporation will forthwith 
     give written notice thereof to all other holders of Convertible Preferred 
     Stock at the time outstanding, describing such notice or action and the 
     nature of the claimed Event of Default.

          (4)  ADDITIONAL CLASS VOTES BY CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK.  Without
     the affirmative vote or written consent of the holders (acting together as
     a class) of a majority of the shares of Convertible Preferred Stock at the
     time outstanding, the Corporation shall not:

          (a)  authorize or issue any additional shares of Convertible Preferred
               Stock, except for shares of Exchange Preferred (as hereinafter
               defined) pursuant to subsection 3.5(3)(c)(vi) hereof, or any
               shares of stock having priority over Convertible Preferred Stock
               or ranking on a parity therewith as to the payment or
               distribution of assets upon the liquidation or dissolution,
               voluntary or involuntary, of the Corporation; or

          (b)  amend the Articles of Incorporation of the Corporation so as to
               alter any existing provision relating to Convertible Preferred
               Stock or the holders thereof or waive any of the rights granted
               to the holders of the Convertible Preferred Stock by the Articles
               of Incorporation of the Corporation; or

          (c)  effect a reclassification or recapitalization of the outstanding
               capital stock of the Corporation, or sell, lease or otherwise
               dispose of all or substantially all of the assets of the
               Corporation or of any subsidiary of the Corporation, or any asset
               or assets which have a material effect upon the business or
               financial condition of the Corporation or any subsidiary of the
               Corporation, nor shall the Corporation or any subsidiary of the
               Corporation consolidate with or merge into any other corporation
               or entity, or permit any other corporation or entity to

                                       4

<PAGE>

               consolidate or merge into the Corporation or any subsidiary of
               the Corporation, or enter into a plan of exchange with any other
               corporation or entity, or otherwise acquire any other corporation
               or entity.

          (5)  NO CUMULATIVE VOTING.  No holder of shares of capital stock of
     the Corporation shall have any cumulative voting rights.

     (B)  PREEMPTIVE RIGHTS.

     Except for the rights granted by Section 8.16 of the First Purchase 
Agreement, no holder of shares of any class of capital stock of the 
Corporation shall be entitled as such, as a matter of right, to subscribe 
for, purchase or receive any part of any new or additional issue of stock of 
any class whatsoever, or of securities convertible into or exchangeable for 
any stock of any class whatsoever, whether now or hereafter authorized and 
whether issued for cash or other consideration or by way of dividend.

     (C)  DIVIDENDS.

     In the event any dividend or distribution is declared or made with respect
to outstanding shares of Common Stock, a comparable dividend or distribution
must be simultaneously declared or made with respect to the outstanding shares
of Convertible Preferred Stock.  In the event any dividend or distribution is
declared or made with respect to the Common Stock, each holder of shares of
Convertible Preferred Stock shall be paid such comparable dividend or receive
such comparable distribution on the basis of the number of shares of Common
Stock into which such holder's shares of such Convertible Preferred Stock are
then convertible, as hereinafter provided.

     Dividends on shares of capital stock of the Corporation shall be payable
only out of funds legally available therefor.

     (D)  OTHER TERMS OF THE CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK.

          (1)  LIQUIDATION PREFERENCE.  In the event of an involuntary or
     voluntary liquidation or dissolution of the Corporation at any time, the
     holders of shares of Series A and Series E Convertible Preferred Stock
     shall be entitled to receive out of the assets of the Corporation an amount
     equal to $.60 per share (appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits,
     stock dividends, reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes
     hereafter effected), plus dividends unpaid and accumulated or accrued
     thereon, if any, the holders of shares of Series B and Series F Convertible
     Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive out of the assets of the
     Corporation an amount equal to $.95 per share (appropriately adjusted to
     reflect stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, consolidations and
     similar changes hereafter effected), plus dividends unpaid and accumulated
     or accrued thereon, if any, and the holders of shares of Series C and
     Series G Convertible Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive out of
     the assets of the Corporation an amount equal to $1.30 per share
     (appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits, stock dividends,
     reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes hereafter effected),
     plus dividends unpaid and 

                                       5

<PAGE>

     accumulated or accrued thereon, if any, and the holders of shares of Series
     D and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock shall be entitled to receive out
     of the assets of the Corporation an amount equal to $2.00 per share 
     (appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits, stock dividends, 
     reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes hereafter effected), 
     plus dividends unpaid and accumulated or accrued thereon, if any.  In the
     event of either an involuntary or a voluntary liquidation or dissolution
     of the Corporation payment shall be made to the holders of shares of 
     Convertible Preferred Stock in the amounts herein fixed before any payment
     shall be made or any assets distributed to the holders of the Common Stock
     or any other class of shares of the Corporation ranking junior to the 
     Convertible Preferred Stock with respect to payment upon dissolution or 
     liquidation of the Corporation.  If upon any liquidation or dissolution 
     of the Corporation the assets available for distribution shall be 
     insufficient to pay the holders of all outstanding shares of Convertible
     Preferred Stock the full amounts to which they respectively shall be 
     entitled, the holders of such shares shall share pro rata in any such 
     distribution in proportion to the full amounts to which such holders 
     would otherwise be entitled.

          At any time, in the event of the merger or consolidation of the
     Corporation into or with another corporation or the merger or consolidation
     of any other corporation into or with the Corporation or a plan of exchange
     between the Corporation and any other corporation (in which consolidation
     or merger or plan of exchange any stockholders of the Corporation receive
     distributions of cash or securities or other property), or the sale,
     transfer or other disposition of all or substantially all of the assets of
     the Corporation, then, subject to the provisions of this paragraph, such
     transaction shall be deemed, solely for purposes of determining the amounts
     to be received by the holders of the Convertible Preferred Stock in such
     merger, consolidation, plan of exchange, sale, transfer or other
     disposition, and for purposes of determining the priority of receipt of
     such amounts as between the holders of the Convertible Preferred Stock and
     the holders of the Common Stock, to be a liquidation or dissolution of the
     Corporation if the holders of a majority of the outstanding shares of
     Convertible Preferred Stock so elect by giving written notice thereof to
     the Corporation at least five days before the effective date of such
     transaction.  If no such notice is given, the provisions of subparagraph
     (3)(g) hereof shall apply.  The Corporation shall give each holder of
     record of Convertible Preferred Stock written notice of such impending
     transaction not later than 14 days prior to the stockholders' meeting of
     the Corporation called to approve such transaction, or 14 days prior to the
     closing of such transaction, whichever is earlier, and shall also notify
     such holders in writing of the final approval of such transaction.  The
     first of such notices shall describe the material terms and conditions of
     the transaction and of this subparagraph (1) (including, without limiting
     the generality of the foregoing, a description of the value of the
     consideration, if any, being offered to the holders of the Convertible
     Preferred Stock in the transaction and the amount to which such holders
     would be entitled if such transaction were (as described above) to be
     deemed to be a liquidation or dissolution of the Corporation), and the
     Corporation shall thereafter give such holders prompt notice of any
     material changes to such terms and conditions.  The transaction shall in no
     event take place sooner than 14 days after the mailing by the Corporation
     of the first notice provided for herein or sooner than ten days after the
     mailing by the Corporation of any notice of 

                                       6

<PAGE>

     material changes provided for herein; PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that such periods 
     may be reduced upon the written consent of the holders of a majority of the
     Convertible Preferred Stock, voting together as a single class.

          Nothing hereinabove set forth shall affect in any way the right of
     each holder of shares of Convertible Preferred Stock to convert such shares
     at any time and from time to time in accordance with subparagraph (3)
     below.

          (2)  REDEMPTION.  The Corporation shall, to the extent that funds are
     legally available therefor, and upon payment by the Corporation in cash of
     the sum of $.60 per share of Series A and Series E Convertible Preferred
     Stock (appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits, stock dividends,
     reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes hereafter effected),
     plus dividends unpaid and accumulated or accrued thereon, if any, redeem
     during each of the years 1997, 1998 and 1999 a number of shares of the
     outstanding Series A and Series E Convertible Preferred Stock equal to 25%
     of the shares of Series A and Series E Convertible Preferred Stock issued
     by the Corporation on or prior to the last day of the year 1993, and redeem
     the balance, if any, of the outstanding shares of Series A and Series E
     Convertible Preferred Stock during the year 2000, all such redemptions to
     be effected in equal quarterly installments as of the last days of March,
     June, September and December in each of such years.

          The Corporation shall, to the extent that funds are legally available
     therefor, and upon payment by the Corporation in cash of the sum of $.95
     per share of Series B and Series F Convertible Preferred Stock
     (appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits, stock dividends,
     reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes hereafter effected),
     plus dividends unpaid and accumulated or accrued thereon, if any, redeem
     during each of the years 1999, 2000 and 2001 a number of shares of the
     outstanding Series B and Series F Convertible Preferred Stock equal to 25%
     of the shares of Series B and Series F Convertible Preferred Stock issued
     by the Corporation on or prior to the last day of the year 1995, and redeem
     the balance, if any, of the outstanding shares of Series B and Series F
     Convertible Preferred Stock during the year 2002, all such redemptions to
     be effected in equal quarterly installments as of the last days of March,
     June, September and December in each of such years.

          The Corporation shall, to the extent that funds are legally available
     therefor, and upon payment by the Corporation in cash of the sum of $1.30
     per share of Series C and Series G Convertible Preferred Stock
     (appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits, stock dividends,
     reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes hereafter effected),
     plus dividends unpaid and accumulated or accrued thereon, if any, redeem
     during each of the years 2000, 2001 and 2002 a number of shares of the
     outstanding Series C and Series G Convertible Preferred Stock equal to 25%
     of the shares of Series C and Series G Convertible Preferred Stock issued
     by the Corporation on or prior to the last day of the year 1996, and redeem
     the balance, if any, of the outstanding shares of Series C and Series G
     Convertible Preferred Stock during the year 2003, all such redemptions to
     be effected in equal quarterly installments as of the last days of March,
     June, September and December in each of such years.

                                       7

<PAGE>

          The Corporation shall, to the extent that funds are legally available
     therefor, and upon payment by the Corporation in cash of the sum of $2.00
     per share of Series D and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock
     (appropriately adjusted to reflect stock splits, stock dividends,
     reorganizations, consolidations and similar changes hereafter effected),
     plus dividends unpaid and accumulated or accrued thereon, if any, redeem
     during each of the years 2001, 2002 and 2003 a number of shares of the
     outstanding Series D and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock equal to 25%
     of the shares of Series D and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock issued
     by the Corporation on or prior to the last day of the year 1997, and redeem
     the balance, if any, of the outstanding shares of Series D and Series H
     Convertible Preferred Stock during the year 2004, all such redemptions to
     be effected in equal quarterly installments as of the last days of March,
     June, September and December in each of such years.

          Shares of Convertible Preferred Stock shall also be subject to
     redemption in the circumstances set forth in Section 8.18 of the Third
     Purchase Agreement and the Fourth Purchase Agreement and the Fifth Purchase
     Agreement.

          If at the time of any required redemption the funds legally available
     for such redemption shall be insufficient to redeem the number of shares of
     Convertible Preferred Stock specified in the immediately preceding five
     paragraphs, redemptions shall be made as among the holders of such shares
     of Convertible Preferred Stock on a pro rata basis, to the extent funds are
     then legally available for such redemptions, in proportion to the full
     amounts to which such holders would otherwise be entitled. Thereafter, as
     and to the extent legally available funds for the redemption thereof exist
     from time to time, the Corporation shall redeem additional shares of
     Convertible Preferred Stock, pro rata as among the holders thereof in
     proportion to the full amounts to which such holders would otherwise be
     entitled, until all shares of Convertible Preferred Stock required by this
     subparagraph (2) to be redeemed have been redeemed.

          In the event of a redemption of less than all of the outstanding
     shares of Convertible Preferred Stock of any series pursuant to the first
     five paragraphs of this subparagraph (2), redemptions as among the holders
     of such shares of such series of Convertible Preferred Stock shall be on a
     pro rata basis.

          Optional redemptions of shares of Convertible Preferred Stock by the
     Corporation from any holder thereof in addition to the aforesaid required
     redemptions are not permitted without the consent of such holder.

          The Corporation shall give notice by mail of redemptions to the
     holders of record of the shares of Convertible Preferred Stock at least 30
     days prior to the date of redemption.  The notice (i) shall specify the
     date of redemption and the number of shares to be redeemed from each
     stockholder and (ii) shall be addressed to each stockholder at his
     post-office address as shown on the records of the Corporation.  On or
     after the date fixed for redemption, each holder of shares of Convertible
     Preferred Stock called for redemption shall surrender the certificate or
     certificates evidencing such shares to the Corporation at the place
     designated in such notice and shall thereupon be entitled to receive
     payment.  If less than all of the shares 

                                       8

<PAGE>

     represented by any such surrendered certificate or certificates are 
     redeemed, the Corporation shall issue a new certificate for the unredeemed
     shares.

          If the Corporation deposits, on or prior to any date fixed for
     redemption of shares of Convertible Preferred Stock, with any bank or trust
     company having capital and surplus of at least $10,000,000, as a trust
     fund, a sufficient sum to redeem, on the date fixed for redemption thereof,
     the shares then called for redemption, with instructions and authority to
     such bank or trust company to pay the redemption price on or after the date
     fixed for redemption or prior thereto upon the surrender of the
     certificates representing the shares then being redeemed, then and from and
     after the date of such deposit, and notwithstanding that any certificate
     for shares so called for redemption shall not have been surrendered for
     cancellation, the shares so called for redemption shall no longer be deemed
     to be outstanding and all rights with respect thereto shall forthwith cease
     and terminate, except only the right of the holders thereof to receive from
     such bank or trust company, at any time after the date of such deposit the
     sum so deposited, without interest, and the right to convert such shares as
     provided in subparagraph (3) below.  Any funds so deposited and unclaimed
     at the end of four years from such redemption date shall be released or
     repaid to the Corporation, after which the holders of the shares so called
     for redemption shall be entitled to receive payment of the redemption price
     only from the Corporation.

          (3)  CONVERSION RIGHT.  At the option of the holders thereof, the
     shares of Convertible Preferred Stock shall be convertible, at the office
     of the Corporation (or at such other office or offices, if any, as the
     Board of Directors may designate), into fully paid and nonassessable shares
     (calculated as to each conversion to the nearest 1/100th of a share) of
     Common Stock of the Corporation, at the conversion price, determined as
     hereinafter provided, in effect at the time of conversion, each share of
     Series A and Series E Convertible Preferred Stock being deemed to have a
     value of $.60 for the purpose of such conversion, each share of Series B
     and Series F Convertible Preferred Stock being deemed to have a value of
     $.95 for the purpose of such conversion, each share of Series C and Series
     G Convertible Preferred Stock being deemed to have a value of $1.30 for the
     purpose of such conversion and each share of Series D and Series H
     Convertible Preferred Stock being deemed to have a value of $2.00 for the
     purpose of such conversion.  The price at which shares of Common Stock
     shall be delivered upon conversion shall be initially $.60 per share of
     Common Stock for the Series A and Series E Convertible Preferred Stock,
     $.95 per share of Common Stock for the Series B and Series F Convertible
     Preferred Stock, and $1.30 per share of Common Stock for the Series C and
     Series G Convertible Preferred Stock and $2.00 per share of Common Stock
     for the Series D and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock (i.e., at an
     initial conversion rate of one share of Common Stock for each share of
     Convertible Preferred Stock), PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that such initial
     conversion price shall be subject to adjustment from time to time in
     certain instances as hereinafter provided.  Hereinafter, "conversion price"
     shall mean the conversion price of the Series A Convertible Preferred
     Stock, the conversion price of the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock,
     the conversion price of the Series C Convertible Preferred Stock, the
     conversion price of the Series D Convertible Preferred Stock, the
     conversion price of the Series E Convertible Preferred Stock, the

                                      9

<PAGE>

     conversion price of the Series F Convertible Preferred Stock, the
     conversion price of the Series G Convertible Preferred Stock or the
     conversion price of the Series H Convertible Preferred Stock, as the case
     may be.  In the case of the call for redemption of any shares of
     Convertible Preferred Stock, such right of conversion shall cease and
     terminate as to the shares designated for redemption on the day such shares
     are actually redeemed by the Corporation.  The following provisions shall
     govern such right of conversion:

          (a)  In order to convert shares of Convertible Preferred Stock into
               shares of Common Stock of the Corporation, the holder thereof
               shall surrender at any office hereinabove mentioned the
               certificate or certificates therefor, duly endorsed to the
               Corporation or in blank, and give written notice to the
               Corporation at such office that such holder elects to convert
               such shares.  Shares of Convertible Preferred Stock shall be
               deemed to have been converted immediately prior to the close of
               business on the day of the surrender of such shares for
               conversion as herein provided, and the person entitled to receive
               the shares of Common Stock of the Corporation issuable upon such
               conversion shall be treated for all purposes as the record holder
               of such shares of Common Stock at such time.  As promptly as
               practicable on or after the conversion date, the Corporation
               shall issue and deliver or cause to be issued and delivered at
               such office a certificate or certificates for the number of
               shares of Common Stock of the Corporation issuable upon such
               conversion.

          (b)  The conversion price shall be subject to adjustment from time to
               time as hereinafter provided.  Upon each adjustment of the
               conversion price each holder of shares of Convertible Preferred
               Stock shall thereafter be entitled to receive the number of
               shares of Common Stock of the Corporation obtained by multiplying
               the conversion price in effect immediately prior to such
               adjustment by the number of shares issuable pursuant to
               conversion immediately prior to such adjustment and dividing the
               product thereof by the conversion price resulting from such
               adjustment.

          (c)  Except for (i) options to purchase shares of Common Stock and the
               issuance of awards of Common Stock pursuant to key employee and
               consultant benefit plans adopted by the Corporation and except
               for shares of Common Stock issued upon the exercise of such
               options granted pursuant to such plans (provided that the
               aggregate number of shares thus awarded and covered by
               unexercised options and thus issued pursuant to such options
               shall not be in excess of 6,000,000 (appropriately adjusted to
               reflect stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations,
               consolidations and similar changes)), (ii) shares of Common Stock
               issued upon conversion of shares of Convertible Preferred Stock
               or exercise of 1995 Warrants or 1993 Warrants (as those terms are
               defined in the Fourth Purchase Agreement), (iii) 37,500 shares of
               Common Stock to be issued upon exercise of warrants 

                                      10

<PAGE>

               granted to Silicon Valley Bank dated March 31, 1995, (iv) 33,684
               shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock which are 
               convertible into the Common Stock to be issued upon exercise of 
               warrants granted to Comdisco, Inc. dated September 29, 1995, (v)
               236,842 shares of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock which are
               convertible into Common Stock to be issued upon exercise of 
               warrants granted to Comdisco, Inc. dated April 12, 1996 and (vi)
               50,526 shares of Series B Convertible Preferred Stock which are 
               convertible into the Common Stock to be issued upon exercise of 
               warrants granted to Comdisco, Inc. dated November 20, 1996, if 
               and whenever the Corporation shall issue or sell any shares of 
               its Common Stock for a consideration per share less than the 
               conversion price in effect immediately prior to the time of such
               issue or sale, then, forthwith upon such issue or sale, the 
               conversion price shall be reduced to such lesser price as 
               provided in the following clauses (i) to (vi) of this 
               subparagraph (c).

               No adjustment of the conversion price, however, shall be made in
               an amount less than 2% of the conversion price in effect on the
               date of such adjustment, but any such lesser adjustment shall be
               carried forward and shall be made at the time and together with
               the next subsequent adjustment which, together with any such
               adjustment so carried forward, shall be an amount equal to or
               greater than 4% of the conversion price then in effect.

               For the purposes of this subparagraph (c), the following
               provisions (i) to (vi), inclusive, shall also be applicable:

               (i)    In case at any time the Corporation shall grant (whether
                      directly or by assumption in a merger or otherwise) any
                      rights to subscribe for or to purchase, or any options for
                      the purchase of, (a) Common Stock or (b) any obligations
                      or any shares of stock of the Corporation which are
                      convertible into, or exchangeable for, Common Stock (any
                      of such obligations or shares of stock being hereinafter
                      called "Convertible Securities") whether or not such
                      rights or options or the right to convert or exchange any
                      such Convertible Securities are immediately exercisable,
                      and the price per share for which Common Stock is issuable
                      upon the exercise of such rights or options or upon
                      conversion or exchange of such Convertible Securities
                      (determined by dividing (x) the total amount, if any,
                      received or receivable by the Corporation as consideration
                      for the granting of such rights or options, plus the
                      minimum aggregate amount of additional consideration
                      payable to the Corporation upon the exercise of such
                      rights or options, plus, in the case of such rights or
                      options which relate to Convertible Securities, the
                      minimum aggregate amount of additional consideration, if
                      any, payable upon the issue of such Convertible Securities
                      and upon the conversion or exchange thereof, by (y) the
                      total maximum number of shares 

                                      11

<PAGE>

                      of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of such rights
                      or options or upon the conversion or exchange of all such
                      Convertible Securities issuable upon the exercise of such
                      rights or options) shall be less than the conversion price
                      in effect immediately prior to the time of the granting of
                      such rights or options, then the total maximum number of 
                      shares of Common Stock issuable upon the exercise of such
                      rights or options or upon conversion or exchange of the 
                      total maximum amount of such Convertible Securities 
                      issuable upon the exercise of such rights or options shall
                      (as of the date of granting of such rights or options) be
                      deemed to have been issued for such price per share. 
                      Except as provided in subparagraph (f) below, no further
                      adjustments of the conversion price shall be made upon the
                      actual issue of such Common Stock or of such Convertible
                      Securities upon exercise of such rights or options or upon
                      the actual issue of such Common Stock upon conversion or
                      exchange of such Convertible Securities.

               (ii)   In case the Corporation shall issue or sell (whether
                      directly or by assumption in a merger or otherwise) any
                      Convertible Securities, whether or not the rights to
                      exchange or convert thereunder are immediately
                      exercisable, and the price per share for which Common
                      Stock is issuable upon such conversion or exchange
                      (determined by dividing (x) the total amount received or
                      receivable by the Corporation as consideration for the
                      issue or sale of such Convertible Securities, plus the
                      minimum aggregate amount of additional consideration, if
                      any, payable to the Corporation upon the conversion or
                      exchange thereof, by (y) the total maximum number of
                      shares of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion or
                      exchange of all such Convertible Securities) shall be less
                      than the conversion price in effect immediately prior to
                      the time of such issue or sale, then the total maximum
                      number of shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion
                      or exchange of all such Convertible Securities shall (as
                      of the date of the issue or sale of such Convertible
                      Securities) be deemed to be outstanding and to have been
                      issued for such price per share, provided that (a) except
                      as provided in subparagraph (f) below, no further
                      adjustments of the conversion price shall be made upon the
                      actual issue of such Common Stock upon conversion or
                      exchange of such Convertible Securities, and (b) if any
                      such issue or sale of such Convertible Securities is made
                      upon exercise of any rights to subscribe for or to
                      purchase or any option to purchase any such Convertible
                      Securities for which adjustments of the conversion price
                      have been or are to be made pursuant to other provisions
                      of this subparagraph (c), no further adjustment of the
                      conversion price shall be made by reason of such issue or
                      sale.

                                      12

<PAGE>

               (iii)  In case any shares of Common Stock or Convertible
                      Securities or any rights or options to purchase any such
                      Common Stock or Convertible Securities shall be issued or
                      sold for cash, the consideration received therefor shall
                      be deemed to be the amount received by the Corporation
                      therefor, without deducting therefrom any expenses
                      incurred or any underwriting commissions, discounts or
                      concessions paid or allowed by the Corporation in
                      connection therewith.  In case any shares of Common Stock
                      or Convertible Securities or any rights or options to
                      purchase any such Common Stock or Convertible Securities
                      shall be issued or sold for a consideration other than
                      cash, the amount of the consideration other than cash
                      received by the Corporation shall be deemed to be the fair
                      value of such consideration as determined by the Board of
                      Directors of the Corporation, without deducting therefrom
                      any expenses incurred or any underwriting commissions,
                      discounts or concessions paid or allowed by the
                      Corporation in connection therewith.  In case any shares
                      of Common Stock or Convertible Securities or any rights or
                      options to purchase such Common Stock or Convertible
                      Securities shall be issued in connection with any merger
                      or consolidation in which the Corporation is the surviving
                      corporation, the amount of consideration therefor shall be
                      deemed to be the fair value as determined by the Board of
                      Directors of the Corporation of such portion of the assets
                      and business of the non-surviving corporation or
                      corporations as such Board shall determine to be
                      attributable to such Common Stock, Convertible Securities,
                      rights or options, as the case may be.  In the event of
                      any consolidation or merger of the Corporation in which
                      the Corporation is not the surviving corporation or in the
                      event of any sale of all or substantially all of the
                      assets of the Corporation for stock or other securities of
                      any other corporation, the Corporation shall be deemed to
                      have issued a number of shares of its Common Stock for
                      stock or securities of the other corporation computed on
                      the basis of the actual exchange ratio on which the
                      transaction was predicated and for a consideration equal
                      to the fair market value on the date of such transaction
                      of such stock or securities of the other corporation, and
                      if any such calculation results in adjustment of the
                      conversion price, the determination of the number of
                      shares of Common Stock issuable upon conversion
                      immediately prior to such merger, conversion or sale, for
                      purposes of subparagraph (g) below, shall be made after
                      giving effect to such adjustment of the conversion price.

               (iv)   In case the Corporation shall take a record of the holders
                      of its Common Stock for the purpose of entitling them (a)
                      to receive a dividend or other distribution payable in
                      Common Stock or in Convertible Securities, or in any
                      rights or options to purchase 

                                      13

<PAGE>

                      any Common Stock or Convertible Securities, or (b) to 
                      subscribe for or purchase Common Stock or Convertible 
                      Securities, then such record date shall be deemed to be
                      the date of the issue or sale of the shares of Common 
                      Stock deemed to have been issued or sold upon the 
                      declaration of such dividend or the making of such other
                      distribution or the date of the granting of such rights 
                      of subscription or purchase, as the case may be.

               (v)    The number of shares of Common Stock outstanding at any
                      given time shall not include shares owned or held by or
                      for the account of the Corporation, and the disposition of
                      any such shares shall be considered an issue or sale of
                      Common Stock for the purpose of this subparagraph (c).

               (vi)   Notwithstanding the foregoing, if the Corporation should
                      determine to issue and sell Additional Securities (as that
                      term is defined in Section 8.16 of the First Purchase
                      Agreement) at a price per share that is less than the
                      conversion price for the Series A Convertible Preferred
                      Stock, the Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, the
                      Series C Convertible Preferred Stock or the Series D
                      Convertible Preferred Stock (the "Diluted Series") in
                      effect immediately prior to the time of the first sale of
                      such Additional Securities, and if Section 8.16 of the
                      First Purchase Agreement is then applicable to such
                      proposed issue and sale and the Corporation complies with
                      the notice and other requirements thereof, in the event a
                      holder of shares of the Diluted Series entitled by Section
                      8.16 of the First Purchase Agreement to purchase a
                      proportion of such Additional Securities (or a person or
                      entity affiliated therewith) shall not purchase at least
                      such holder's pro rata share, as hereinafter defined,
                      then, concurrently with the closing of such offering of
                      Additional Securities, the Corporation shall issue one
                      share of Series E Convertible Preferred Stock (if the
                      Diluted Series is Series A Convertible Preferred Stock),
                      one share of Series F Convertible Preferred Stock (if the
                      Diluted Series is Series B Convertible Preferred Stock),
                      one share of Series G Convertible Preferred Stock (if the
                      Diluted Series is Series C Convertible Preferred Stock) or
                      one share of Series H Convertible Preferred Stock (if the
                      Diluted Series is Series D Convertible Preferred Stock)
                      (such Series E Convertible Preferred Stock, Series F
                      Convertible Preferred Stock, Series G Convertible
                      Preferred Stock and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock
                      being herein sometimes referred to as the "Exchange
                      Preferred") in redemption of and in exchange for each
                      share of the Diluted Series held by such holder.  The
                      rights, privileges and preferences of such Exchange
                      Preferred shall be identical to those of the Diluted
                      Series for which it is to be exchanged, 

                                       14

<PAGE>

                      except that the provisions of this subparagraph (c) shall
                      be deleted and the initial conversion price of such 
                      Exchange Preferred shall be the conversion price of the 
                      Diluted Series in effect immediately prior to the issuance
                      and sale of such Additional Securities. Concurrently with 
                      the closing of such offer of Additional Securities, the 
                      shares of the Diluted Series held by holders who fail to 
                      purchase their pro rata share in accordance with the terms
                      hereof shall be deemed exchanged for shares of the 
                      Exchange Preferred automatically, without any further 
                      action by such holders and whether or not the 
                      certificates representing such shares of the Diluted 
                      Series are surrendered to the Corporation or its 
                      transfer agent; and such holders shall be treated for 
                      all purposes as the record holders of such shares of 
                      Exchange Preferred; provided, however, that the 
                      Corporation shall not be obligated to issue 
                      certificates evidencing shares of Exchange Preferred 
                      unless certificates evidencing such shares of the 
                      Diluted Series being exchanged have been delivered to 
                      the Corporation or any transfer agent or the holder 
                      notifies the Corporation or any transfer agent that 
                      such certificates have been lost, stolen or destroyed 
                      and executes an agreement satisfactory to the 
                      Corporation to indemnify the Corporation from any loss 
                      incurred by it in connection therewith.  Series E 
                      Convertible Preferred Stock may be issued only in 
                      exchange for Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, 
                      Series F Convertible Preferred Stock may be issued only 
                      in exchange for Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, 
                      Series G Convertible Preferred Stock may be issued only 
                      in exchange for Series C Convertible Preferred Stock 
                      and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock may be issued 
                      only in exchange for Series D Convertible Preferred 
                      Stock pursuant to this clause (vi).  A holder's "pro 
                      rata share" for purposes of this clause (vi) shall have 
                      the meaning specified in Section 8.16 of the First 
                      Purchase Agreement. The Corporation shall provide each 
                      holder of shares of a Diluted Series notice of such 
                      holder's pro rata share as far in advance of the time 
                      of consummation of the sale of Additional Securities 
                      pursuant to this clause (vi) as is practicable.  The 
                      provisions of this clause (vi) may be waived by the 
                      affirmative vote of the holders (acting together as a 
                      single class) of at least eighty percent (80%) of the 
                      outstanding shares of Series A Convertible Preferred 
                      Stock, Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, Series C 
                      Convertible Preferred Stock and Series D Convertible 
                      Preferred Stock.

          (d)  In case the Corporation shall (i) declare a dividend upon the
               Common Stock payable in Common Stock (other than a dividend
               declared to effect a subdivision of the outstanding shares of
               Common Stock, as described in subparagraph (e) below) or
               Convertible Securities, or in any rights or options to purchase
               Common Stock or Convertible 

                                      15

<PAGE>

               Securities, or (ii) declare any other dividend or make any other
               distribution upon the Common Stock payable otherwise than out of
               earnings or earned surplus, then thereafter each holder of shares
               of Convertible Preferred Stock upon the conversion thereof will
               be entitled to receive the number of shares of Common Stock into
               which such shares of Convertible Preferred Stock have been 
               converted, and, in addition and without payment therefor, each 
               dividend described in clause (i) above and each dividend or 
               distribution described in clause (ii) above which such holder 
               would have received by way of dividends or distributions if 
               continuously since such holder became the record holder of such
               shares of Convertible Preferred Stock such holder (i) had been 
               the record holder of the number of shares of Common Stock then
               received, and (ii) had retained all dividends or distributions
               in stock or securities (including Common Stock or Convertible 
               Securities, or in any rights or options to purchase any Common
               Stock or Convertible Securities) payable in respect of such 
               Common Stock or in respect of any stock or securities paid as
               dividends or distributions and originating directly or 
               indirectly from such Common Stock.  For the purposes of the 
               foregoing a dividend or distribution other than in cash shall
               be considered payable out of earnings or earned surplus only 
               to the extent that such earnings or earned surplus are charged
               an amount equal to the fair value of such dividend or 
               distribution as determined by the Board of Directors of the 
               Corporation.

          (e)  In case the Corporation shall at any time subdivide its
               outstanding shares of Common Stock into a greater number of
               shares, the conversion price in effect immediately prior to such
               subdivision shall be proportionately reduced, and conversely, in
               case the outstanding shares of Common Stock of the Corporation
               shall be combined into a smaller number of shares, the conversion
               price in effect immediately prior to such combination shall be
               proportionately increased.

          (f)  If (i) the purchase price provided for in any right or option
               referred to in clause (i) of subparagraph (c), or (ii) the
               additional consideration, if any, payable upon the conversion or
               exchange of Convertible Securities referred to in clause (i) or
               clause (ii) of subparagraph (c), or (iii) the rate at which any
               Convertible Securities referred to in clause (i) or clause (ii)
               of subparagraph (c) are convertible into or exchangeable for
               Common Stock, shall change at any time (other than under or by
               reason of provisions designed to protect against dilution), the
               conversion price then in effect hereunder shall forthwith be
               increased or decreased to such conversion price as would have
               obtained had the adjustments made upon the issuance of such
               rights, options or Convertible Securities been made upon the
               basis of (a) the issuance of the number of shares of Common Stock
               theretofore actually delivered upon the exercise of such options
               or rights or upon the conversion or exchange of such Convertible
               Securities, and the total consideration received therefor, and
               (b) the issuance at the time 

                                       16

<PAGE>

               of such change of any such options, rights, or Convertible 
               Securities then still outstanding for the consideration, if any,
               received by the Corporation therefor and to be received on the 
               basis of such changed price; and on the expiration of any such 
               option or right or the termination of any such right to convert 
               or exchange such Convertible Securities, the conversion price 
               then in effect hereunder shall forthwith be increased to such 
               conversion price as would have obtained had the adjustments 
               made upon the issuance of such rights or options or 
               Convertible Securities been made upon the basis of the 
               issuance of the shares of Common Stock theretofore actually 
               delivered (and the total consideration received therefor) upon 
               the exercise of such rights or options or upon the conversion 
               or exchange of such Convertible Securities.  If the purchase 
               price provided for in any right or option referred to in 
               clause (i) of subparagraph (c), or the rate at which any 
               Convertible Securities referred to in clause (i) or clause 
               (ii) of subparagraph (c) are convertible into or exchangeable 
               for Common Stock, shall decrease at any time under or by 
               reason of provisions with respect thereto designed to protect 
               against dilution, then in case of the delivery of Common Stock 
               upon the exercise of any such right or option or upon 
               conversion or exchange of any such Convertible Security, the 
               conversion price then in effect hereunder shall forthwith be 
               decreased to such conversion price as would have obtained had 
               the adjustments made upon the issuance of such right, option 
               or Convertible Security been made upon the basis of the 
               issuance of (and the total consideration received for) the 
               shares of Common Stock delivered as aforesaid.

          (g)  If any capital reorganization or reclassification of the capital
               stock of the Corporation, or consolidation or merger of the
               Corporation with another corporation, or the sale of all or
               substantially all of its assets to another corporation shall be
               effected in such a way that holders of Common Stock shall be
               entitled to receive stock, securities or assets with respect to
               or in exchange for Common Stock, then, as a condition of such
               reorganization, reclassification, consolidation, merger or sale,
               and subject to subparagraph (2) above, lawful and adequate
               provision shall be made whereby the holders of Convertible
               Preferred Stock shall thereafter have the right to receive upon
               the basis and upon the terms and conditions specified herein and
               in lieu of the shares of the Common Stock of the Corporation
               immediately theretofore receivable upon the conversion of
               Convertible Preferred Stock, such shares of stock, securities or
               assets as may be issued or payable with respect to or in exchange
               for a number of outstanding shares of such Common Stock equal to
               the number of shares of such stock immediately theretofore
               receivable upon the conversion of Convertible Preferred Stock had
               such reorganization, reclassification, consolidation, merger or
               sale not taken place, plus all dividends unpaid and accumulated
               or accrued thereon to the date of such reorganization,
               reclassification, consolidation, merger or sale, and in any such
               case appropriate 

                                      17

<PAGE>

               provision shall be made with respect to the rights and interests
               of the holders of Convertible Preferred Stock to the end that the
               provisions hereof (including without limitation provisions for 
               adjustments of the conversion price and of the number of shares 
               receivable upon the conversion of Convertible Preferred Stock)
               shall thereafter be applicable, as nearly as may be in relation 
               to any shares of stock, securities or assets thereafter 
               receivable upon the conversion of Convertible Preferred Stock. 
               The Corporation shall not effect any such consolidation, merger 
               or sale, unless prior to the consummation thereof the successor
               corporation (if other than the Corporation) resulting from such
               consolidation or merger or the corporation purchasing such 
               assets shall assume by written instrument executed and mailed to
               the registered holders of Convertible Preferred Stock, at the 
               last addresses of such holders appearing on the books of the 
               Corporation, the obligation to deliver to such holders such 
               shares of stock, securities or assets as, in accordance with 
               the foregoing provisions, such holders may be entitled to 
               receive.

          (h)  Upon any adjustment of the conversion price, then and in each
               case the Corporation shall give written notice thereof, by
               first-class mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the registered
               holders of Convertible Preferred Stock, at the addresses of such
               holders as shown on the books of the Corporation, which notice
               shall state the conversion price resulting from such adjustment
               and the increase or decrease, if any, in the number of shares
               receivable at such price upon the conversion of Convertible
               Preferred Stock, setting forth in reasonable detail the method of
               calculation and the facts upon which such calculation is based.

          (i)  In case at any time:

               (i)    the Corporation shall declare any cash dividend on its
                      Common Stock at a rate in excess of the rate of the last
                      cash dividend theretofore paid;

               (ii)   the Corporation shall pay any dividend payable in stock
                      upon its Common Stock or make any distribution (other than
                      regular cash dividends) to the holders of its Common
                      Stock;

               (iii)  the Corporation shall offer for subscription pro rata to
                      the holders of its Common Stock any additional shares of
                      stock of any class or other rights;

               (iv)   there shall be any capital reorganization, or
                      reclassification of the capital stock of the Corporation,
                      or consolidation or merger of the Corporation with, or
                      sale of all or substantially all of its assets to, another
                      corporation; or

                                      18

<PAGE>

               (v)    there shall be a voluntary or involuntary dissolution,
                      liquidation or winding up of the Corporation;

               then, in any one or more of said cases, the Corporation shall
               give written notice, by first-class mail, postage prepaid,
               addressed to the registered holders of Convertible Preferred
               Stock at the addresses of such holders as shown on the books of
               the Corporation, of the date on which (a) the books of the
               Corporation shall close or a record shall be taken for such
               dividend, distribution or subscription rights, or (b) such
               reorganization, reclassification, consolidation, merger, sale,
               dissolution, liquidation or winding up shall take place, as the
               case may be.  Such notice shall also specify the date as of which
               the holders of Common Stock of record shall participate in such
               dividend, distribution or subscription rights, or shall be
               entitled to exchange their Common Stock for securities or other
               property deliverable upon such reorganization, reclassification,
               consolidation, merger, sale, dissolution, liquidation, or winding
               up, as the case may be.  Such written notice shall be given at
               least 20 days prior to the action in question and not less than
               20 days prior to the record date or the date on which the
               Corporation's transfer books are closed in respect thereto.

          (j)  If any event occurs as to which in the opinion of the Board of
               Directors of the Corporation the other provisions of this
               paragraph (3) are not strictly applicable or if strictly
               applicable would not fairly protect the rights of the holders of
               Convertible Preferred Stock in accordance with the essential
               intent and principles of such provisions, then the Board of
               Directors shall make an adjustment in the application of such
               provisions, in accordance with such essential intent and
               principles, so as to protect such rights as aforesaid.

          (k)  As used in this paragraph (3) the term "Common Stock" shall mean
               and include the Corporation's presently authorized Common Stock
               and shall also include any capital stock of any class of the
               Corporation hereafter authorized which shall not be limited to a
               fixed sum or percentage in respect of the rights of the holders
               thereof to participate in dividends or in the distribution of
               assets upon the voluntary or involuntary liquidation, dissolution
               or winding up of the Corporation; provided that the shares
               receivable pursuant to conversion of shares of Convertible
               Preferred Stock shall include shares designated as Common Stock
               of the Corporation as of the date of issuance of such shares of
               Convertible Preferred Stock, or, in case of any reclassification
               of the outstanding shares thereof, the stock, securities or
               assets provided for in subparagraph (g) above.

          (l)  No fractional shares of Common Stock shall be issued upon
               conversion, but, instead of any fraction of a share which would
               otherwise be issuable, the Corporation shall pay a cash
               adjustment in respect of such fraction in an amount equal to the
               same fraction of the market price 

                                      19

<PAGE>

               per share of Common Stock as of the close of business on the day 
               of conversion.  "Market price" shall mean if the Common Stock is 
               traded on a securities exchange or on the NASDAQ National 
               Market System, the closing price of the Common Stock on such 
               exchange or the NASDAQ National Market System, or, if the 
               Common Stock is otherwise traded in the over-the-counter 
               market, the closing bid price, in each case averaged over a 
               period of 20 consecutive business days prior to the date as of 
               which "market price" is being determined.  If at any time the 
               Common Stock is not traded on an exchange or the NASDAQ 
               National Market System, or otherwise traded in the 
               over-the-counter market, the "market price" shall be deemed to 
               be the higher of (i) the book value thereof as determined by 
               any firm of independent public accountants of recognized 
               standing selected by the Board of Directors of the Corporation 
               as of the last day of any month ending within 60 days 
               preceding the date as of which the determination is to be 
               made, or (ii) the fair value thereof determined in good faith 
               by the Board of Directors of the Corporation as of a date 
               which is within 15 days of the date as of which the 
               determination is to be made.

     4.3  MANDATORY CONVERSION.  The Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, 
Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, Series D Convertible Preferred Stock, 
Series E Convertible Preferred Stock, Series F Convertible Preferred Stock 
and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock shall automatically be converted 
into shares of Common Stock of the Corporation, without any act by the 
Corporation or the holders of such Convertible Preferred Stock, concurrently 
with the closing of the first public offering by the Corporation of shares of 
Common Stock of the Corporation registered under the Securities Act of 1933, 
as amended, in which (1) the aggregate public offering price of the 
securities sold for cash by the Corporation in the offering is at least 
$15,000,000, or such lower amount as may be approved by the holders of at 
least 75% of the shares of Series A Convertible Preferred Stock, Series B 
Convertible Preferred Stock, Series D Convertible Preferred Stock, Series E 
Convertible Preferred Stock, Series F Convertible Preferred Stock and Series 
H Convertible Preferred Stock then outstanding, and (2) the offering is 
underwritten on a firm commitment basis by an underwriter, or a group of 
underwriters represented by an underwriter or underwriters, which is a member 
of the New York Stock Exchange, unless this requirement is waived by the 
holders of at least 75% of the shares of Series A Convertible Preferred 
Stock, Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, Series D Convertible Preferred 
Stock, Series E Convertible Preferred Stock, Series F Convertible Preferred 
Stock and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock then outstanding, and (3) the 
public offering price per share of Common Stock is at least $5.00 (as 
adjusted from time to time to reflect stock splits, dividends, 
recapitalizations, combinations or the like), or such lower amount as may be 
approved by the holders of at least 75% of the shares of Series A Convertible 
Preferred Stock, Series B Convertible Preferred Stock, Series D Convertible 
Preferred Stock, Series E Convertible Preferred Stock, Series F Convertible 
Preferred Stock and Series H Convertible Preferred Stock then outstanding.  
The Series C Convertible Preferred Stock and Series G Convertible Preferred 
Stock shall automatically be converted into shares of Common Stock of the 
Corporation, without any act by the Corporation or the holders of such 
Convertible Preferred Stock, concurrently with the closing of the first 
public offering by the Corporation of shares of Common Stock of the 
Corporation registered under the 

                                     20

<PAGE>

Securities Act of 1933, as amended, in which (1) the aggregate public 
offering price of the securities sold for cash by the Corporation in the 
offering is at least $15,000,000, or such lower amount as may be approved by 
the holders of at least 66-2/3% of the shares of Series C Convertible 
Preferred Stock and Series G Convertible Preferred Stock then outstanding, 
and (2) the offering is underwritten on a firm commitment basis by an 
underwriter, or a group of underwriters represented by an underwriter or 
underwriters, which is a member of the New York Stock Exchange, unless this 
requirement is waived by the holders of at least 66-2/3% of the shares of 
Series C Convertible Preferred Stock and Series G Convertible Preferred Stock 
then outstanding, and (3) the public offering price per share of Common Stock 
is at least $2.60 (as adjusted from time to time to reflect stock splits, 
dividends, recapitalizations, combinations or the like), or such lower amount 
as may be approved by the holders of at least 66-2/3% of the shares of Series 
C Convertible Preferred Stock and Series G Convertible Preferred Stock then 
outstanding.  As used herein, the term "closing" shall mean the delivery by 
the Corporation to the underwriters of certificates representing the shares 
of Common Stock of the Corporation offered to the public against delivery to 
the Corporation by such underwriters of payment therefor.  The term "firm 
commitment basis" with respect to the underwriting of such public offering 
shall mean a commitment pursuant to a written underwriting agreement under 
which the nature of the underwriters' commitment is such that all securities 
will be purchased by such underwriters if any securities are purchased by 
such underwriters.  Each holder of a share of Convertible Preferred Stock so 
converted shall be entitled to receive the full number of shares of Common 
Stock into which such share of Convertible Preferred Stock held by such 
holder could be converted if such holder had exercised its conversion right 
at the time of closing of such public offering.  Upon such conversion, each 
holder of a share of Convertible Preferred Stock shall immediately surrender 
such share in exchange for appropriate stock certificates representing a 
share or shares of Common Stock of the Corporation.

     4.4  ADDITIONAL PREFERRED STOCK.  The Board of Directors of the 
Corporation (hereinafter referred to as the "Board of Directors") is hereby 
expressly authorized at any time following the closing of the Corporation's 
initial public offering pursuant to an effective registration statement under 
the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, covering the offer and sale of Common 
Stock of this Corporation (the "Initial Public Offering"), and from time to 
time thereafter, to create and provide for the issuance of additional shares 
of Preferred Stock in one or more series and, by filing a certificate 
pursuant to the GCL (hereinafter referred to as a "Preferred Stock 
Designation"), to establish the number of shares to be included in each such 
series, and to fix the designations, preferences and relative, participating, 
optional or other special rights of the shares of each such series and the 
qualifications, limitations or restrictions thereof, as shall be stated and 
expressed in the resolution or resolutions providing for the issue thereof 
adopted by the Board of Directors, including, but not limited to, the 
following:

     (A)  the designation of and the number of shares constituting such series,
which number the Board of Directors may thereafter (except as otherwise provided
in the Preferred Stock Designation) increase or decrease (but not below the
number of shares of such series then outstanding or reserved for issuance);

     (B)  the dividend rate for the payment of dividends on such series, if any,
the conditions and dates upon which such dividends shall be payable, the
preference or relation 

                                      21

<PAGE>

which such dividends, if any, shall bear to the dividends payable on any 
other class or classes of or any other series of capital stock, the 
conditions and dates upon which such dividends, if any, shall be payable, and 
whether such dividends, if any, shall be cumulative or non-cumulative;

     (C)  whether the shares of such series shall be subject to redemption by 
the Corporation, and, if made subject to such redemption, the times, prices 
and other terms and conditions of such redemption;
     
     (D)  the terms and amount of any sinking fund provided for the purchase 
or redemption of the shares of such series;

     (E)  whether or not the shares of such series shall be convertible into 
or exchangeable for shares of any other class or classes of, any other series 
of any class or classes of capital stock of, or any other security of, the 
Corporation or any other corporation, and, if provision be made for such 
conversion or exchange, the times, prices, rates, adjustments and any other 
terms and conditions of the such conversion or exchange;

     (F)  the extent, if any, to which the holders of the shares of such 
series shall be entitled to vote as a class or otherwise with respect to the 
election of directors or otherwise;

     (G)  the restrictions, if any, on the issue or reissue of shares of the 
same series or of any other class or series;

     (H)  the amounts payable on and the preferences, if any, of the shares 
of such series in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, 
dissolution or winding up of the Corporation; and

     (I)  any other relative rights, preferences and limitations of that 
series.

                                    ARTICLE 5

     The Board of Directors is hereby authorized, at any time following the 
Initial Public Offering, and from time to time thereafter, to create and 
issue, whether or not in connection with the issuance and sale of any of its 
stock or other securities or property, rights entitling the holders thereof 
to purchase from the Corporation shares of stock or other securities of the 
Corporation or any other corporation, recognizing that, under certain 
circumstances, the creation and issuance of such rights could have the effect 
of discouraging third parties from seeking, or impairing their ability to 
seek, to acquire a significant portion of the outstanding securities of the 
Corporation, to engage in any transaction which might result in a change of 
control of the Corporation or to enter into any agreement, arrangement or 
understanding with another party to accomplish the foregoing or for the 
purpose of acquiring, holding, voting or disposing of any securities of the 
Corporation.  The times at which and the terms upon which such rights are to 
be issued will be determined by the Board of Directors and set forth in the 
contracts or instruments that evidence such rights.  The authority of the 
Board of Directors with respect to such rights shall include, but not be 
limited to, determination of the following:

                                      22

<PAGE>

     (A)  the initial purchase price per share or other unit of the stock or
other securities or property to be purchased upon exercise of such rights;

     (B)  provisions relating to the times at which and the circumstances 
under which such rights may be exercised or sold or otherwise transferred, 
either together with or separately from, any other stock or other securities 
of the Corporation;

     (C)  provisions which adjust the number or exercise price of such rights 
or amount or nature of the stock or other securities or property receivable 
upon exercise of such rights in the event of a combination, split or 
recapitalization of any stock of the Corporation, a change in ownership of 
the Corporation's stock or other securities or a reorganization, merger, 
consolidation, sale of assets or other occurrence relating to the Corporation 
or any stock of the Corporation, and provisions restricting the ability of 
the Corporation to enter into any such transaction absent an assumption by 
the other party or parties thereto of the obligations of the Corporation 
under such rights;

     (D)  provisions which deny the holder of a specified percentage of the 
outstanding stock or other securities of the Corporation the right to 
exercise such rights and/or cause the rights held by such holder to become 
void;

     (E)  provisions which permit the Corporation to redeem or exchange such 
rights, which redemption or exchange may be within the sole discretion of the 
Board of Directors, if the Board of Directors reserves such right to itself; 
and

     (F)  the appointment of a rights agent with respect to such rights.

          Notwithstanding anything contained in this Certificate of 
Incorporation to the contrary, following the Initial Public Offering, the 
affirmative vote of at least 80 percent of the voting power of the then 
outstanding Voting Stock (as defined below), voting together as a single 
class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any provision inconsistent 
with this Article 5.  For the purposes of this Certificate of Incorporation, 
"Voting Stock" shall mean the outstanding shares of capital stock of the 
Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors.

                                    ARTICLE 6

     6.1  ADOPTION, AMENDMENT OR REPEAL OF BYLAWS; RIGHT OF INSPECTION.  In 
furtherance, and not in limitation, of the powers conferred by law, the Board 
of Directors is expressly authorized and empowered:

     (A)  to adopt, amend or repeal the Bylaws of the Corporation, PROVIDED, 
HOWEVER, that any Bylaws adopted by the Board of Directors under the powers 
hereby conferred may be amended or repealed by the Board of Directors or by 
the stockholders having voting power with respect thereto; and

     (B)  from time to time to determine whether and to what extent, and at 
what times and places, and under what conditions and regulations, the 
accounts and books of the Corporation, or any of them, shall be open to 
inspection of stockholders; and, except as so 

                                      23

<PAGE>

determined, or as expressly provided in the Purchase Agreements, this 
Certificate of Incorporation or in any Preferred Stock Designation, no 
stockholder shall have any right to inspect any account, book or document of 
the Corporation other than such rights as may be conferred by law.

     6.2  ADDITIONAL POWERS.  The Corporation may in its Bylaws confer powers 
upon the Board of Directors in addition to the foregoing and in addition to 
the powers and authorities expressly conferred upon the Board of Directors by 
law.

     6.3  AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS AND THIS ARTICLE 6.  Notwithstanding anything 
contained in this Certificate of Incorporation to the contrary, following the 
Initial Public Offering, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80 
percent of the voting power of the then outstanding Voting Stock, voting 
together as a single class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any 
provision inconsistent with (i) this Article 6 or (ii) Section 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 
2.7 or 2.10 of Article II, Section 3.2, 3.3 or 3.5 of Article III or Article 
IX of the Bylaws of the Corporation.

                                    ARTICLE 7

     7.1  NO ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT.  Subject to the rights of the holders 
of any series of Preferred Stock or any other series or class of stock as set 
forth in this Certificate of Incorporation to elect additional directors 
under specified circumstances or to consent to specific actions taken by the 
Corporation, following the Initial Public Offering, any action required or 
permitted to be taken by the stockholders of the Corporation must be effected 
at a duly called annual or special meeting of stockholders of the Corporation 
and may not be effected by any consent in writing in lieu of a meeting of 
such stockholders.

     7.2  SPECIAL MEETINGS.  Subject to the rights of the holders of any 
series of Preferred Stock or any other series or class of stock as set forth 
in this Certificate of Incorporation to elect additional directors under 
specified circumstances, a special meeting of the holders of stock of the 
Corporation entitled to vote on any business to be considered at any such 
meeting may be called only by the Chairman of the Board of the Corporation, 
and shall be called by the Secretary of the Corporation at the request of the 
Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the 
total number of directors which the Corporation would at the time have if 
there were no vacancies (the "Whole Board").
     
     7.3  AMENDMENT OF THIS ARTICLE 7.  Notwithstanding anything contained in 
this Certificate of Incorporation to the contrary, following the Initial 
Public Offering, the affirmative vote of at least 80 percent of the voting 
power of the then outstanding Voting Stock, voting together as a single 
class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any provision inconsistent 
with this Article 7.

                                    ARTICLE 8

     8.1  NUMBER OF DIRECTORS.  Subject to the rights of the holders of any 
series of Preferred Stock or any other series or class of stock as set forth 
in this Certificate of Incorporation to elect additional directors under 
specified circumstances, the number of 

                                      24

<PAGE>

directors of the Corporation shall be fixed, and may be increased or 
decreased from time to time, in such a manner as may be prescribed by the 
Bylaws of the Corporation.

     8.2  ELECTION BY WRITTEN BALLOT NOT REQUIRED.  Unless and except to the 
extent that the Bylaws of the Corporation shall so require, the election of 
directors of the Corporation need not be by written ballot.

     8.3  STAGGERED BOARD.  Following the Initial Public Offering, the 
directors, other than those who may be elected by the holders of any series 
of Preferred Stock or any other series or class of stock as set forth in this 
Certificate of Incorporation, shall be divided into three classes, as nearly 
equal in number as reasonably possible, and designated as Class I, Class II 
and Class III.  Class I directors shall be initially elected for a term 
expiring at the first annual meeting of stockholders following the Initial 
Public Offering, Class II directors shall be initially elected for a term 
expiring at the second annual meeting of stockholders following the Initial 
Public Offering, and Class III directors shall be initially elected for a 
term expiring at the third annual meeting of stockholders following the 
Initial Public Offering.  Members of each class shall hold office until their 
successors are elected and qualified.  At each succeeding annual meeting of 
the stockholders of the Corporation, the successors of the class of directors 
whose term expires at that meeting shall be elected to hold office for a term 
expiring at the annual meeting of stockholders held in the third year 
following the year of their election, and until their successors are elected 
and qualified.

     8.4  REMOVAL OF DIRECTORS.  Subject to the rights of the holders of any 
series of Preferred Stock or any other series or class of stock as set forth 
in this Certificate of Incorporation to elect additional directors under 
specified circumstances, following the Initial Public Offering, any director 
may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause.

     8.5  ADVANCE NOTICE.  Advance notice of stockholder nominations for the 
election of directors shall be given in the manner provided in the Bylaws of 
the Corporation.

     8.6  VACANCIES.  Subject to the rights of the holders of any series of 
Preferred Stock or any other series or class of stock as set forth in this 
Certificate of Incorporation to elect additional directors under specified 
circumstances, following the Initial Public Offering, vacancies in the Board 
of Directors resulting from death, resignation, retirement, disqualification, 
removal from office or other cause, and newly created directorships resulting 
from any increase in the authorized number of directors, may be filled only 
by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors, though less 
than a quorum of the Board of Directors, and directors so chosen shall hold 
office for a term expiring at the annual meeting of stockholders at which the 
term of office of the class to which they have been elected expires and until 
such director's successor shall have been duly elected and qualified.  No 
decrease in the number of authorized directors constituting the Whole Board 
shall shorten the term of any incumbent director.

     8.7  AMENDMENT OF THIS ARTICLE 8.  Notwithstanding anything contained in 
this Certificate of Incorporation to the contrary, following the Initial 
Public Offering, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80 percent 
of the voting power of the then outstanding Voting Stock, voting together as 
a single class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any provisions 
inconsistent with this Article 8.

                                      25

<PAGE>

                                    ARTICLE 9

     A director of the Corporation shall not be personally liable to the 
Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary 
duty as a director, except for liability (i) for any breach of the director's 
duty of loyalty to the Corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or 
omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional misconduct or a 
knowing violation of law, (iii) under Section 174 of the GCL or (iv) for any 
transaction from which the director derived an improper personal benefit.  

     If the GCL is amended after the filing of this Certificate of 
Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to 
authorize corporation action further eliminating or limiting the personal 
liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Corporation 
shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the GCL.

     No amendment or repeal of this Article 9 shall adversely affect any 
right or protection of a director of the Corporation existing hereunder in 
respect of any act or omission occurring prior to such amendment or repeal. 

                                   ARTICLE 10

     Except as may be expressly provided in this Certificate of 
Incorporation, the Corporation reserves the right at any time and from time 
to time to amend, alter, change or repeal any provision contained in this 
Certificate of Incorporation or a Preferred Stock Designation, and any other 
provisions authorized by the laws of the State of Delaware at the time in 
force may be added or inserted, in the manner now or hereafter prescribed 
herein or by law, and all powers, preferences and rights of whatsoever nature 
conferred upon stockholders, directors or any other persons whomsoever by and 
pursuant to this Certificate of Incorporation in its present form or as 
hereafter amended are granted subject to the right reserved in this Article 
10, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that no Preferred Stock Designation shall be amended 
after the issuance of any shares of the series of Preferred Stock created 
thereby, except in accordance with the terms of such Preferred Stock 
Designation and the requirements of law.

                                   ARTICLE 11

     The name and mailing address of the incorporator is Brian Wenger, 2400 
IDS Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota  55402.
   
     WITNESS my signature this 3rd day of December, 1997.


                                            /s/ Brian D. Wenger
                                            -----------------------------------
                                                       Brian D. Wenger
                                                       Secretary
    
                                      26

<PAGE>

                              AMENDED AND RESTATED
                          CERTIFICATE OF INCORPORATION
                                       OF 
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.


     The undersigned, for the purpose of organizing a corporation under the
General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, certifies:

                                    ARTICLE 1

     The name of the corporation is Information Advantage, Inc. (hereinafter
referred to as the "Corporation").

                                    ARTICLE 2

     The address of the Corporation's registered office in the State of Delaware
is The Corporation Trust Center, 1209 Orange Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801,
County of New Castle.  The name of its registered agent at such address is The
Corporation Trust Company.

                                    ARTICLE 3

     The purpose of the Corporation is to engage in any lawful act or activity
for which corporations may be organized under the General Corporation Law of the
State of Delaware (hereinafter referred to as the "GCL").

                                    ARTICLE 4
   
     4.1  AUTHORIZED CAPITAL.  The total number of shares of stock which the 
Corporation shall have authority to issue is 65,000,000 shares, consisting of 
60,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.01 per share (hereinafter 
referred to as the "Common Stock"), and 5,000,000 shares of preferred stock, 
par value $0.01 per share (hereinafter referred to as the "Preferred  
Stock").  The powers, designations, preferences and relative, participating, 
optional or other special rights (and the qualifications, limitations or 
restrictions thereof) of the Common Stock and the Preferred Stock are as set 
forth in this Article 4.
    
     4.2  COMMON STOCK.  The Common Stock shall be subject to the express 
terms of any series of Preferred Stock set forth in the Preferred Stock 
Designation (as defined below in Section 4.5 of this Article 4) relating 
thereto.  Each holder of Common Stock shall have one vote in respect of each 
share of Common Stock held by such holder of record on the books of the 
Corporation for the election of directors and on all other matters on which 
stockholders of the Corporation are entitled to vote.  The holders of shares 
of Common Stock shall be entitled to receive, when and if declared by the 
Board of Directors, out of the 



<PAGE>


assets of the Corporation which are by law available therefor, dividends 
payable either in cash, in stock or otherwise.

     4.3  CUMULATIVE VOTING.  No holder of shares of capital stock of the
Corporation shall have any cumulative voting rights.

     4.4  PREEMPTIVE RIGHTS.  No holder of shares of any class of capital 
stock of the Corporation shall be entitled as such, as a matter of right, to 
subscribe for, purchase or receive any part of any new or additional issue of 
stock of any class whatsoever, or of securities convertible into or 
exchangeable for any stock of any class whatsoever, whether now or hereafter 
authorized and whether issued for cash or other consideration or by way of 
dividend.

     4.5  PREFERRED STOCK.  The Board of Directors of the Corporation 
(hereinafter referred to as the "Board of Directors") is hereby expressly 
authorized at any time following the closing of the Corporation's initial 
public offering pursuant to an effective registration statement under the 
Securities Act of 1933, as amended, covering the offer and sale of Common 
Stock of this Corporation (the "Initial Public Offering"), and from time to 
time thereafter, to create and provide for the issuance of shares of 
Preferred Stock in one or more series and, by filing a certificate pursuant 
to the GCL (hereinafter referred to as a "Preferred Stock Designation"), to 
establish the number of shares to be included in each such series, and to fix 
the designations, preferences and relative, participating, optional or other 
special rights of the shares of each such series and the qualifications, 
limitations or restrictions thereof, as shall be stated and expressed in the 
resolution or resolutions providing for the issue thereof adopted by the 
Board of Directors, including, but not limited to, the following:

     (A)  the designation of and the number of shares constituting such 
series, which number the Board of Directors may thereafter (except as 
otherwise provided in the Preferred Stock Designation) increase or decrease 
(but not below the number of shares of such series then outstanding or 
reserved for issuance);

     (B)  the dividend rate for the payment of dividends on such series, if 
any, the conditions and dates upon which such dividends shall be payable, the 
preference or relation which such dividends, if any, shall bear to the 
dividends payable on any other class or classes of or any other series of 
capital stock, the conditions and dates upon which such dividends, if any, 
shall be payable, and whether such dividends, if any, shall be cumulative or 
non-cumulative;

     (C)  whether the shares of such series shall be subject to redemption by 
the Corporation, and, if made subject to such redemption, the times, prices 
and other terms and conditions of such redemption;
     
                                       2


<PAGE>

     (D)  the terms and amount of any sinking fund provided for the purchase 
or redemption of the shares of such series;

     (E)  whether or not the shares of such series shall be convertible into 
or exchangeable for shares of any other class or classes of, any other series 
of any class or classes of capital stock of, or any other security of, the 
Corporation or any other corporation, and, if provision be made for such 
conversion or exchange, the times, prices, rates, adjustments and any other 
terms and conditions of the such conversion or exchange;

     (F)  the extent, if any, to which the holders of the shares of such 
series shall be entitled to vote as a class or otherwise with respect to the 
election of directors or otherwise;

     (G)  the restrictions, if any, on the issue or reissue of shares of the 
same series or of any other class or series;

     (H)  the amounts payable on and the preferences, if any, of the shares 
of such series in the event of any voluntary or involuntary liquidation, 
dissolution or winding up of the Corporation; and

     (I)  any other relative rights, preferences and limitations of that 
series.

                                    ARTICLE 5

     The Board of Directors is hereby authorized, at any time following the 
first public offering of the Common Stock of the Corporation under the 
Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Initial Public Offering"), and from 
time to time thereafter, to create and issue, whether or not in connection 
with the issuance and sale of any of its stock or other securities or 
property, rights entitling the holders thereof to purchase from the 
Corporation shares of stock or other securities of the Corporation or any 
other corporation, recognizing that, under certain circumstances, the 
creation and issuance of such rights could have the effect of discouraging 
third parties from seeking, or impairing their ability to seek, to acquire a 
significant portion of the outstanding securities of the Corporation, to 
engage in any transaction which might result in a change of control of the 
Corporation or to enter into any agreement, arrangement or understanding with 
another party to accomplish the foregoing or for the purpose of acquiring, 
holding, voting or disposing of any securities of the Corporation.  The times 
at which and the terms upon which such rights are to be issued will be 
determined by the Board of Directors and set forth in the contracts or 
instruments that evidence such rights.  The authority of the Board of 
Directors with respect to such rights shall include, but not be limited to, 
determination of the following:

     (A)  the initial purchase price per share or other unit of the stock or 
other securities or property to be purchased upon exercise of such rights;

                                       3

<PAGE>

     (B)  provisions relating to the times at which and the circumstances 
under which such rights may be exercised or sold or otherwise transferred, 
either together with or separately from, any other stock or other securities 
of the Corporation;

     (C)  provisions which adjust the number or exercise price of such rights 
or amount or nature of the stock or other securities or property receivable 
upon exercise of such rights in the event of a combination, split or 
recapitalization of any stock of the Corporation, a change in ownership of 
the Corporation's stock or other securities or a reorganization, merger, 
consolidation, sale of assets or other occurrence relating to the Corporation 
or any stock of the Corporation, and provisions restricting the ability of 
the Corporation to enter into any such transaction absent an assumption by 
the other party or parties thereto of the obligations of the Corporation 
under such rights;

     (D)  provisions which deny the holder of a specified percentage of the 
outstanding stock or other securities of the Corporation the right to 
exercise such rights and/or cause the rights held by such holder to become 
void;

     (E)  provisions which permit the Corporation to redeem or exchange such 
rights, which redemption or exchange may be within the sole discretion of the 
Board of Directors, if the Board of Directors reserves such right to itself; 
and

     (F)  the appointment of a rights agent with respect to such rights.

          Notwithstanding anything contained in this Certificate of 
Incorporation to the contrary, following the Initial Public Offering, the 
affirmative vote of at least 80 percent of the voting power of the then 
outstanding Voting Stock (as defined below), voting together as a single 
class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any provision inconsistent 
with this Article 5.  For the purposes of this Certificate of Incorporation, 
"Voting Stock" shall mean the outstanding shares of capital stock of the 
Corporation entitled to vote generally in the election of directors.

                                    ARTICLE 6

     6.1  ADOPTION, AMENDMENT OR REPEAL OF BYLAWS; RIGHT OF INSPECTION.  In 
furtherance, and not in limitation, of the powers conferred by law, the Board 
of Directors is expressly authorized and empowered:

     (A)  to adopt, amend or repeal the Bylaws of the Corporation, PROVIDED, 
HOWEVER, that any Bylaws adopted by the Board of Directors under the powers 
hereby conferred may be amended or repealed by the Board of Directors or by 
the stockholders having voting power with respect thereto; and

     (B)  from time to time to determine whether and to what extent, and at 
what times and places, and under what conditions and regulations, the 
accounts and books of the Corporation, or any of them, shall be open to 
inspection of stockholders; and, except as so 

                                       4


<PAGE>

determined, or as expressly provided in the Purchase Agreements, this 
Certificate of Incorporation or in any Preferred Stock Designation, no 
stockholder shall have any right to inspect any account, book or document of 
the Corporation other than such rights as may be conferred by law.

     6.2  ADDITIONAL POWERS.  The Corporation may in its Bylaws confer powers 
upon the Board of Directors in addition to the foregoing and in addition to 
the powers and authorities expressly conferred upon the Board of Directors by 
law.

     6.3  AMENDMENT OF BYLAWS AND THIS ARTICLE 6.  Notwithstanding anything 
contained in this Certificate of Incorporation to the contrary, following the 
Initial Public Offering, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80 
percent of the voting power of the then outstanding Voting Stock, voting 
together as a single class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any 
provision inconsistent with (i) this Article 6 or (ii) Section 2.2, 2.4, 2.5, 
2.7 or 2.10 of Article II, Section 3.2, 3.3 or 3.5 of Article III or Article 
IX of the Bylaws of the Corporation.

                                    ARTICLE 7

     7.1  NO ACTION BY WRITTEN CONSENT.  Following the Initial Public 
Offering, any action required or permitted to be taken by the stockholders of 
the Corporation must be effected at a duly called annual or special meeting 
of stockholders of the Corporation and may not be effected by any consent in 
writing in lieu of a meeting of such stockholders.

     7.2  SPECIAL MEETINGS.  A special meeting of the holders of stock of the 
Corporation entitled to vote on any business to be considered at any such 
meeting may be called only by the Chairman of the Board of the Corporation, 
and shall be called by the Secretary of the Corporation at the request of the 
Board of Directors pursuant to a resolution adopted by a majority of the 
total number of directors which the Corporation would at the time have if 
there were no vacancies (the "Whole Board").
     
     7.3  AMENDMENT OF THIS ARTICLE 7.  Notwithstanding anything contained in 
this Certificate of Incorporation to the contrary, following the Initial 
Public Offering, the affirmative vote of at least 80 percent of the voting 
power of the then outstanding Voting Stock, voting together as a single 
class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any provision inconsistent 
with this Article 7.

                                    ARTICLE 8

     8.1  NUMBER OF DIRECTORS.  The number of directors of the Corporation 
shall be fixed, and may be increased or decreased from time to time, in such 
a manner as may be prescribed by the Bylaws of the Corporation.

                                       5


<PAGE>

     8.2  ELECTION BY WRITTEN BALLOT NOT REQUIRED.  Unless and except to the 
extent that the Bylaws of the Corporation shall so require, the election of 
directors of the Corporation need not be by written ballot.

     8.3  STAGGERED BOARD.  Following the Initial Public Offering, the 
directors shall be divided into three classes, as nearly equal in number as 
reasonably possible, and designated as Class I, Class II and Class III.  
Class I directors shall be initially elected for a term expiring at the first 
annual meeting of stockholders following the Initial Public Offering, Class 
II directors shall be initially elected for a term expiring at the second 
annual meeting of stockholders following the Initial Public Offering, and 
Class III directors shall be initially elected for a term expiring at the 
third annual meeting of stockholders following the Initial Public Offering.  
Members of each class shall hold office until their successors are elected 
and qualified.  At each succeeding annual meeting of the stockholders of the 
Corporation, the successors of the class of directors whose term expires at 
that meeting shall be elected to hold office for a term expiring at the 
annual meeting of stockholders held in the third year following the year of 
their election, and until their successors are elected and qualified.

     8.4  REMOVAL OF DIRECTORS.  Following the Initial Public Offering, any 
director may be removed from office at any time, but only for cause.

     8.5  ADVANCE NOTICE.  Advance notice of stockholder nominations for the 
election of directors shall be given in the manner provided in the Bylaws of 
the Corporation.

     8.6  VACANCIES.  Following the Initial Public Offering, vacancies in the 
Board of Directors resulting from death, resignation, retirement, 
disqualification, removal from office or other cause, and newly created 
directorships resulting from any increase in the authorized number of 
directors, may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the 
remaining directors, though less than a quorum of the Board of Directors, and 
directors so chosen shall hold office for a term expiring at the annual 
meeting of stockholders at which the term of office of the class to which 
they have been elected expires and until such director's successor shall have 
been duly elected and qualified.  No decrease in the number of authorized 
directors constituting the Whole Board shall shorten the term of any 
incumbent director.

     8.7  AMENDMENT OF THIS ARTICLE 8.  Notwithstanding anything contained in 
this Certificate of Incorporation to the contrary, following the Initial 
Public Offering, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least 80 percent 
of the voting power of the then outstanding Voting Stock, voting together as 
a single class, shall be required to amend, repeal or adopt any provisions 
inconsistent with this Article 8.

                                    ARTICLE 9

     A director of the Corporation shall not be personally liable to the 
Corporation or its stockholders for monetary damages for breach of fiduciary 
duty as a director, except for liability (i) for any breach of the director's 
duty of loyalty to the Corporation or its stockholders, (ii) for acts or 
omissions not in good faith or which involve intentional 

                                       6


<PAGE>


misconduct or a knowing violation of law, (iii) under Section 174 of the GCL 
or (iv) for any transaction from which the director derived an improper 
personal benefit.  

     If the GCL is amended after the filing of this Certificate of 
Incorporation with the Secretary of State of the State of Delaware to 
authorize corporation action further eliminating or limiting the personal 
liability of directors, then the liability of a director of the Corporation 
shall be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by the GCL.

     No amendment or repeal of this Article 9 shall adversely affect any 
right or protection of a director of the Corporation existing hereunder in 
respect of any act or omission occurring prior to such amendment or repeal. 

                                   ARTICLE 10

     Except as may be expressly provided in this Certificate of 
Incorporation, the Corporation reserves the right at any time and from time 
to time to amend, alter, change or repeal any provision contained in this 
Certificate of Incorporation or a Preferred Stock Designation, and any other 
provisions authorized by the laws of the State of Delaware at the time in 
force may be added or inserted, in the manner now or hereafter prescribed 
herein or by law, and all powers, preferences and rights of whatsoever nature 
conferred upon stockholders, directors or any other persons whomsoever by and 
pursuant to this Certificate of Incorporation in its present form or as 
hereafter amended are granted subject to the right reserved in this Article 
10, PROVIDED, HOWEVER, that no Preferred Stock Designation shall be amended 
after the issuance of any shares of the series of Preferred Stock created 
thereby, except in accordance with the terms of such Preferred Stock 
Designation and the requirements of law.

                                   ARTICLE 11

     The name and mailing address of the incorporator is Brian Wenger, 2400 
IDS Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota  55402.

     WITNESS my signature this _____ day of December, 1997.



                                             
                                             ---------------------------------
                                             Larry Ford, President and CEO


                                       7




<PAGE>

COMMON STOCK                                                      COMMON STOCK
  NUMBER                                                             SHARES

                                   [LOGO]
                            INFORMATION ADVANTAGE

             INCORPORATED UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

                                             SEE REVERSE FOR CERTAIN DEFINITIONS
                                              AND A STATEMENT AS TO THE RIGHTS,
                                                PREFERENCES, PRIVILEGES AND
                                                  RESTRICTIONS ON SHARES


                                                    CUSIP 45669P 10 1

THIS CERTIFIES THAT






IS THE RECORD HOLDER OF

              FULLY PAID AND NON-ASSESSABLE SHARES OF THE COMMON STOCK, 
                           $.01 PAR VALUE PER SHARE, OF

                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.

transferable on the books of the Corporation by the holder hereof in person 
or by duly authorized attorney upon surrender of this Certificate properly 
endorsed. This Certificate is not valid until countersigned by the Transfer 
Agent and registered by the Registrar.

    WITNESS the facsimile seal of the Corporation and the facsimile 
signatures of its duly authorized officers.

    Dated:

                                     [SEAL]

           /s/ Donald W. Anderson                       /s/ Larry J. Ford

VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF                                PRESIDENT AND CHIEF
   FINANCIAL OFFICER                                    EXECUTIVE OFFICER


COUNTERSIGNED AND REGISTERED:
   NORWEST BANK MINNESOTA, N.A.
      TRANSFER AGENT AND REGISTRAR

BY           /s/ L M Kaufman

             AUTHORIZED SIGNATURE

<PAGE>

    A statement of the powers, designations, preferences and relative, 
participating optional or other special rights of each class of stock or 
series thereof and the qualifications, limitations or restrictions of such 
preferences and/or rights as established, from time to time, by the 
Certificate of Incorporation of the Corporation and by any certificate of 
determination, the number of shares constituting each class and series, and 
the designations thereof, may be obtained by the holder hereof, upon request 
and without charge from the Secretary of the Corporation at the principal 
office of the Corporation.

    The following abbreviations, when used in the inscription on the face of 
this certificate, shall be construed as though they were written out in full 
according to applicable laws or regulations:

<TABLE>
<S>                                            <C>
TEN COM   -- as tenants in common              UNIF GIFT MIN ACT -- _____________________Custodian_______________________
TEN ENT   -- as tenants by the entireties                                   (Cust)                       (Minor)
JT TEN    -- as joint tenants with right of                         under Uniform Gifts to Minors
             survivorship and not as tenants                        Act__________________________________________________
             in common                                                                   (State)
COMM PROP -- as community property             UNIF TRF MIN ACT --  _______________________Custodian (until age ________)
                                                                            (Cust)
                                                                    ____________________under Uniform Transfers
                                                                          (Minor)
                                                                    to Minors Act ______________________________________
                                                                                                   (State)             
</TABLE>

    Additional abbreviations may also be used though not in the above list.

    FOR VALUE RECEIVED,________ hereby sell, assign and transfer unto

PLEASE INSERT SOCIAL SECURITY OR OTHER
   IDENTIFYING NUMBER OF ASSIGNEE
- ---------------------------------------

- ---------------------------------------

_______________________________________________________________________________
 (PLEASE PRINT OR TYPEWRITE NAME AND ADDRESS, INCLUDING ZIP CODE, OF ASSIGNEE)

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________Shares
of the common stock represented by the within Certificate, and do hereby 
irrevocably constitute and appoint

_____________________________________________________________________ Attorney
to transfer the said stock on the books of the within named Corporation with 
full power of substitution in the premises.

Dated  _____________________________

                                       X _______________________________________

                                       X _______________________________________
                                    NOTICE: THE SIGNATURE(S) TO THIS ASSIGNMENT
                                            MUST CORRESPOND WITH THE NAME(S) AS
                                            WRITTEN UPON THE FACE OF THE 
                                            CERTIFICATE IN EVERY PARTICULAR, 
                                            WITHOUT ALTERATION OR ENLARGEMENT OR
                                            ANY CHANGE WHATEVER.

Signature(s) Guaranteed




By _____________________________________
THE SIGNATURE(S) MUST BE GUARANTEED BY AN
ELIGIBLE GUARANTOR INSTITUTION (BANKS,
STOCKBROKERS, SAVINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATIONS
AND CREDIT UNIONS WITH MEMBERSHIP IN AN 
APPROVED SIGNATURE GUARANTEE MEDALLION PROGRAM).
PURSUANT TO S.E.C. RULE 17Ad-15.

AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY       NOV 21, 1997 fm
3804 ATLANTA AVENUE
SUITE 12
LONG BEACH, CA 90607             053864bk
(502) 989-2335
(FAX) (502) 425-7450             Proof [illegible] NEW



<PAGE>

                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.

                             1992 STOCK OPTION PLAN


1.   PURPOSE

     The purpose of this 1992 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan") is to promote the
interests of Information Advantage, Inc., a Minnesota corporation (the
"Company"), by providing employees, stockholders, officers and directors of the
Company and certain independent contractors with an opportunity to acquire a
proprietary or an additional proprietary interest in the Company, and thereby
develop a stronger incentive to contribute to the Company's continued success
and growth.  In addition, the opportunity to acquire a proprietary interest in
the Company by the offering and availability of stock options will assist the
Company in attracting and retaining key personnel and consultants of outstanding
ability.

2.   DEFINITIONS

     Wherever used in the Plan, the following terms have the meanings set forth
below:

     2.1  "Board" means the Board of Directors of the Company.

     2.2  "Code" means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and the
rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

     2.3  "Committee" means the Committee which may be designated from time to
time by the Board to administer the Plan pursuant to Section 3.5.

     2.4  "Incentive Stock Option" or "ISO" means a stock option which is
intended to qualify as an incentive stock option as defined in Section 422 of
the Code.

     2.5  "Non-Statutory Stock Option" or "NSO" means a stock option that is not
intended to, or does not, qualify as an incentive stock option as defined in
Section 422 of the Code.

     2.6  "Option" means, where required by the context of the Plan, an ISO
and/or NSO granted pursuant to the Plan.

     2.7  "Optionee" means a Participant in the Plan who has been granted one or
more Options under the Plan.

     2.8  "Participant" means an individual described in Section 5 of this Plan
who may be granted Options under the Plan.


<PAGE>

     2.9  "Stock" means the Common Stock, no par value, of the Company.

     2.10 "Subsidiary" means any corporation, other than the Company, in an
unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the Company if each of the
corporations other than the last corporation in the unbroken chain owns 50% or
more of the voting stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

3.   ADMINISTRATION

     3.1  The Plan shall be administered by the Board, which shall have full
power, subject to the provisions of the Plan, to grant Options, construe and
interpret the Plan, establish rules and regulations with respect to the Plan and
Options granted hereunder, and perform all other acts, including the delegation
of administrative responsibilities, that it believes reasonable and necessary.

     3.2  The Board shall have the sole discretion, subject to the provisions of
the Plan, to determine the Participants eligible to receive Options pursuant to
the Plan and the amount, type, and terms of any Options and the terms and
conditions of option agreements relating to any Option.

     3.3  The Board may correct any defect, supply any omission, or reconcile
any inconsistency in the Plan or in any Option granted hereunder in the manner
and to the extent it shall deem necessary to carry out the terms of the Plan.

     3.4  Any decision made, or action taken, by the Board arising out of or in
connection with the interpretation and administration of the Plan shall be
final, conclusive and binding upon all Optionees.

     3.5  The Board may designate a Committee from time to time to administer
the Plan.  If designated, the Committee shall be composed of not less than two
persons each of whom shall be members of the Board. If the Board has appointed a
Committee pursuant to this Section 3.5 of the Plan, then the Committee may
administer the Plan and exercise all of the rights and powers granted to the
Board in this Plan, including, without limitation, the right to grant Options
pursuant to the Plan and to establish the Option price as provided in the Plan.

4.   SHARES SUBJECT TO THE PLAN

     4.1  NUMBER.  The total number of shares of Stock reserved for issuance
upon exercise of Options under the Plan is 250,000.  Such shares shall consist
of authorized but unissued Stock.  If any Option granted under the Plan lapses
or terminates for any reason before being completely exercised, the shares
covered by the unexercised portion of such Option may again be made subject to
Options under the Plan.


                                          2

<PAGE>

     4.2  CHANGES IN CAPITALIZATION.  In the event of any change in the
outstanding shares of Stock of the Company by reason of any stock dividend,
split, or combination, the Board shall make corresponding adjustments in the
aggregate number of shares which may be subject to Options under the Plan and
the terms of any outstanding Option, including the number and kind of shares
subject to such Options and the purchase price per share thereof so as to
prevent dilution or enlargement of the rights granted to or available for
Optionees.  In the event of any change in the outstanding shares of common stock
of the Company by reason of any recapitalization, reorganization, merger or
consolidation, the Board, in its sole discretion, may adjust the aggregate
number of shares which may be subject to Options under the Plan and the terms of
any outstanding Option, including the number and kind of shares subject to such
Options and the purchase price per share thereof, shall be adjusted by the
Board, if it so elects, in its sole discretion, to prevent substantial dilution
or enlargement of the rights granted to or available for Optionees. 
Notwithstanding the preceding sentence, in no event shall any fraction of a
share of Stock be issued upon the exercise of an Option.

5.   ELIGIBLE PARTICIPANTS

     The following persons are Participants eligible to participate in the Plan:

     5.1  INCENTIVE STOCK OPTIONS.  Incentive Stock Options may be granted only
to employees of the Company or any Subsidiary, including officers and directors
who are also employees of the Company or any Subsidiary.

     5.2  NON-STATUTORY STOCK OPTIONS.  Non-statutory stock options may be
granted to (i) any employee of the Company or any Subsidiary, including any
officer or director who is also an employee of the Company or any Subsidiary;
(ii) any non-employee director of the Company or any Subsidiary; (iii) any
shareholder of the Company; and (iv) any consultant to, or other independent
contractor of, the Company.

6.   GRANT OF OPTIONS

     Subject to the terms, conditions, and limitations set forth in this Plan,
the Company, by action of its Board, may from time to time grant Options to
purchase shares of the Company's Stock to those eligible Participants as may be
selected by the Board, in such amounts and on such other terms as the Board in
its sole discretion shall determine.  Such Options may be (i) "Incentive Stock
Options" so designated by the Board and which, when granted, are intended to
qualify as incentive stock options as defined in Section 422 of the Code; (ii)
"Non-Statutory Stock Options" so designated by the Board and which, when
granted, are not intended to, or do not, qualify as incentive stock options
under Section 422 of the Code; or (iii) a combination of both.  The date on
which the Board approves the granting of an Option shall be the date of grant of
such Option, unless a different date is specified by the Board on such date of
approval.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, with respect to the grant of any
Incentive Stock Option under the Plan, the aggregate fair market 


                                          3

<PAGE>


value of Stock (determined as of the date the Option is granted) with respect 
to which incentive stock options are exercisable for the first time by an 
Optionee in any calendar year (under all such stock option plans of the 
Company or Subsidiaries) shall not exceed $100,000.  Each grant of an Option 
under the Plan shall be evidenced by a written stock option agreement between 
the Company and the Optionee setting forth the terms and conditions, not 
inconsistent with the Plan, under which the Option so granted may be 
exercised pursuant to the Plan and containing such other terms with respect 
to the Option as the Board in its sole discretion may determine.

7.   OPTION PRICE AND FORM OF PAYMENT

     The purchase price for a share of Stock subject to an Incentive Stock
Option granted hereunder shall not be less than 100% of the fair market value of
the Stock on the date of grant.  The purchase price for a share of stock subject
to a Non-Statutory Stock Option granted hereunder may be less than the fair
market value of the stock at the date of grant, at the discretion of the Board. 
For purposes of this Section 7, the "fair market value" of the Stock shall be
determined as follows:

          (a)  if the Stock of the Company is listed or admitted to unlisted
     trading privileges on a national securities exchange, the fair market value
     on any given day shall be the closing sale price for the Stock, or if no
     sale is made on such day, the closing bid price for such day on such
     exchange;

          (b)  if the Stock is not listed or admitted to unlisted trading
     privileges on a national securities exchange, the fair market value on any
     given day shall be the closing sale price for the Stock as reported on the
     NASDAQ National Market System on such day, or if no sale is made on such
     day, the closing bid price for such day as entered by a market maker for
     the Stock;

          (c)  if the Stock is not listed on a national securities exchange, is
     not admitted to unlisted trading privileges on any such exchange, and is
     not eligible for inclusion in the NASDAQ National Market System, the fair
     market value on any given day shall be the average of the closing
     representative bid and asked prices as reported by the National Quotation
     Bureau, Inc. or, if the Stock is not quoted on the National Association of
     Securities Dealers Automated Quotations System, then as reported in any
     publicly available compilation of the bid and asked prices of the Stock in
     any over-the-counter market on which the Stock is traded; or

          (d)  if there exists no public trading market for the Stock, the fair
     market value on any given day shall be an amount determined in good faith
     by the Board in such manner as it may reasonably determine in its
     discretion, provided that such amount shall not be less than the book value
     per share as reasonably determined by the Board as of the date of
     determination or less than the par value of the Stock.

                                          4

<PAGE>


     Notwithstanding the foregoing, in the case of an Incentive Stock Option
granted to any Optionee then owning more than 10% of the voting power of all
classes of the Company's stock, the purchase price per share of the Stock
subject to such Option shall not be less than 110% of the fair market value of
the Stock on the date of grant of the Incentive Stock Option, determined as
provided above.

     Except as provided herein, the purchase price of each share of Stock
purchased upon the exercise of any Option shall be paid:

          (a)  in United States dollars in cash or by check, bank draft or money
     order payable to the order of the Company; or

          (b)  at the discretion of the Board, through the delivery of shares of
     Stock, having initially or as a result of successive exchanges of shares,
     an aggregate fair market value (as determined in the manner provided under
     this Plan) equal to the aggregate purchase price for the Stock as to which
     the Option is being exercised; or

          (c)  at the discretion of the Board, by a combination of both (a) and
     (b) above; or

          (d)  by such other method as may be permitted in the written stock
     option agreement between the Company and the Optionee.

     If such form of payment is permitted, the Board shall determine procedures
for tendering Stock as payment upon exercise of an Option and may impose such
additional limitations and prohibitions on the use of Stock as payment upon the
exercise of an Option as it deems appropriate.

     If the Board in its sole discretion so agrees, the Company may finance the
amount payable by an Optionee upon exercise of any Option upon such terms and
conditions as the Board may determine at the time such Option is granted under
this Plan.

8.   EXERCISE OF OPTIONS

     8.1  MANNER OF EXERCISE.  An Option, or any portion thereof, shall be
exercised by delivering a written notice of exercise to the Board and paying to
the Company the full purchase price of the Stock to be acquired upon the
exercise of the Option.  Until certificates for the Stock acquired upon the
exercise of an Option are issued to an Optionee, such Optionee shall not have
any rights as a shareholder of the Company.

     8.2  LIMITATIONS AND CONDITIONS ON EXERCISE OF OPTIONS.  In addition to any
other limitations or conditions contained in this Plan or that may be imposed by
the Board from time to time or in the stock option agreement to be entered into
with respect to Options

                                          5

<PAGE>

granted hereunder, the following limitations and conditions shall apply to 
the exercise of Options granted under this Plan:

          8.2.1     No Incentive Stock Option may be exercisable by its terms
     after the expiration of 10 years from the date of the grant thereof.

          8.2.2     No Incentive Stock Option granted pursuant to the Plan to an
     eligible Participant then owning more than 10% of the voting power of all
     classes of the Company's stock may be exercisable by its terms after the
     expiration of five years from the date of the grant thereof.

9.   INVESTMENT PURPOSES

     Unless a registration statement under the Securities Act of 1933 is in
effect with respect to Stock to be purchased upon exercise of Options to be
granted under the Plan, the Company shall require that an Optionee agree with
and represent to the Company in writing that he or she is acquiring such shares
of Stock for the purpose of investment and with no present intention to
transfer, sell or otherwise dispose of such shares of Stock other than by
transfers which may occur by will or by the laws of descent and distribution,
and no shares of Stock may be transferred unless, in the opinion of counsel to
the Company, such transfer would be in compliance with applicable securities
laws.  In addition, unless a registration statement under the Securities Act of
1933 is in effect with respect to the Stock to be purchased under the Plan, each
certificate representing any shares of Stock issued to an Optionee hereunder
shall have endorsed thereon a legend in substantially the following form:

     THE SHARES REPRESENTED BY THIS CERTIFICATE WERE ISSUED WITHOUT
     REGISTRATION UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933, AS AMENDED (THE "ACT")
     AND WITHOUT REGISTRATION UNDER ANY APPLICABLE STATE SECURITIES LAWS,
     IN RELIANCE UPON EXEMPTION(S) CONTAINED THEREIN.  NO TRANSFER OF THESE
     SHARES OR ANY INTEREST THEREIN MAY BE MADE EXCEPT PURSUANT TO
     EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENTS UNDER SAID LAWS UNLESS THE COMPANY
     HAS RECEIVED AN OPINION OF COUNSEL SATISFACTORY TO IT THAT SUCH
     TRANSFER OR DISPOSITION DOES NOT REQUIRE REGISTRATION UNDER SAID LAWS
     AND, FOR ANY SALES UNDER RULE 144 OF THE ACT, SUCH EVIDENCE AS IT
     SHALL REQUEST FOR COMPLIANCE WITH THAT RULE, OR APPLICABLE STATE
     SECURITIES LAWS.


                                          6

<PAGE>


10.  TRANSFERABILITY OF OPTIONS

     No Option granted under the Plan shall be transferable by an Optionee
(whether by sale, assignment, hypothecation or otherwise) other than by will or
the laws of descent and distribution, and shall be exercisable during the
Optionee's lifetime only by the Optionee.

11.  TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT

     11.1 GENERALLY.  Except as otherwise provided in this Section 11, if an
Optionee's employment with the Company or Subsidiary is terminated (hereinafter
"Termination") other than by death or Disability (as hereinafter defined), the
Optionee may exercise any Option granted under the Plan, to the extent the
Optionee was entitled to exercise the Option at the date of Termination, for a
period of thirty (30) days after the date of Termination or until the term of
the Option has expired, whichever date is earlier.  Thereafter, all outstanding
Options of the Optionee shall terminate.

     11.2 DEATH OR DISABILITY OF OPTIONEE.  In the event of the death or
Disability of an Optionee prior to expiration of an Option held by him or her,
the following provisions shall apply:

          11.2.1         If the Optionee is at the time of his or her Disability
     employed by the Company or a Subsidiary and has been in continuous
     employment (as determined by the Board in its sole discretion) since the
     date of grant of the Option, then the Option may be exercised by the
     Optionee until the earlier of one year following the date of such
     Disability or the expiration date of the Option, but only to the extent the
     Optionee was entitled to exercise such Option at the time of his or her
     Disability.  For the purpose of this Section 11, the term "Disability"
     shall mean a permanent and total disability as defined in Section 22(e)(3)
     of the Code unless the Optionee is employed by the Company or a Subsidiary
     pursuant to an employment agreement which contains a definition of
     "Disability", in which case such definition shall control.  The
     determination of whether an Optionee has a Disability within the meaning of
     Section 22(e)(3) or pursuant to a definition within an employment agreement
     shall be made by the Board in its sole discretion.

          11.2.2         If the Optionee is at the time of his or her death
     employed by the Company or a Subsidiary and has been in continuous
     employment (as determined by the Board in its sole discretion) since the
     date of grant of the Option, then the Option may be exercised by the
     Optionee's estate or by a person who acquired the right to exercise the
     Option by will or the laws of descent and distribution, until the earlier
     of  one year from the date of the Optionee's death or the expiration date
     of the Option, but only to the extent the Optionee was entitled to exercise
     the Option at the time of death.  

                                          7

<PAGE>


          11.2.3         If the Optionee dies within thirty (30) days after
     Termination, the Option may be exercised until the earlier of nine months
     following the date of death or the expiration date of the Option, by the
     Optionee's estate or by a person who acquires the right to exercise the
     Option by will or the laws of descent or distribution, but only to the
     extent the Optionee was entitled to exercise the Option at the time of
     Termination.

     11.3 TERMINATION FOR CAUSE.  If the employment of an Optionee is terminated
by the Company or a Subsidiary for cause, then Options granted to the Optionee
under the Plan shall terminate immediately.

12.  AMENDMENT AND TERMINATION OF PLAN

     12.1 The Board, may at any time and from time to time suspend or terminate
the Plan in whole or in part or amend it from time to time in such respects as
may be in the best interests of the Company; provided, however, that no such
amendment shall be made without the approval of the shareholders if it would: 
(a) materially modify the eligibility requirements for Participants as set forth
in Section 5 hereof; (b) increase the maximum aggregate number of shares of
Stock which may be issued pursuant to Options, except in accordance with
Section 4.2 of the Plan; (c) reduce the minimum Option price per share as set
forth in Section 7 of the Plan, except in accordance with Section 4.2 of the
Plan; (d) extend the period of granting Options; or (e) materially increase in
any other way the benefits accruing to Optionees.

     12.2 No amendment, suspension or termination of this Plan shall, without
the Optionee's consent, alter or impair any of the rights or obligations under
any Option theretofore granted to him or her under the Plan.

     12.3 The Board may amend the Plan, subject to the limitations cited above,
in such manner as it deems necessary to permit the granting of Incentive Stock
Options meeting the requirements of future amendments to the Code.

     12.4 Upon the dissolution or liquidation of the Company, or upon a merger,
consolidation, acquisition of property or stock, or reorganization as a result
of which the Company is not the surviving corporation or upon a sale of
substantially all the property or stock of the Company to another corporation,
any option granted hereunder shall terminate and no such event shall cause any
option to be exercisable for any shares other than those as to which it was
exercisable prior to such termination in accordance with its terms; provided,
however, that the Company may in its  discretion and immediately prior to any
such transaction, cause a new option to be substituted for such option or cause
such old option to be assumed, by an employer corporation, or a parent or
subsidiary of such corporation; and such new or substituted option shall apply
to all shares issued in addition to or in substitution, replacement or
modification of the shares  theretofore covered by such option; provided that:

                                          8

<PAGE>


          (a)  the excess of the aggregate fair market value of the shares
     subject to the option immediately after the substitution or assumption over
     the aggregate option price of such shares shall not be more than the excess
     of the aggregate fair market value of all shares subject to the option
     immediately before such substitution or assumption over the aggregate
     option price of such shares,

          (b)  the new option or the assumption of the existing option shall not
     give the optionee additional benefits which he or she did not have under
     the old option or prior to such assumption, and

          (c)  a propriety adjustment of the original option price shall be made
     among original shares subject to the option and any additional share or
     shares issued in substitution, replacement or modification thereof.

13.  MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS

     13.1 RIGHT TO CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT.  No person shall have any claim or
right to be granted an Option under the Plan, and the grant of an Option under
the Plan shall not be construed as giving an Optionee the right to continued
employment with the Company.  The Company further expressly reserves the right
at any time to dismiss an Optionee or reduce an Optionee's compensation with or
without cause, free from any liability, or any claim under the Plan, except as
provided herein or in a stock option agreement.

     13.2 WITHHOLDING TAXES.  The Company shall have the right to require that
payment or provision for payment of any and all withholding taxes due upon the
grant or exercise of an Option hereunder or the disposition of any Stock or
other property acquired upon exercise of an Option be made by an Optionee.  In
connection therewith, the Board shall have the right to establish such rules and
regulations or impose such terms and conditions in any agreement relating to an
Option granted hereunder with respect to such withholding as the Board may deem
necessary and appropriate.

     13.3 GOVERNING LAW.  The Plan shall be administered in the State of
Minnesota, and the validity, construction, interpretation, and administration of
the Plan and all rights relating to the Plan shall be determined solely in
accordance with the laws of such state, unless controlled by applicable federal
law, if any.

14.  EFFECTIVE DATE

     The effective date of the Plan is June 11, 1992.  No Option may be granted
after June 11, 2002, provided, however, that the Plan and all outstanding
Options shall remain in effect until such outstanding Options have expired or
been canceled.



                                          9

<PAGE>


                               AMENDMENT NO. 1 TO
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                             1992 STOCK OPTION PLAN


     Pursuant to the authority retained by the Company in Article 12, Section
12.1 of the Information Advantage, Inc. 1992 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan"), and
pursuant to action of the Board of Directors and the Shareholders of the Company
approved January 9, 1995, the Plan is hereby amended in the following respect:

     
     Article 4, Section 4.1 is hereby deleted and replaced in its entirety by
the following language:

          4.1  The total number of shares of Stock reserved for issuance
     upon exercise of options under the Plan is 2,500,000.  Such shares
     shall consist of authorized but unissued Stock.  If any Option granted
     under the Plan lapses or terminates for any reason before being
     completed exercised, the shares covered by the unexercised portion of
     such Option may again be made subject to Options under the Plan.

     This Amendment shall be effective as of January 9, 1995.  






<PAGE>


                               AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                             1992 STOCK OPTION PLAN


     Pursuant to the authority retained by the Company in Article 12, Section
12.1 of the Information Advantage, Inc. 1992 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan"), and
pursuant to action of the Board of Directors and the Shareholders of the Company
approved June 2, 1995, the Plan is hereby amended in the following respect:

     
     Article 4, Section 4.1 is hereby deleted and replaced in its entirety by
the following language:

          4.1  The total number of shares of Stock reserved for issuance
     upon exercise of options under the Plan is 5,000,000.  Such shares
     shall consist of authorized but unissued Stock.  If any Option granted
     under the Plan lapses or terminates for any reason before being
     completed exercised, the shares covered by the unexercised portion of
     such Option may again be made subject to Options under the Plan.

     This Amendment shall be effective as of June 2, 1995.  







<PAGE>

                               AMENDMENT NO. 3 TO
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                             1992 STOCK OPTION PLAN


     Pursuant to the authority retained by the Company in Article 12, Section
12.1 of the Information Advantage, Inc. 1992 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan"), and
pursuant to action of the Board of Directors and the Shareholders of the Company
approved February 27, 1997, the Plan is hereby amended in the following respect:


     Article 4, Section 4.1 is hereby deleted and replaced in its entirety by
the following language:

          4.1  The total number of shares of Stock reserved for issuance
     upon exercise of options under the Plan is 6,000,000.  Such shares
     shall consist of authorized but unissued Stock.  If any Option granted
     under the Plan lapses or terminates for any reason before being
     completed exercised, the shares covered by the unexercised portion of
     such Option may again be made subject to Options under the Plan.

     This Amendment shall be effective as of February 27, 1997.  










<PAGE>
                               AMENDMENT NO. 4 TO
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                             1992 STOCK OPTION PLAN


     Pursuant to the authority retained by the Company in Article 12, Section
12.1 of the Information Advantage, Inc. 1992 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan"), and
pursuant to action of the Board of Directors of the Company approved June 17,
1997, the Plan is hereby amended in the following respect:


     Article 10 is hereby amended to include the following sentence:

          Notwithstanding anything herein to the contrary, Non-Statutory Stock
          Options may be transferred by an Optionee to an Optionee's spouse or
          lineal descendant, or to a trust or an entity, the entire beneficial
          interest of which is owned by one or more of the foregoing.

     This Amendment shall be effective as of June 17, 1997.


<PAGE>
   
                               AMENDMENT NO. 5 TO
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                             1992 STOCK OPTION PLAN


     Pursuant to the authority retained by the Company in Article 12, Section
12.1 of the Information Advantage, Inc. 1992 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan"), and
pursuant to action of the Board of Directors of the Company approved December 3,
1997, the Plan is hereby amended in the following respect:


     Article 4, Section 4.1 is hereby deleted and replaced in its entirety by
the following language:

          4.1  The total number of shares of Stock reserved for issuance
     upon exercise of options under the Plan is 6,600,000.  Such shares
     shall consist of authorized but unissued Stock.  If any Option granted
     under the Plan lapses or terminates for any reason before being
     completely exercised, the shares covered by the unexercised portion of
     such Option may again be made subject to Options under the Plan.
    









<PAGE>


                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.

                        1997 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN

   
                      (AMENDED EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 4, 1997)
    




<PAGE>


                                TABLE OF CONTENTS


                                                                            PAGE


SECTION 1. PURPOSE OF THE PLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

SECTION 2. ADMINISTRATION OF THE PLAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
     (a)   Committee Composition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     (b)   Committee Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1

SECTION 3. ENROLLMENT AND PARTICIPATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     (a)   Offering Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     (b)   Accumulation Periods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     (c)   Enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  1
     (d)   Duration of Participation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     (e)   Applicable Offering Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
   
SECTION 4. EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     (a)   Frequency of Payroll Deductions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     (b)   Payroll Withholding Rate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
     (c)   Changing Withholding Rate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     (d)   Discontinuing Payroll Deductions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     (e)   Limit on Number of Elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
    
SECTION 5. WITHDRAWAL FROM THE PLAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     (a)   Withdrawal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     (b)   Re-Enrollment After Withdrawal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3

SECTION 6. CHANGE IN EMPLOYMENT STATUS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     (a)   Termination of Employment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     (b)   Leave of Absence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     (c)   Death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4

SECTION 7. PLAN ACCOUNTS AND PURCHASE OF SHARES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     (a)   Plan Accounts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     (b)   Purchase Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     (c)   Number of Shares Purchased . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     (d)   Available Shares Insufficient. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     (e)   Issuance of Stock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     (f)   Unused Cash Balances . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     (g)   Stockholder Approval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5


                                      i

<PAGE>


SECTION 8.  LIMITATIONS ON STOCK OWNERSHIP.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     (a)  Five Percent Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     (b)  Dollar Limit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

SECTION 9.  RIGHTS NOT TRANSFERABLE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6

SECTION 10.  NO RIGHTS AS AN EMPLOYEE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6

SECTION 11.  NO RIGHTS AS A STOCKHOLDER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

SECTION 12.  SECURITIES LAW REQUIREMENTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

SECTION 13.  STOCK OFFERED UNDER THE PLAN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     (a)  Authorized Shares. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     (b)  Anti-Dilution Adjustments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     (c)  Reorganizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

SECTION 14.  AMENDMENT OR DISCONTINUANCE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8

SECTION 15.  DEFINITIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     (a)  Accumulation Period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     (b)  Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     (c)  Change in Control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     (d)  Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     (e)  Committee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     (f)  Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     (g)  Compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     (h)  Eligible Employee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     (i)  Exchange Act . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     (j)  Fair Market Value. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     (k)  IPO. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     (l)  Offering Period. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     (m)  Participant. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     (n)  Participating Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     (o)  Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     (p)  Plan Account . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     (q)  Purchase Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     (r)  Stock. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     (s)  Subsidiary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11

SECTION 16.  EXECUTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11


                                      ii


<PAGE>


                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                        1997 EMPLOYEE STOCK PURCHASE PLAN


SECTION 1.     PURPOSE OF THE PLAN.

     The Plan was adopted by the Board on September 23, 1997, effective as of 
September 24, 1997.  The purpose of the Plan is to provide Eligible Employees 
with an opportunity to increase their proprietary interest in the success of 
the Company by purchasing Stock from the Company on favorable terms and to 
pay for such purchases through payroll deductions.  The Plan is intended to 
qualify under section 423 of the Code.

SECTION 2. ADMINISTRATION OF THE PLAN.

     (a)  COMMITTEE COMPOSITION.  The Plan shall be administered by the 
Committee.  The Committee shall consist exclusively of one or more directors 
of the Company, who shall be appointed by the Board.

     (b)  COMMITTEE RESPONSIBILITIES.  The Committee shall interpret the Plan 
and make all other policy decisions relating to the operation of the Plan.  
The Committee may adopt such rules, guidelines and forms as it deems 
appropriate to implement the Plan.  The Committee's determinations under the 
Plan shall be final and binding on all persons.

SECTION 3.  ENROLLMENT AND PARTICIPATION.
   
     (a)  OFFERING PERIODS.  While the Plan is in effect, two overlapping 
Offering Periods shall commence in each calendar year.  The Offering Periods 
shall consist of the 18-month periods commencing on each January 1 and July 
1, except that the first Offering Period shall commence on the date of the 
IPO and end on June 30, 1999.

     (b)  ACCUMULATION PERIODS.  While the Plan is in effect, two 
Accumulation Periods shall commence in each calendar year.  The Accumulation 
Periods shall consist of the six-month periods commencing on each January 1 
and July 1, except that the first Accumulation Period shall commence on the 
date of the IPO and end on June 30, 1998.

     (c)  ENROLLMENT.  Any individual who, on the day preceding the first day 
of an Offering Period, qualifies as an Eligible Employee may elect to become 
a Participant in the Plan for such Offering Period by executing the 
enrollment form prescribed for this purpose by the Committee.  The enrollment 
form shall be filed with the Company at the prescribed location not later 
than 10 days prior to the commencement of such Offering Period.  
Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Committee may designate a date that is 
fewer than 10 days prior to the commencement of the first Offering Period 
under the Plan as the date by which enrollment forms must be filed with 
respect to the first Offering Period; in no event, however, shall the 
Committee designate a date that is subsequent to the date of the IPO.
    
    
<PAGE>


     (d)  DURATION OF PARTICIPATION.  Once enrolled in the Plan, a 
Participant shall continue to participate in the Plan until he or she ceases 
to be an Eligible Employee, withdraws from the Plan under Section 5(a) or 
reaches the end of the Accumulation Period in which his or her employee 
contributions were discontinued under Section 4(d) or 8(b).  A Participant 
who discontinued employee contributions under Section 4(d) or withdrew from 
the Plan under Section 5(a) may again become a Participant, if he or she then 
is an Eligible Employee, by following the procedure described in Subsection 
(c) above.  A Participant whose employee contributions were discontinued 
automatically under Section 8(b) shall automatically resume participation at 
the beginning of the earliest Accumulation Period ending in the next calendar 
year, if he or she then is an Eligible Employee.

     (e)  APPLICABLE OFFERING PERIOD.  For purposes of calculating the 
Purchase Price under Section 7(b), the applicable Offering Period shall be 
determined as follows:

          (i)    Once a Participant is enrolled in the Plan for an Offering
     Period, such Offering Period shall continue to apply to him or her
     until the earliest of (A) the end of such Offering Period, (B) the end
     of his or her participation under Subsection (d) above or (C) re-
     enrollment in a subsequent Offering Period under Paragraph (ii) below.

          (ii)   In the event that the Fair Market Value of Stock on the
     last trading day before the commencement of the Offering Period in
     which the Participant is enrolled is higher than on the last trading
     day before the commencement of any subsequent Offering Period, the
     Participant shall automatically be re-enrolled for such subsequent
     Offering Period.

          (iii)  When a Participant reaches the end of an Offering Period
     but his or her participation is to continue, then such Participant
     shall automatically be re-enrolled for the Offering Period that
     commences immediately after the end of the prior Offering Period.

SECTION 4.  EMPLOYEE CONTRIBUTIONS.
   
     (a)  FREQUENCY OF PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS.  A Participant may purchase shares 
of Stock under the Plan solely by means of payroll deductions.  Payroll 
deductions shall occur on each payday during participation in the Plan and 
shall be determined based upon the Payroll Withholding Rate designated by the 
Participant pursuant to Subsection (b) below.

     (b)  PAYROLL WITHHOLDING RATE.  An Eligible Employee shall designate on 
the enrollment form the portion of his or her Compensation that he or she 
elects to have withheld during a calendar year for the purchase of Stock (the 
"Payroll Withholding Rate").  Such portion shall be a whole percentage of the 
Eligible Employee's Compensation, but not less than 1% nor more than 15% of 
Compensation. In no event may an Eligible Employee contribute more than 15% 
of his or her Compensation during a calendar year for the purchase of shares 
of Stock under the Plan.


                                       2

<PAGE>


     (c)  CHANGING WITHHOLDING RATE.  If a Participant wishes to change his 
or her Payroll Withholding Rate, he or she may do so by filing a new 
enrollment form with the Company at the prescribed location at any time.  The 
new Payroll Withholding Rate shall be effective as soon as reasonably 
practicable after such form has been received by the Company.  The new 
Payroll Withholding Rate shall be a whole percentage of the Eligible 
Employee's Compensation, but not less than 1% nor more than 15% of 
Compensation.
    
     (d)  DISCONTINUING PAYROLL DEDUCTIONS.  If a Participant wishes to 
discontinue employee contributions entirely, he or she may do so by filing a 
new enrollment form with the Company at the prescribed location at any time. 
Payroll withholding shall cease as soon as reasonably practicable after such 
form has been received by the Company.  (In addition, employee contributions 
may be discontinued automatically pursuant to Section 8(b).) A Participant 
who has discontinued employee contributions may resume such contributions by 
filing a new enrollment form with the Company at the prescribed location.  
Payroll withholding shall resume as soon as reasonably practicable after such 
form has been received by the Company.

     (e)  LIMIT ON NUMBER OF ELECTIONS.  No Participant shall make more than 
two elections under Subsection (c) or (d) above during any Accumulation 
Period.

SECTION 5.  WITHDRAWAL FROM THE PLAN.

     (a)  WITHDRAWAL.  A Participant may elect to withdraw from the Plan by 
filing the prescribed form with the Company at the prescribed location at any 
time before the last day of an Accumulation Period.  As soon as reasonably 
practicable thereafter, payroll deductions shall cease and the entire amount 
credited to the Participant's Plan Account shall be refunded to him or her in 
cash, without interest.  No partial withdrawals shall be permitted.

     (b)  RE-ENROLLMENT AFTER WITHDRAWAL.  A former Participant who has 
withdrawn from the Plan shall not be a Participant until he or she re-enrolls 
in the Plan under Section 3(c).  Re-enrollment may be effective only at the 
commencement of an Offering Period.

SECTION 6.  CHANGE IN EMPLOYMENT STATUS.

     (a)  TERMINATION OF EMPLOYMENT.  Termination of employment as an 
Eligible Employee for any reason, including death, shall be treated as an 
automatic withdrawal from the Plan under Section 5(a).  (A transfer from one 
Participating Company to another shall not be treated as a termination of 
employment.)

     (b)  LEAVE OF ABSENCE.  For purposes of the Plan, employment shall not 
be deemed to terminate when the Participant goes on a military leave, a sick 
leave or another BONA FIDE leave of absence, if the leave was approved by the 
Company in writing.  Employment, however, shall be deemed to terminate 90 
days after the Participant goes on a leave, unless a contract or statute 
guarantees his or her right to return to work.  Employment shall be 

                                       3

<PAGE>


deemed to terminate in any event when the approved leave ends, unless the 
Participant immediately returns to work.

     (c)  DEATH.  In the event of the Participant's death, the amount 
credited to his or her Plan Account shall be paid to a beneficiary designated 
by him or her for this purpose on the prescribed form or, if none, to the 
Participant's estate.  Such form shall be valid only if it was filed with the 
Company at the prescribed location before the Participant's death.

SECTION 7.  PLAN ACCOUNTS AND PURCHASE OF SHARES.

     (a)  PLAN ACCOUNTS.  The Company shall maintain a Plan Account on its 
books in the name of each Participant.  Whenever an amount is deducted from 
the Participant's Compensation under the Plan, such amount shall be credited 
to the Participant's Plan Account.  Amounts credited to Plan Accounts shall 
not be trust funds and may be commingled with the Company's general assets 
and applied to general corporate purposes.  No interest shall be credited to 
Plan Accounts.

     (b)  PURCHASE PRICE.  The Purchase Price for each share of Stock 
purchased at the close of an Accumulation Period shall be the lower of:

          (i)    85% of the Fair Market Value of such share on the last
     trading day in such Accumulation Period; or

          (ii)   85% of the Fair Market Value of such share on the last
     trading day before the commencement of the applicable Offering Period
     (as determined under Section 3(e)) or, in the case of the first
     Offering Period under the Plan, 85% of the price at which one share of
     Stock is offered to the public in the IPO.
   
     (c)  NUMBER OF SHARES PURCHASED.  As of the last day of each 
Accumulation Period, each Participant shall be deemed to have elected to 
purchase the number of shares of Stock calculated in accordance with this 
Subsection (c), unless the Participant has previously elected to withdraw 
from the Plan in accordance with Section 5(a).  The amount then in the 
Participant's Plan Account shall be divided by the Purchase Price, and the 
number of shares that results shall be purchased from the Company with the 
funds in the Participant's Plan Account. The foregoing notwithstanding, no 
Participant shall purchase more than 500 shares of Stock with respect to any 
Accumulation Period nor more than the amounts of Stock set forth in Sections 
8(b) and 13(a).  The Committee may determine with respect to all Participants 
that any fractional share, as calculated under this Subsection (c), shall be 
(i) rounded down to the next lower whole share or (ii) credited as a 
fractional share.
    
     (d)  AVAILABLE SHARES INSUFFICIENT.  In the event that the aggregate 
number of shares that all Participants elect to purchase during an 
Accumulation Period exceeds the maximum number of shares remaining available 
for issuance under Section 13(a), then the number of shares to which each 
Participant is entitled shall be determined by multiplying 

                                       4

<PAGE>


the number of shares available for issuance by a fraction, the numerator of 
which is the number of shares that such Participant has elected to purchase 
and the denominator of which is the number of shares that all Participants 
have elected to purchase.

     (e)  ISSUANCE OF STOCK.  Certificates representing the shares of Stock 
purchased by a Participant under the Plan shall be issued to him or her as 
soon as reasonably practicable after the close of the applicable Accumulation 
Period, except that the Committee may determine that such shares shall be 
held for each Participant's benefit by a broker designated by the Committee 
(unless the Participant has elected that certificates be issued to him or 
her).  Shares may be registered in the names of the Participant or jointly in 
the name of the Participant and his or her spouse as joint tenants with right 
of survivorship or as community property.

     (f)  UNUSED CASH BALANCES.  An amount remaining in the Participant's 
Plan Account that represents the Purchase Price for any fractional share 
shall be carried over in the Participant's Plan Account to the next 
Accumulation Period. Any amount remaining in the Participant's Plan Account 
that represents the Purchase Price for whole shares that could not be 
purchased by reason of Subsection 4(b), Subsection (c) above, Section 8(b) or 
Section 13(a) shall be refunded to the Participant in cash, without interest.

     (g)  STOCKHOLDER APPROVAL.  Any other provision of the Plan 
notwithstanding, no shares of Stock shall be purchased under the Plan unless 
and until the Company's stockholders have approved the adoption of the Plan.

SECTION 8.  LIMITATIONS ON STOCK OWNERSHIP.

     (a)  FIVE PERCENT LIMIT.  Any other provision of the Plan 
notwithstanding, no Participant shall be granted a right to purchase Stock 
under the Plan if such Participant, immediately after his or her election to 
purchase such Stock, would own stock possessing more than 5% of the total 
combined voting power or value of all classes of stock of the Company or any 
parent or Subsidiary of the Company. For purposes of this Subsection (a), the 
following rules shall apply:

          (i)    Ownership of stock shall be determined after applying the
     attribution rules of section 424(d) of the Code;

          (ii)   Each Participant shall be deemed to own any stock that he
     or she has a right or option to purchase under this or any other plan;
     and
   
          (iii)  Each Participant shall be deemed to have the right to
     purchase 500 shares of Stock under this Plan with respect to each
     Accumulation Period.
    
     (b)  DOLLAR LIMIT.  Any other provision of the Plan notwithstanding, no 
Participant shall purchase Stock with a Fair Market Value in excess of the 
following limit:

                                       5


<PAGE>


          (i)    In the case of Stock purchased during an Offering Period
     that commenced in the current calendar year, the limit shall be equal
     to (A) $25,000 minus (B) the Fair Market Value of the Stock that the
     Participant previously purchased in the current calendar year (under
     this Plan and all other employee stock purchase plans of the Company
     or any parent or Subsidiary of the Company).

          (ii)   In the case of Stock purchased during an Offering Period
     that commenced in the immediately preceding calendar year, the limit
     shall be equal to (A) $50,000 minus (B) the Fair Market Value of the
     Stock that the Participant previously purchased (under this Plan and
     all other employee stock purchase plans of the Company or any parent
     or Subsidiary of the Company) in the current calendar year and in the
     immediately preceding calendar year.

          (iii)  In the case of Stock purchased during an Offering Period
     that commenced in the second preceding calendar year, the limit shall
     be equal to (A) $75,000 minus (B) the Fair Market Value of the Stock
     that the Participant previously purchased (under this Plan and all
     other employee stock purchase plans of the Company or any parent or
     Subsidiary of the Company) in the current calendar year and in the two
     preceding calendar years.

For purposes of this Subsection (b), the Fair Market Value of Stock shall be 
determined in each case as of the beginning of the Offering Period in which 
such Stock is purchased.  Employee stock purchase plans not described in 
section 423 of the Code shall be disregarded.  If a Participant is precluded 
by this Subsection (b) from purchasing additional Stock under the Plan, then 
his or her employee contributions shall automatically be discontinued and 
shall resume at the beginning of the earliest Accumulation Period ending in 
the next calendar year (if he or she then is an Eligible Employee).

SECTION 9.  RIGHTS NOT TRANSFERABLE.

     The rights of any Participant under the Plan, or any Participant's 
interest in any Stock or moneys to which he or she may be entitled under the 
Plan, shall not be transferable by voluntary or involuntary assignment or by 
operation of law, or in any other manner other than by beneficiary 
designation or the laws of descent and distribution.  If a Participant in any 
manner attempts to transfer, assign or otherwise encumber his or her rights 
or interest under the Plan, other than by beneficiary designation or the laws 
of descent and distribution, then such act shall be treated as an election by 
the Participant to withdraw from the Plan under Section 5(a).

SECTION 10.  NO RIGHTS AS AN EMPLOYEE.

     Nothing in the Plan or in any right granted under the Plan shall confer
upon the Participant any right to continue in the employ of a Participating
Company for any period of specific duration or interfere with or otherwise
restrict in any way the rights of the 

                                       6


<PAGE>


Participating Companies or of the Participant, which rights are hereby 
expressly reserved by each, to terminate his or her employment at any time 
and for any reason, with or without cause.

SECTION 11.  NO RIGHTS AS A STOCKHOLDER.

     A Participant shall have no rights as a stockholder with respect to any 
shares of Stock that he or she may have a right to purchase under the Plan 
until such shares have been purchased on the last day of the applicable 
Accumulation Period.

SECTION 12.  SECURITIES LAW REQUIREMENTS.

     Shares of Stock shall not be issued under the Plan unless the issuance 
and delivery of such shares comply with (or are exempt from) all applicable 
requirements of law, including (without limitation) the Securities Act of 
1933, as amended, the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder, state 
securities laws and regulations, and the regulations of any stock exchange or 
other securities market on which the Company's securities may then be traded.

SECTION 13.  STOCK OFFERED UNDER THE PLAN.
   
     (a)  AUTHORIZED SHARES.  The aggregate number of shares of Stock available
for purchase under the Plan shall be 200,000, subject to adjustment pursuant to
this Section 13.

     (b)  ANTI-DILUTION ADJUSTMENTS.  The aggregate number of shares of Stock 
offered under the Plan, the 500-share limitation described in Section 7(c) 
and the price of shares that any Participant has elected to purchase shall be 
adjusted proportionately by the Committee for any increase or decrease in the 
number of outstanding shares of Stock resulting from a subdivision or 
consolidation of shares or the payment of a stock dividend, any other 
increase or decrease in such shares effected without receipt or payment of 
consideration by the Company, the distribution of the shares of a Subsidiary 
to the Company's stockholders or a similar event.
    
     (c)  REORGANIZATIONS.  Any other provision of the Plan notwithstanding, 
immediately prior to the effective time of a Change in Control, the Offering 
Period and Accumulation Period then in progress shall terminate and shares 
shall be purchased pursuant to Section 7.  In the event of a merger or 
consolidation to which the Company is a constituent corporation and which 
does not constitute a Change in Control, the Plan shall continue unless the 
plan of merger or consolidation provides otherwise.  The Plan shall in no 
event be construed to restrict in any way the Company's right to undertake a 
dissolution, liquidation, merger, consolidation or other reorganization.


                                       7


<PAGE>


SECTION 14.  AMENDMENT OR DISCONTINUANCE.

     The Board shall have the right to amend, suspend or terminate the Plan 
at any time and without notice.  Except as provided in Section 13, any 
increase in the aggregate number of shares of Stock to be issued under the 
Plan shall be subject to approval by a vote of the stockholders of the 
Company.  In addition, any other amendment of the Plan shall be subject to 
approval by a vote of the stockholders of the Company to the extent required 
by an applicable law or regulation.

SECTION 15.  DEFINITIONS.

     (a)  "ACCUMULATION PERIOD" means a six-month period during which 
contributions may be made toward the purchase of Stock under the Plan, as 
determined pursuant to Section 3(b).

     (b)  "BOARD" means the Board of Directors of the Company, as constituted 
from time to time.

     (c)  "CHANGE IN CONTROL" means:

          (i)    The consummation of a merger or consolidation of the
     Company with or into another entity or any other corporate
     reorganization, if more than 50% of the combined voting power of the
     continuing or surviving entity's securities outstanding immediately
     after such merger, consolidation or other reorganization is owned by
     persons who were not stockholders of the Company immediately prior to
     such merger, consolidation or other reorganization;

          (ii)   The sale, transfer or other disposition of all or
     substantially all of the Company's assets;

          (iii)  A change in the composition of the Board, as a result of
     which fewer than two-thirds of the incumbent directors are directors
     who either (i) had been directors of the Company on the date 24 months
     prior to the date of the event that may constitute a Change in Control
     (the "original directors") or (ii) were elected, or nominated for
     election, to the Board with the affirmative votes of at least a
     majority of the aggregate of the original directors who were still in
     office at the time of the election or nomination and the directors
     whose election or nomination was previously so approved; or

          (iv)   Any transaction as a result of which any person is the
     "beneficial owner" (as defined in Rule 13d-3 under the Exchange Act),
     directly or indirectly, of securities of the Company representing at
     least 50% of the total voting power represented by the Company's then
     outstanding voting securities.  For purposes of this Paragraph (d),
     the term "person" shall have the same 

                                       8


<PAGE>


     meaning as when used in sections 13(d) and 14(d) of the Exchange Act but
     shall exclude (i) a trustee or other fiduciary holding securities under an
     employee benefit plan of the Company or of a Parent or Subsidiary and (ii)
     a corporation owned directly or indirectly by the stockholders of the 
     Company in substantially the same proportions as their ownership of the 
     common stock of the Company.

A transaction shall not constitute a Change in Control if its sole purpose is 
to change the state of the Company's incorporation or to create a holding 
company that will be owned in substantially the same proportions by the 
persons who held the Company's securities immediately before such transaction.

     (d)  "CODE" means the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended.

     (e)  "COMMITTEE" means a committee of the Board, as described in Section 2.

     (f)  "COMPANY" means Information Advantage, Inc., a Delaware corporation.
   
     (g)  "COMPENSATION" means (i) the total taxable compensation paid to a 
Participant by a Participating Company during a calendar year as reported on 
the Participant's form W-2, including salaries, wages, bonuses, incentive 
compensation, commissions, overtime pay and shift premiums, plus (ii) any 
pre-tax contributions made by the Participant under sections 401(k) or 125 of 
the Code.  Notwithstanding the foregoing, "Compensation" shall exclude all 
non-cash items, moving or relocation allowances, cost-of-living equalization 
payments, car allowances, tuition reimbursements, imputed income attributable 
to cars or life insurance, severance pay, fringe benefits, contributions or 
benefits received under employee benefit plans, income attributable to the 
exercise of stock options, and similar items.  The Committee shall determine 
whether a particular item is included in Compensation.

     (h)  "ELIGIBLE EMPLOYEE" means any employee of a Participating Company 
whose customary employment is for more than five months per calendar year and 
for more than 20 hours per week.

     The foregoing notwithstanding, an individual shall not be considered an 
Eligible Employee if his or her participation in the Plan is prohibited by 
law of any country in which he or she resides, performs work for the Company 
and receives Compensation from the Company, or if he or she works in a job 
classification covered by a collective bargaining agreement and the parties 
to that agreement have bargained in good faith about stock purchase benefits 
and the bargaining agreement does not provide for participation in this Plan.
    
     (i)  "EXCHANGE ACT" means the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.

     (j)  "FAIR MARKET VALUE" means the market price of Stock, determined by the
Committee as follows:

                                       9


<PAGE>
   
          (i)    If stock was traded over-the-counter on the date in
     question but was not traded on the Nasdaq National Market or the
     Nasdaq SmallCap Market, then the Fair Market Value shall be equal to
     the mean between the last reported representative bid and ask prices
     quoted for such date by the principal automated inter-dealer quotation
     system on which Stock is quoted or, if the Stock is not quoted on any
     such system, by the "Pink Sheets" published by the National Quotation
     Bureau, Inc.;

          (ii)   If Stock was traded over-the-counter on the date in
     question and was traded on the Nasdaq National Market or the Nasdaq
     SmallCap Market, then the Fair Market Value shall be equal to the
     last-transaction price quoted for such date by the Nasdaq National
     Market or the Nasdaq SmallCap Market;
    
          (iii)  If the Stock was traded on a stock exchange on the date in
     question, then the Fair Market Value shall be equal to the closing
     price reported by the applicable composite transactions report for
     such date; and

          (iv)   If none of the foregoing provisions is applicable, then
     the Fair Market Value shall be determined by the Committee in good
     faith on such basis as it deems appropriate.

Whenever possible, the determination of Fair Market Value by the Committee shall
be based on the prices reported in THE WALL STREET JOURNAL or as reported
directly to the Company by Nasdaq or a comparable exchange.  Such determination
shall be conclusive and binding on all persons.

     (k)  "IPO" means the initial offering of Stock to the public pursuant to a
registration statement filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.

     (l)  "OFFERING PERIOD" means an 18-month period with respect to which the
right to purchase Stock may be granted under the Plan, as determined pursuant to
Section 3(a).

     (m)  "PARTICIPANT" means an Eligible Employee who elects to participate in
the Plan, as provided in Section 3(c).

     (n)  "PARTICIPATING COMPANY" means (i) the Company and (ii) each present or
future Subsidiary designated by the Committee as a Participating Company.

     (o)  "PLAN" means this Information Advantage, Inc. 1997 Employee Stock
Purchase Plan, as it may be amended from time to time.

     (p)  "PLAN ACCOUNT" means the account established for each Participant
pursuant to Section 7(a).

                                      10

<PAGE>

     (q)  "PURCHASE PRICE" means the price at which Participants may purchase
Stock under the Plan, as determined pursuant to Section 7(b).

     (r)  "STOCK" means the Common Stock of the Company.

     (s)  "SUBSIDIARY" means any corporation (other than the Company) in an
unbroken chain of corporations beginning with the Company, if each of the
corporations other than the last corporation in the unbroken chain owns stock
possessing 50% or more of the total combined voting power of all classes of
stock in one of the other corporations in such chain.

SECTION 16.  EXECUTION.  
   
     To record the adoption of the Amended and Restated Plan as of December 
4, 1997, the Company has caused its authorized officer to execute the same.
    
                              INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.



                              By: /s/ Brian D. Wenger                          
                                  ---------------------------------------------
                              Title: Secretary                                 
                                    -------------------------------------------



                                      11




<PAGE>
                                       
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                                          
                      LOAN AND WARRANT PURCHASE AGREEMENT
                                          
                                          
                               DECEMBER 4, 1997
                                          
                                         
                               TABLE OF CONTENTS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>
                                                                            Page
                                                                            ----
<S>  <C>                                                                      <C>
1.   Amount and Terms of the Notes; Terms of Warrants. . . . . . . . . . . .   1
     1.1  Revolving Convertible Notes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   1
     1.2  Initial Warrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.3  Loan Advance Warrants. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     1.4  Closing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2

2.   Representations and Warranties of the Company . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     2.1  Organization, Good Standing, and Qualification . . . . . . . . . .   2
     2.2  Authorization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
     2.3  Valid Issuance of Warrants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3

3.   Representations and Warranties of the Lenders . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.1  Authorization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.2  Purchase Entirely for Own Account. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.3  Disclosure of Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.4  Investment Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.5  Accredited Investor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.6  Restricted Securities. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.7  Further Limitations on Disposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.8  Legends. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4

4.   Corporate Securities Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

5.   Miscellaneous . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.1  Successors and Assigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.2  Governing Law. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.3  Counterparts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.4  Titles and Subtitles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.5  Notices. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     5.6  Finder's Fee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     5.7  Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     5.8  Entire Agreement; Amendments and Waivers . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     5.9  Severability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

</TABLE>

                                       

<PAGE>

EXHIBIT A SCHEDULE OF ADVANCES AND REPAYMENTS 
EXHIBIT B REVOLVING CONVERTIBLE NOTE
EXHIBIT C FORM OF INITIAL WARRANT
EXHIBIT D FORM OF LOAN ADVANCE WARRANT


<PAGE>
                                       
                      LOAN AND WARRANT PURCHASE AGREEMENT
                                           
     THIS LOAN AND WARRANT PURCHASE AGREEMENT (this "Agreement") is made as 
of the 4th day of December, 1997, by and among Information Advantage, Inc., 
a Delaware corporation (the "Company"), and the investors named on the 
Schedule of Lenders attached hereto (individually a "Lender" and collectively 
the "Lenders").

     WHEREAS, Lenders have agreed to provide loans to the Company from time 
to time, upon the Company's request, in the aggregate amounts identified on 
the Schedule of Lenders attached hereto; and

     WHEREAS, in return for such revolving loans, the parties intend for the 
Company to issue revolving, convertible notes and warrants to purchase shares 
of the Company's capital stock; and

     WHEREAS, the parties hereto wish to provide for the terms of the 
revolving loan and the sale and issuance of such notes and warrants in return 
for such periodic advances to the Company.

     NOW, THEREFORE, THE PARTIES HEREBY AGREE AS FOLLOWS:

     1.   AMOUNT AND TERMS OF THE NOTES; TERMS OF WARRANTS.

          1.1  REVOLVING CONVERTIBLE NOTES.  Each Lender severally agrees to
     lend to the Company from time to time, within five (5) days of Company's
     written request, such Lender's proportionate share of a loan amount
     requested by the Company (each, a "Loan Advance") as indicated by the
     percentage set forth opposite such Lender's name on the Schedule of 
     Lenders (the "Ownership Percentage").  In no event shall any Loan 
     Advance be less than an aggregate of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00),
     nor shall the aggregate outstanding Loan Advances exceed three million 
     dollars ($3,000,000).  In addition, in no event shall any Lender's 
     cumulative participation in all outstanding and unpaid Loan Advances 
     exceed the amount provided in such Lender's Revolving Convertible Note. 
     The Company shall amend and replace Exhibit A (Schedule of Advances and 
     Repayments) from time to time, upon completion of a Loan Advance or a 
     repayment, and shall promptly distribute such amended Exhibit A to the 
     Lenders.  The Ownership Percentage of each Loan Advance made by a Lender 
     to Company shall be evidenced by, and be repayable with interest in 
     accordance with the terms of a Revolving Convertible Note in the form of 
     Exhibit B attached hereto (the "Note").  The obligation of each Lender to 
     lend up to their Ownership Percentage of each Loan Advance shall be 
     irrevocable for the term of the Note.  Each Revolving Convertible Note 
     shall automatically convert into Series D convertible redeemable preferred
     stock of the Company ("Series D Preferred Stock") (or the Common Stock 
     that would have been issuable upon conversion of Series D Preferred Stock
     if the Note is converted following the Company's initial public offering 
     of its securities pursuant to an effective registration statement (the 
     "IPO")  (such Common Stock being referred to herein as the 

<PAGE>

     "Conversion Stock")), pursuant to the terms of such Note, if not repaid 
     by Company at maturity.

          1.2  INITIAL WARRANTS.  In return for providing this revolving loan,
     the Company shall sell and issue to Lender a warrant to purchase the 
     number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock set forth
     opposite such Lender's name on the Schedule of Lenders (the "Initial
     Warrant Share"), pursuant to the terms of the Series D Preferred Stock
     Warrant as substantially set forth as Exhibit C (the "Initial Warrant").

          1.3  LOAN ADVANCE WARRANTS.  In addition to the Initial Warrants
     described in Section 1.2 above, the Company shall sell and issue to each
     Lender a warrant in return for each new Loan Advance (a "Loan Advance
     Warrant"); provided, however, that Loan Advance Warrants shall only be
     issued in connection with Loan Advances which when added to the aggregate
     then outstanding Loan Advance balance exceeds the highest aggregate Loan
     Advance balance at any one time outstanding pursuant to the terms of this
     Agreement.  Each Loan Advance Warrant shall be exercisable for that number
     of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock determined in
     accordance with the terms of the Loan Advance Warrants (the "Loan Advance
     Warrant Shares," together with the Initial Warrant Shares, the "Warrant
     Shares").  Each Loan Advance Warrant shall be in substantially the form
     attached hereto as Exhibit D.  The Initial Warrants and Loan Advance
     Warrants shall be collectively referred to as the "Warrants."

          1.4  CLOSING.  The closing (the "Closing") of this Loan and Warrant
     Purchase Agreement shall take place at the offices of Briggs and Morgan,
     Professional Association, 2400 IDS Center, 80 South Eighth Street,
     Minneapolis, Minnesota on December 4, 1997, or at such other time and
     place as the Company and a majority in interest of the Lenders agree upon
     orally or in writing.  At the Closing, the Company shall deliver to each
     Lender a Convertible Revolving Note and Initial Warrant against delivery to
     the Company by the Lender of an executed copy of this Agreement.

     2..  REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE COMPANY.  In connection with the
transactions provided for herein, the Company hereby represents and warrants to
the Lenders that:

          2.1  ORGANIZATION, GOOD STANDING, AND QUALIFICATION.  The Company is a
     corporation duly organized, validly existing, and in good standing under
     the laws of the State of Delaware and has all requisite corporate power 
     and authority to carry on its business as now conducted.  The Company is 
     duly qualified to transact business and is in good standing in each 
     jurisdiction in which the failure so to qualify would have a material 
     adverse effect on its business or properties.

          2.2  AUTHORIZATION.  All corporate action on the part of the Company,
     its officers, directors and shareholders necessary for the authorization,
     execution and 

                                       2

<PAGE>

     delivery of this Agreement, the performance of all obligations of
     the Company hereunder, and the authorization, issuance and delivery of 
     the Notes and the Warrants has been taken or will be taken prior to the 
     Closing.  All corporate action on the part of the Company, its officers, 
     directors and shareholders necessary for the authorization, issuance (or 
     reservation for issuance) and delivery of the Warrant Shares to be issued 
     upon exercise of the Warrants and the Series D Preferred Stock or 
     Conversion Stock to be issued upon conversion of the Convertible Revolving
     Notes, will be taken prior to the exercise of the Warrants and the 
     conversion of the Notes, as applicable.

          2.3  VALID ISSUANCE OF WARRANTS.  The Warrant Shares, when issued,
     sold and delivered in accordance with the terms of the Warrants, will be
     duly and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and, based in part
     upon the representations of the Lenders in this Agreement, will be issued
     in compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws.  The
     Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock, when issued, sold and
     delivered upon conversion of the Notes in accordance with their terms, 
     will be fully paid and nonassessable and, based in part upon the 
     representations of the Lenders in this Agreement, will be issued in 
     compliance with all applicable federal and state securities laws.

     3.   REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES OF THE LENDERS.  In connection with 
the transactions provided for herein, each Lender hereby represents and 
warrants to the Company that:

          3.1  AUTHORIZATION.  This Agreement constitutes such Lender's valid
     and legally binding obligation, enforceable in accordance with its terms.

          3.2  PURCHASE ENTIRELY FOR OWN ACCOUNT.  Lender acknowledges that 
     this Agreement is made with Lender in reliance upon Lender's 
     representation to the Company that the Note, Warrants, Warrant Shares, 
     Series D Preferred Stock and Conversion Stock, and the Common Stock 
     issuable upon conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock (collectively, 
     the "Securities"), will be acquired for investment for Lender's own 
     account, not as a nominee or agent, and not with a view to the resale or 
     distribution of any part thereof, and that Lender has no present intention 
     of selling, granting any participation in or otherwise distributing the 
     same.  By executing this Agreement, Lender further represents that Lender 
     does not have any contract, undertaking, agreement or arrangement with any 
     person to sell, transfer or grant participations to such person or to any 
     third person, with respect to the Securities.  Lender represents that it 
     has full power and authority to enter into this Agreement.

          3.3  DISCLOSURE OF INFORMATION.  Lender acknowledges that it has
     received all the information it considers necessary or appropriate for
     deciding whether to acquire the Securities. Lender further represents that
     it has had an opportunity to ask questions and receive answers from the
     Company regarding the terms and conditions of the offering of the
     Securities.

                                       3

<PAGE>

          3.4  INVESTMENT EXPERIENCE.  Lender is an investor in securities of
     companies in the development stage and acknowledges that it is able to 
     fend for itself, can bear the economic risk of its investment, and has
     such knowledge and experience in financial or business matters that it is
     capable of evaluating the merits and risks of the investment in the
     Securities.  If other than an individual, Lender also represents it has 
     not been organized solely for the purpose of acquiring the Securities. 

          3.5  ACCREDITED INVESTOR.  Lender is an "accredited investor" within
     the meaning of Rule 501 of Regulation D of the Securities and Exchange
     Commission (the "SEC"), as presently in effect.

          3.6  RESTRICTED SECURITIES.  Lender understands that the Securities
     are characterized as "restricted securities" under the federal securities
     laws inasmuch as they are being acquired from the Company in a transaction
     not involving a public offering and that under such laws and applicable
     regulations such securities may be resold without registration under the
     Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Act"), only in certain limited
     circumstances.  In this connection, Lender represents that it is familiar
     with SEC Rule 144, as presently in effect, and understands the resale
     limitations imposed thereby and by the Act.

          3.7  FURTHER LIMITATIONS ON DISPOSITION.  Without in any way limiting
     the representations set forth above, Lender further agrees not to make any
     disposition of all or any portion of the Securities unless and until:

               (a)      There is then in effect a registration statement under 
          the Act covering such proposed disposition and such disposition is 
          made in accordance with such registration statement; or

               (b)(i)   Lender shall have notified the Company of the proposed
          disposition and shall have furnished the Company with a detailed
          statement of the circumstances surrounding the proposed disposition
          and the transferee shall have agreed in writing for the benefit of 
          the Company to be bound by this Section 3, and (ii) if reasonably
          requested by the Company, Lender shall have furnished the Company 
          with an opinion of counsel, reasonably satisfactory to the Company, 
          that such disposition will not require registration of such shares
          under the Act.

          3.8  LEGENDS.  It is understood that the Securities may bear one or
     all of the following legends:

               (a)  "THESE SECURITIES HAVE NOT BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE
          SECURITIES ACT OF 1933.  THEY MAY NOT BE SOLD, OFFERED FOR SALE,
          PLEDGED, HYPOTHECATED, OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED EXCEPT PURSUANT TO AN
          EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 

                                       4

<PAGE>

          1933 OR AN OPINION OF COUNSEL SATISFACTORY TO THE COMPANY THAT 
          REGISTRATION  IS NOT REQUIRED UNDER SUCH ACT OR UNLESS SOLD PURSUANT 
          TO RULE 144 UNDER SUCH ACT."

               (b)  Any legend required by the securities laws of the States of
          Minnesota and California or other states, including any legend
          requirements by such states.

     4.   CALIFORNIA COMMISSIONER OF CORPORATIONS.

          4.1  CORPORATE SECURITIES LAW.  THE SALE OF THE SECURITIES WHICH ARE
     THE SUBJECT OF THIS AGREEMENT HAS NOT BEEN QUALIFIED WITH THE COMMISSIONER
     OF CORPORATIONS OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA AND THE ISSUANCE OF SUCH
     SECURITIES OR THE PAYMENT OR RECEIPT OF ANY PART OF THE CONSIDERATION FOR
     SUCH SECURITIES PRIOR TO SUCH QUALIFICATION IS UNLAWFUL, UNLESS THE SALE 
     OF SECURITIES IS EXEMPT FROM QUALIFICATION BY SECTION 25100, 25102 OR 
     25105 OF THE CALIFORNIA CORPORATIONS CODE.  THE RIGHTS OF ALL PARTIES 
     TO THIS AGREEMENT ARE EXPRESSLY CONDITIONED UPON SUCH QUALIFICATION BEING
     OBTAINED, UNLESS THE SALE IS SO EXEMPT.

     5.   MISCELLANEOUS.

          5.1  SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS.  Except as otherwise provided herein, 
     the terms and conditions of this Agreement shall inure to the benefit of
     and be binding upon the respective successors and assigns of the parties.
     Nothing in this Agreement, express or implied, is intended to confer upon
     any party other than the parties hereto or their respective successors and
     assigns any rights, remedies, obligations or liabilities under or by 
     reason of this Agreement, except as expressly provided in this Agreement.

          5.2  GOVERNING LAW.  This Agreement shall be governed by and 
     construed under the laws of the State of Minnesota as applied to 
     agreements among Minnesota residents, made and to be performed entirely
     within the State of Minnesota.

          5.3  COUNTERPARTS.  This Agreement may be executed in two or more
     counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which
     together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

          5.4  TITLES AND SUBTITLES.  The titles and subtitles used in this
     Agreement are used for convenience only and are not to be considered in
     construing or interpreting this Agreement.

                                       5

<PAGE>

          5.5  NOTICES.  Unless otherwise provided, any notice required or
     permitted under this Agreement shall be given in writing and shall be
     deemed effectively given upon personal delivery to the party to be 
     notified or upon deposit with the United States Post Office, by registered
     or certified mail, postage prepaid and addressed to, or at such other 
     address as such party may designate by ten (10) days' advance written 
     notice to the other parties. 

          If to the Company:

          Information Advantage, Inc.
          7905 Golden Triangle Drive
          Suite 190
          Eden Prairie, Minnesota 55344
          Attn:  Larry J. Ford, President

          With a copy to:

          Brian D. Wenger, Esq.
          Briggs and Morgan, P.A.
          2400 IDS Center
          Minneapolis, Minnesota 55402

          and

          Jay K. Hachigian, Esq.
          Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian, LLP
          155 Constitution Drive
          Menlo Park, California 94025

          If to Lenders:

          At the addresses shown on the Schedule of Lenders.

          5.6  FINDER'S FEE.  Each party represents that it neither is or will
     be obligated for any finders' fee or commission in connection with this
     transaction.  Lender agrees to indemnify and to hold harmless the Company
     from any liability for any commission or compensation in the nature of a
     finders' fee (and the costs and expenses of defending against such
     liability or asserted liability) for which Lender or any of its officers,
     partners, employees, or representatives is responsible.  The Company 
     agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Lender from any liability for any
     commission or compensation in the nature of a finders' fee (and the costs 
     and expenses of defending against such liability or asserted liability) 
     for which the Company or any of its officers, employees or representatives
     is responsible.

          5.7  EXPENSES.  If any action at law or in equity is necessary to
     enforce or interpret the terms of this Agreement, the prevailing party
     shall be entitled to 

                                       6

<PAGE>

     reasonable attorney's fees, costs and necessary disbursements in addition
     to any other relief to which such party may be entitled.

          5.8  ENTIRE AGREEMENT; AMENDMENTS AND WAIVERS.  This Agreement and
     the other documents delivered pursuant hereto constitute the full and 
     entire understanding and agreement between the parties with regard to the
     subjects hereof and thereof.  Any term of this Agreement may be amended 
     and the observance of any term of this Agreement may be waived (either 
     generally or in a particular instance and either retroactively or 
     prospectively), with the written consent of the Company and the holders 
     of a majority in principal amount of the Notes issued hereunder.  Any 
     waiver or amendment effected in accordance with this Section 5.8 shall 
     be binding upon each holder of any securities purchased under this 
     Agreement at the time outstanding (including securities into which such 
     securities have been converted), each future holder of all such 
     securities and the Company.

          5.9  SEVERABILITY.  If one or more provisions of this Agreement are
     held to be unenforceable under applicable law, such provision shall be
     excluded from this Agreement and the balance of the Agreement shall be
     interpreted as if such provision were so excluded and shall be enforceable
     in accordance with its terms.




                               [SIGNATURE PAGES FOLLOW]



                                       7

<PAGE>

     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the 
date first above written.

                              INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.



                              By:  /s/ Larry J. Ford
                                   --------------------------------------------
                                   Larry J. Ford, President and Chief Executive
                                   Officer


                              LENDER:

                              NORWEST EQUITY PARTNERS V, A MINNESOTA LIMITED
                              PARTNERSHIP

                              By:  Itasca Partners V, L.L.P.
                                   Its General Partner


                              By:  /s/ Promod Haque
                                  ------------------------------------------
                              Name:  Promod Haque
                                    ----------------------------------------
                              Title:  Partner
                                     ---------------------------------------

                              ST. PAUL VENTURE CAPITAL IV, L.L.C.


                              By:  /s/ Fredric R. Boswell
                                  ------------------------------------------
                              Name:  Fredric R. Boswell
                                    ----------------------------------------
                              Title:  General Partner
                                     ---------------------------------------



                                       8

<PAGE>



                              PATHFINDER VENTURE CAPITAL FUND III, A LIMITED
                              PARTNERSHIP

                              By:  Pathfinder Partners III, a Limited
                                   Partnership Its General Partner


                              By:  /s/ Brian P. Johnson
                                  ------------------------------------------
                              Name:  Brian P. Johnson
                                    ----------------------------------------
                              Title:  General Partner
                                     ---------------------------------------




                              WEISS, PECK & GREER VENTURE ASSOCIATES III, L.P.

                              By:  WPG Venture Partners III, L.P.
                                   Its General Partner


                              By:  /s/ Christopher J. Schaepe
                                  ------------------------------------------
                              Name:  Christopher J. Schaepe
                                    ----------------------------------------
                              Title:  General Partner
                                     ---------------------------------------



                              SUTTER HILL VENTURES, A CALIFORNIA LIMITED
                              PARTNERSHIP


                              By:  /s/ William H. Younger
                                  ------------------------------------------
                              Name:  William H. Younger
                                    ----------------------------------------
                              Title:  General Partner
                                     ---------------------------------------



                              MENLO VENTURES VI, L.P.

                              By:  MV Management VI, L.P.
                                   Its General Partner


                              By:  /s/ Sonja L. Hoel
                                  ------------------------------------------
                              Name:  Sonja L. Hoel
                                    ----------------------------------------
                              Title:  General Partner
                                     ---------------------------------------



                                       9

<PAGE>

                                       
                               SCHEDULE OF LENDERS

<TABLE>
<CAPTION>


                                                                     Maximum      
                                                                    Amount of     
                                 Ownership         Initial          Revolving     
Name and Address                 Percentage     Warrant Shares    Convertible Note
- ----------------                 ----------     --------------    ---------------- 
<S>                                <C>             <C>                <C>
Norwest Equity Partners V, A        35.00%           10,500           $1,050,000.00
Minnesota Limited Partnership



St. Paul Venture Capital IV,        28.35%            8,505             $850,500.00
L.L.C.



Pathfinder Venture Capital Fund     14.40%            4,320             $432,000.00
III, a Limited Partnership



Weiss, Peck & Greer Venture          8.45%            2,535             $253,500.00
Associates III, L.P.



Sutter Hill Ventures, a California  13.80%            4,140             $414,000.00
Limited Partnership



TOTAL                               100.00%           30,000          $3,000,000.00
                                   --------          -------         --------------
                                   --------          -------         --------------

</TABLE>

                                       10

<PAGE>
                                       
                                    EXHIBIT A
                                           
                       SCHEDULE OF ADVANCES AND REPAYMENTS
                                           


<PAGE>


                                    EXHIBIT B

THIS NOTE AND THE SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON THE CONVERSION HEREOF HAVE NOT 
BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933.  THEY MAY NOT BE SOLD, 
OFFERED FOR SALE, PLEDGED, HYPOTHECATED, OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED EXCEPT 
PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 
1933, OR AN OPINION OF COUNSEL SATISFACTORY TO THE COMPANY THAT REGISTRATION 
IS NOT REQUIRED UNDER SUCH ACT OR UNLESS SOLD PURSUANT TO RULE 144 UNDER SUCH 
ACT.

                              REVOLVING CONVERTIBLE NOTE

$__________                                                              [Date]


     FOR VALUE RECEIVED, Information Advantage, Inc., a Delaware corporation 
(the "Borrower"), hereby promises to pay to the order of ________________ 
(the "Lender") the principal amount of ______________________ Dollars 
($___________) or such lesser amount as shall then constitute Lender's pro 
rata share of the aggregate outstanding Loan Advances as described in the 
Purchase Agreement (as defined below), together with interest at the rate of 
eight percent (8%) per annum compounded annually.  The entire unpaid 
principal balance and accrued and unpaid interest thereon shall be due and 
payable at maturity, if not sooner paid, as hereinafter set forth.

     This Revolving Convertible Note (the "Note") is one of a series of 
Revolving Convertible Notes (collectively the "Notes") issued pursuant to 
that certain Loan and Warrant Purchase Agreement dated ________________, 1997 
(the "Purchase Agreement") and defined terms used herein shall have the 
meaning set forth in the Purchase Agreement.  Loan Advances shall be made in 
accordance with the terms of the Purchase Agreement.

     Unless otherwise repaid or automatically converted as provided herein, 
this Note will mature and be due and payable upon the earlier of (i) the ten 
(10) business days following the closing of the issuance and sale of shares 
of Common Stock of the Borrower in the Borrower's first underwritten public 
offering pursuant to an effective registration statement under the Securities 
Act of 1933, as amended (the "IPO"), or (ii) May 20, 1998.

     The Company may at any time prepay the principal balance of this Note, 
plus accrued interest to date of payment, in whole or in One Million Dollar 
($1,000,000.00) increments applied to the prepayment of the Notes in the 
aggregate without penalty.

     If not paid at maturity, this Note shall automatically convert into 
fully paid and nonassessable shares of the Borrower's Series D Preferred 
Stock (or the Common Stock that would be issuable upon conversion thereof in 
the event such automatic conversion occurs following the Company's IPO, such 
shares of Common Stock, the "Conversion Stock") in accordance with the 
following formula:

<PAGE>

     The number of shares to be issued shall be equal to the quotient
     obtained by dividing (a) the unpaid principal amount of this Note
     together with accrued interest thereon by (b) $5.00 (adjusted to
     reflect any stock splits, reverse stock splits, recapitalization and
     the like).

     If there is an insufficient number of authorized shares of Series D 
Preferred Stock or Common Stock to permit conversion of this Note in full, 
the Borrower will use its best efforts to take all corporate action necessary 
to authorize a sufficient number of such shares to permit the conversion in 
full.

     No fractional shares will be issued upon conversion of this Note.  In 
lieu of any fractional share to which the Lender would otherwise be entitled, 
the Borrower will pay to the Lender in cash that amount of the unconverted 
principal balance of this Note.

     Upon conversion of this Note, the Lender shall surrender this Note, duly 
endorsed, at the principal offices of the Borrower or any transfer agent for 
the Borrower.  At its expense, the Borrower will, as soon as practicable 
thereafter, issue and deliver to the Lender at such principal office, a 
certificate or certificates for the number of shares of Series D Preferred 
Stock or Common Stock to which the Lender is entitled upon such conversion, 
and any other securities and property to which the Lender is entitled upon 
such conversion under the terms of this Note.  

     Upon conversion of this Note, the Borrower will be forever released from 
all its obligations and liabilities under this Note with regard to the entire 
principal and accrued interest of this Note, including without limitation the 
obligation to pay such principal amount and accrued interest.  

     The holders of a majority in interest of the Revolving Convertible Notes 
issued by the Borrower as of the date hereof may collectively amend or waive 
the observance of any provision of the outstanding Revolving Convertible 
Notes, with the consent of the Company, but without the consent of the holder 
of this Note.

     This Note shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws 
of the State of Minnesota as applied to agreements among Minnesota residents 
entered into and to be performed entirely within Minnesota.

     The Borrower hereby expressly waives presentment, demand for payment, 
dishonor, notice of dishonor, protest, notice of protest and any other 
formality.


                                                 INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.


                                                 By:_________________________
                                                     Larry J. Ford, President
                                                     and Chief Executive
                                                     Officer

                                       2

<PAGE>

                                      EXHIBIT C

THIS WARRANT AND THE SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON THE EXERCISE HEREOF HAVE NOT 
BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933.  THEY MAY NOT BE SOLD, 
OFFERED FOR SALE, PLEDGED, HYPOTHECATED, OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED EXCEPT 
PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 
1933, OR AN OPINION OF COUNSEL SATISFACTORY TO THE COMPANY THAT REGISTRATION 
IS NOT REQUIRED UNDER SUCH ACT OR UNLESS SOLD PURSUANT TO RULE 144 UNDER SUCH 
ACT.

                                   INITIAL WARRANT

                                                                     Void after
Warrant No. ____________                                     __________________

                                       
                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                   WARRANT TO PURCHASE SERIES D PREFERRED STOCK


     This Warrant is issued to _______________ by Information Advantage, 
Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company"), pursuant to the terms of that 
certain Loan and Warrant Purchase Agreement dated as of ___________, 1997 
(the "Purchase Agreement") in connection with the Company's issuance to the 
holder of this Warrant of a Revolving Convertible Note dated as of 
_________________, 1997 (the "Note").

     1.   PURCHASE OF SHARES.  Subject to the terms and conditions of the 
Purchase Agreement and as hereinafter set forth, the holder of this Warrant 
is entitled, upon surrender of this Warrant at the principal office of the 
Company (or at such other place as the Company shall notify the holder hereof 
in writing), to purchase from the Company up to __________ fully paid and 
nonassessable shares of the Series D Preferred Stock of the Company or the 
number of shares of Common Stock of the Company that would have been issuable 
upon conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock if this Warrant is exercised 
following the Company's initial public offering of its securities pursuant to 
an effective registration statement (the "IPO") (such Common Stock is 
referred to herein as, the "Conversion Stock").  The shares of the Series D 
Preferred or Common Stock issuable pursuant to this Section 1 (collectively, 
the "Shares") shall also be subject to adjustment pursuant to Section 8 
hereof.

     2.   PURCHASE PRICE.  The purchase price for the Shares shall be $5.00 
per share.  Such price shall be subject to adjustment pursuant to Section 8 
hereof (such price, as adjusted from time to time, is herein referred to as 
the "Exercise Price").

     3.   EXERCISE PERIOD.  This Warrant shall be and remain exercisable from 
the date hereof and shall remain exercisable for five (5) years thereafter.

                                       

<PAGE>

     4.   METHOD OF EXERCISE.  While this Warrant remains outstanding and 
exercisable in accordance with Section 3 above, the holder may exercise, in 
whole or in part, the purchase rights evidenced hereby.  Such exercise shall 
be effected by:

          (a)  the surrender of the Warrant, together with a duly executed copy
     of the form of subscription attached hereto, to the Secretary of the
     Company at its principal offices; and

          (b)  the payment to the Company of an amount equal to the aggregate
     Exercise Price for the number of Shares being purchased.

     5.   NET ISSUE EXERCISE.

          (a)  In addition to and without limiting the rights of the holder
     under the terms hereof, the holder may elect to receive Shares equal to 
     the value of this Warrant (or the portion thereof being cancelled) by 
     surrender of this Warrant at the principal office of the Company together
     with notice of such election in which event the Company shall issue to 
     holder a number of shares of the Company's Series D Preferred Stock or 
     Conversion Stock computed using the following formula:

                                       X=Y(A-B)
                                         ------
                                          A

Where     X    -    The number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or
                    Conversion Stock to be issued to holder of this Warrant.

          Y    -    The number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or
                    Conversion Stock purchasable under this Warrant.
               
          A    -    If such exercise is prior to Company's IPO, the fair market
                    value of one share of the Company's Common Stock issuable 
                    on conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock; and if such
                    exercise occurs following the Company's IPO, the fair 
                    market value of one share of the Company's Common Stock.
               
          B    -    Exercise Price on the date of exercise.

          (b)  No payment of any cash or other consideration to the Company
     shall be required from the holder of this warrant in connection with any
     exercise of this Warrant by exchange pursuant to this Section 5.  Such
     exchange shall be effective upon the date of receipt by the Company of the
     original Warrant surrendered for cancellation and a written request from
     the holder that the exchange pursuant to this Section 5 be made, or at 
     such later date as may be specified in such request.  No fractional shares
     arising out of the above formula for determining the number of shares
     issuable in such exchange shall be issued, and the Company shall in lieu
     thereof make payment to the holder of cash in the amount of such fraction
     multiplied 

                                       2

<PAGE>

     by the fair market value of one share of Common Stock issuable upon the
     conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock on the date of the exchange.

          (c)  For the purposes of this Section 5, the "fair market value" of
     the shares of Series D Preferred Stock shall be calculated on the basis of
     (a) if the Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of the Series D
     Preferred Stock is then traded on a securities exchange, the average of 
     the closing prices of such Common Stock on such exchange over the 30-day
     period ending three (3) days prior to the date of exercise, (b) if the 
     Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock 
     is then regularly traded over-the-counter, the average of the sale prices 
     or secondarily the closing bid of such Common Stock over the 30-day period
     ending three (3) days prior to the date of exercise, or (c) if there is no
     active public market for the Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of
     the Series D Preferred Stock, the fair market value thereof as determined
     in good faith by the Board of Directors of the Company.

     6.   CERTIFICATES FOR SHARES.  Upon the exercise of the purchase rights 
evidenced by this Warrant, one or more certificates for the number of Shares 
so purchased shall be issued as soon as practicable thereafter, and in any 
event within thirty (30) days of the delivery of the subscription notice.

     7.   AVAILABILITY OF SHARES.  If there is an insufficient number of 
authorized shares of Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock to permit 
the exercise of this Warrant in full, the Company will use its best efforts 
to take all corporate action necessary to authorize a sufficient number of 
such shares to permit the exercise in full.  The Company covenants that such 
Shares, when issued pursuant to the exercise of this Warrant, will be duly 
and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free from all taxes, 
liens and charges with respect to the issuance thereof.

     8.   ADJUSTMENT OF EXERCISE PRICE AND NUMBER OF SHARES.  The number of 
and kind of securities purchasable upon exercise of this Warrant and the 
Exercise Price shall be subject to adjustment from time to time as follows:

          (a)  SUBDIVISIONS, COMBINATIONS AND OTHER ISSUANCES.  If the Company
     shall at any time prior to the expiration of this Warrant subdivide the
     Series D Preferred Stock, by split-up or otherwise, or combine or issue
     additional shares of the Series D Preferred Stock or Common Stock as a
     dividend with respect to any shares of the Series D Preferred Stock, the
     number of Shares issuable on the exercise of this Warrant shall forthwith
     be proportionately increased in the case of a subdivision or stock
     dividend, or proportionately decreased in the case of a combination. 
     Appropriate adjustments shall also be made to the purchase price payable
     per share, but the aggregate purchase price payable for the total number 
     of Shares purchasable under this Warrant (as adjusted) shall remain the 
     same. Any adjustment under this Section 8(a) shall become effective at the
     close of business on the date the subdivision or combination becomes 
     effective, or as of the record date of such 

                                       3

<PAGE>

     dividend, or in the event that no record date is fixed, upon the making 
     of such dividend.

          (b)  RECLASSIFICATION, REORGANIZATION, AND CONSOLIDATION.  In case of
     any reclassification, capital reorganization, or change in the Series D
     Preferred Stock (other than as a result of a subdivision, combination or
     stock dividend provided for in Section 8(a) above), then, as a condition 
     of such reclassification, reorganization or change, lawful provision shall
     be made, and duly executed documents evidencing the same from the Company 
     or its successor shall be delivered to the holder of this Warrant, so that
     the holder of this Warrant shall have the right at any time prior to the
     expiration of this Warrant to purchase, at a total price equal to that
     payable upon the exercise of this Warrant, the kind and amount of shares 
     of stock and other securities and property receivable in connection with 
     such reclassification, reorganization or change by a holder of the same 
     number of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock as were purchasable by 
     the holder of this Warrant immediately prior to such reclassification, 
     reorganization or change.  In any such case, appropriate provisions shall
     be made with respect to the rights and interest of the holder of this 
     Warrant so that the provisions hereof shall thereafter be applicable with 
     respect to any shares of stock or other securities and property 
     deliverable upon exercise hereof, and appropriate adjustments shall be 
     made to the purchase price per share payable hereunder, provided the 
     aggregate purchase price shall remain the same.

          (c)  NOTICE OF ADJUSTMENT.  When any adjustment is required to be 
     made in the number or kind of shares purchasable upon exercise of the 
     Warrant, the Company shall promptly notify the holder of such event and 
     of the number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or other securities or
     property thereafter purchasable upon exercise of the Warrant.

     9.   NO FRACTIONAL SHARES OR SCRIP.  No fractional shares or scrip 
representing fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of this 
Warrant, but in lieu of such fractional shares the Company shall make a cash 
payment therefor on the basis of the Exercise Price then in effect.

     10.  NO SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS.  Prior to exercise of this Warrant, the 
holder shall not be entitled to any rights of a shareholder with respect to 
the Shares, including (without limitation) the right to vote such Shares, 
receive dividends or other distributions thereon, exercise preemptive rights 
or be notified of shareholder meetings, and such holder shall not be entitled 
to any notice or other communication concerning the business or affairs of 
the Company.

     11.  SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS.  The terms and provisions of this Warrant 
and the Purchase Agreement shall inure to the benefit of, and be binding 
upon, the Company and the holders hereof and their respective successors and 
assigns.

                                       4

<PAGE>

     12.  AMENDMENTS AND WAIVERS.   Any term of this Warrant may be amended 
and the observance of any term of this Warrant may be waived (either 
generally or in a particular instance and either retroactively or 
prospectively), with the written consent of the Company and the holders of a 
majority of the Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock issued or 
issuable upon exercise of Warrants issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement 
that are then outstanding.  Any waiver or amendment effected in accordance 
with this Section 12 shall be binding upon each holder of any Shares 
purchased under this Warrant at the time outstanding (including securities 
into which such Shares have been converted), each future holder of all such 
Shares and securities and the Company.

     13.  EFFECT OF AMENDMENT OR WAIVER.  The holder of this Warrant 
acknowledges that by the operation of Section 12 hereof, the holders of a 
majority of the Warrants issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement that are 
then outstanding will have the right and power to diminish or eliminate all 
rights of such holder under this Warrant or under the Purchase Agreement.

     14.  GOVERNING LAW.  This Warrant shall be governed by the laws of the 
State of Minnesota as applied to agreements among Minnesota residents made 
and to be performed entirely within the State of Minnesota.

     This Warrant is issued effective as of __________, 1997.


                                                INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.


                                                _____________________________
                                                Larry J. Ford, President and
                                                Chief Executive Officer

                                       5

<PAGE>

                                     SUBSCRIPTION
                                     ------------

Information Advantage, Inc.
Attention:  Corporate Secretary


     The undersigned hereby elects to purchase, pursuant to the provisions of 
the Warrant to Purchase Shares of Series D Preferred Stock issued by 
Information Advantage, Inc. and held by the undersigned, ________________ 
shares of ____________ Stock of Information Advantage, Inc.

     Payment of the exercise price per share required under such Warrant 
accompanies this Subscription.

     The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned is 
acquiring such shares for its own account for investment purposes only, and 
not for resale or with a view to distribution of such shares or any part 
thereof.


                                       WARRANTHOLDER:


Date: __________________________       By: _____________________________ 
                                        Title: _________________________ 

                                       Address: ________________________

                                         _______________________________ 

Name in which shares should be
registered:

________________________________

                                       6

<PAGE>

                                    EXHIBIT D

THIS WARRANT AND THE SECURITIES ISSUABLE UPON THE EXERCISE HEREOF HAVE NOT 
BEEN REGISTERED UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933.  THEY MAY NOT BE SOLD, 
OFFERED FOR SALE, PLEDGED, HYPOTHECATED, OR OTHERWISE TRANSFERRED EXCEPT 
PURSUANT TO AN EFFECTIVE REGISTRATION STATEMENT UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 
1933, OR AN OPINION OF COUNSEL SATISFACTORY TO THE COMPANY THAT REGISTRATION 
IS NOT REQUIRED UNDER SUCH ACT OR UNLESS SOLD PURSUANT TO RULE 144 UNDER SUCH 
ACT.
                                       
                              LOAN ADVANCE WARRANT
                                           
                                                                    Void after
Warrant No. LAW-__________                                   _________________

                           INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.
                   WARRANT TO PURCHASE SERIES D PREFERRED STOCK
                   -------------------------------------------- 
                                          
     This Warrant is issued to _________________________ by Information 
Advantage, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the "Company"), pursuant to the 
terms of that certain Loan and Warrant Purchase Agreement dated as of 
______________ (the "Purchase Agreement") in connection with the Company's 
issuance to the holder of this Warrant of a Revolving Convertible Note dated 
as of _______________ (the "Note").

     1.   PURCHASE OF SHARES.  Subject to the terms and conditions of the 
Purchase Agreement (including but not limited to Section 1.3 thereof) and the 
terms of this Warrant hereinafter set forth, the holder of this Warrant is 
entitled, upon surrender of this Warrant at the principal office of the 
Company (or at such other place as the Company shall notify the holder hereof 
in writing), to purchase from the Company up to that number of fully paid and 
nonassessable shares of the Series D Preferred Stock of the Company or the 
number of shares of Common Stock of the Company that would have been issuable 
upon conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock if this Warrant is exercised 
following the Company's initial public offering of its securities pursuant to 
an effective registration statement (the "IPO") (such Common Stock is 
referred to herein as the "Conversion Stock") that equals four percent (4%) 
of the principal amount of the Loan Advance allocated to the holder of this 
Warrant. The shares of the Series D Preferred Stock and Conversion Stock 
issuable pursuant to this Section 1 (collectively, the "Shares") shall also 
be subject to adjustment pursuant to Section 8 hereof.

     2.   PURCHASE PRICE.  The purchase price for the Shares shall be $5.00 
per share.  Such price shall be subject to adjustment pursuant to Section 8 
hereof (such price, as adjusted from time to time, is herein referred to as 
the "Exercise Price").

                                       

<PAGE>

     3.   EXERCISE PERIOD.  This Warrant shall be exercisable from the date 
hereof and shall remain exercisable for five (5) years thereafter.

     4.   METHOD OF EXERCISE.  While this Warrant remains outstanding and 
exercisable in accordance with Section 3 above, the holder may exercise, in 
whole or in part, the purchase rights evidenced hereby.  Such exercise shall 
be effected by:

          (i)  the surrender of the Warrant, together with a duly executed copy
               of the form of subscription attached hereto, to the Secretary of
               the Company at its principal offices; and

          (ii) the payment to the Company of an amount equal to the aggregate
               Exercise Price for the number of Shares being purchased.

     5.   NET ISSUE EXERCISE.

          (i)  In addition to and without limiting the rights of the holder
               under the terms hereof, the holder may elect to receive Shares
               equal to the value of this Warrant (or the portion thereof being
               cancelled) by surrender of this Warrant at the principal office
               of the Company together with notice of such election in which
               event the Company shall issue to holder a number of shares of 
               the Company's Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock 
               computed using the following formula:

                                       X=Y(A-B)
                                         ------ 
                                           A

               Where X - The number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or 
                         Conversion Stock to be issued to holder after 
                         exercise.

                     Y -  The number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or
                          Conversion Stock purchasable under this Warrant.

                     A -  If such exercise is prior to Company's IPO, the fair
                          market value of one share of the Company's Common 
                          Stock issuable on conversion of the Series D 
                          Preferred Stock; and if such exercise occurs 
                          following the Company's IPO, the fair market value 
                          of one share of the Company's Common Stock.

                     B -  Exercise Price on the date of exercise.

          (ii) No payment of any cash or other consideration to the Company
               shall be required from the holder of this Warrant in connection
               with any exercise of this Warrant by exchange pursuant to this
               Section 5.  Such exchange shall be effective upon the date of
               receipt by the Company 

                                       2

<PAGE>


               of the original Warrant surrendered for cancellation and a 
               written request from the holder that the exchange pursuant to 
               this Section 5 be made, or at such later date as may be 
               specified in such request.  No fractional shares arising out 
               of the above formula for determining the number of shares 
               issuable in such exchange shall be issued, and the  Company 
               shall in lieu thereof make payment to the holder of cash
               in the amount of such fraction multiplied by the fair market 
               value of one share of Common Stock issuable upon the conversion
               of the Series D Preferred Stock on the date of the exchange.

         (iii) For the purposes of this Section 5, the "fair market value"
               of the shares of Series D Preferred Stock shall be
               calculated on the basis of (a) if the Common Stock issuable
               upon the conversion of the Series D Preferred Stock is then
               traded on a securities exchange, the average of the closing
               prices of such Common Stock on such exchange over the 30-day
               period ending three (3) days prior to the date of exercise,
               (b) if the Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of the
               Series D Preferred Stock is then regularly traded 
               over-the-counter, the average of the sale prices or 
               secondarily the closing bid of such Common Stock over the 
               30-day period ending three (3) days prior to the date of 
               exercise, or (c) if there is no active public market for 
               the Common Stock issuable upon the conversion of the Series D
               Preferred Stock, the fair market value thereof as determined 
               in good faith by the Board of Directors of the Company. 

     6.   CERTIFICATES FOR SHARES.  Upon the exercise of the purchase rights 
evidenced by this Warrant, one or more certificates for the number of Shares 
so purchased shall be issued as soon as practicable thereafter, and in any 
event within thirty (30) days of the delivery of the subscription notice.

     7.   AVAILABILITY OF SHARES.  If there is an insufficient number of 
authorized shares of Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock to permit 
the exercise of this Warrant in full, the Company will use its best efforts 
to take all corporate action necessary to authorize a sufficient number of 
such shares to permit the exercise in full.  The Company covenants that such 
Shares, when issued pursuant to the exercise of this Warrant, will be duly 
and validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable and free from all taxes, 
liens and charges with respect to the issuance thereof.

     8.   ADJUSTMENT OF EXERCISE PRICE AND NUMBER OF SHARES.  The number of 
and kind of securities purchasable upon exercise of this Warrant and the 
Exercise Price shall be subject to adjustment from time to time as follows:

          (a)  SUBDIVISIONS, COMBINATIONS AND OTHER ISSUANCES.  If the Company
               shall at any time prior to the expiration of this Warrant
               subdivide the Series D Preferred Stock, by split-up or otherwise,
               or combine or issue additional shares of the Series D Preferred
               Stock or Common Stock as 

                                       3

<PAGE>

               a dividend with respect to any shares of the Series D  Preferred
               Stock, the number of Shares issuable on the exercise of this 
               Warrant shall forthwith be proportionately increased in the case
               of a subdivision or stock dividend, or proportionately decreased
               in the case of a combination. Appropriate adjustments shall also
               be made to the purchase price payable per share, but the 
               aggregate purchase price payable for the total number of Shares
               purchasable under this Warrant (as adjusted) shall remain the
               same.  Any adjustment under this Section 8(a) shall become 
               effective at the close of business on the date the subdivision 
               or combination becomes effective, or as of the record date of 
               such dividend, or in the event that no record date is fixed, 
               upon the making of such dividend.

          (b)  RECLASSIFICATION, REORGANIZATION, AND CONSOLIDATION.  In case of
               any reclassification, capital reorganization, or change in the
               Series D Preferred Stock (other than as a result of a
               subdivision, combination or stock dividend provided for in
               Section 8(a) above), then, as a condition of such
               reclassification, reorganization or change, lawful provision
               shall be made, and duly executed documents evidencing the same
               from the Company or its successor shall be delivered to the
               holder of this Warrant, so that the holder of this Warrant shall
               have the right at any time prior to the expiration of this
               Warrant to purchase, at a total price equal to that payable upon
               the exercise of this Warrant, the kind and amount of shares of
               stock and other securities and property receivable in connection
               with such reclassification, reorganization or change by a holder
               of the same number of shares of the Series D Preferred Stock as
               were purchasable by the holder of this Warrant immediately prior
               to such reclassification, reorganization or change.  In any such
               case, appropriate provisions shall be made with respect to the
               rights and interest of the holder of this Warrant so that the
               provisions hereof shall thereafter be applicable with respect to
               any shares of stock or other securities and property deliverable
               upon exercise hereof, and appropriate adjustments shall be made
               to the purchase price per share payable hereunder, provided the
               aggregate purchase price shall remain the same.

          (c)  NOTICE OF ADJUSTMENT.  When any adjustment is required to be made
               in the number or kind of shares purchasable upon exercise of the
               Warrant, the Company shall promptly notify the holder of such
               event and of the number of shares of Series D Preferred Stock or
               other securities or property thereafter purchasable upon exercise
               of the Warrant.

     9.   NO FRACTIONAL SHARES OR SCRIP.  No fractional shares or scrip 
representing fractional shares shall be issued upon the exercise of this 
Warrant, but in lieu of such 

                                       4

<PAGE>

fractional shares the Company shall make a cash payment therefor on the basis 
of the Exercise Price then in effect.

     10.  NO SHAREHOLDER RIGHTS.  Prior to exercise of this Warrant, the 
holder shall not be entitled to any rights of a shareholder with respect to 
the Shares, including (without limitation) the right to vote such Shares, 
receive dividends or other distributions thereon, exercise preemptive rights 
or be notified of shareholder meetings, and such holder shall not be entitled 
to any notice or other communication concerning the business or affairs of 
the Company.

     11.  SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS.  The terms and provisions of this Warrant 
and the Purchase Agreement shall inure to the benefit of, and be binding 
upon, the Company and the holders hereof and their respective successors and 
assigns.

     12.  AMENDMENTS AND WAIVERS.   Any term of this Warrant may be amended 
and the observance of any term of this Warrant may be waived (either 
generally or in a particular instance and either retroactively or 
prospectively), with the written consent of the Company and the holders of a 
majority of the Series D Preferred Stock or Conversion Stock issued or 
issuable upon exercise of Warrants issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement 
that are then outstanding.  Any waiver or amendment effected in accordance 
with this Section 12 shall be binding upon each holder of any Shares 
purchased under this Warrant at the time outstanding (including securities 
into which such Shares and securities have been converted), each future 
holder of all such Shares and the Company.
          
     13.  EFFECT OF AMENDMENT OR WAIVER.  The holder of this Warrant 
acknowledges that by the operation of Section 12 hereof, the holders of a 
majority of the Warrants issued pursuant to the Purchase Agreement that are 
then outstanding will have the right and power to diminish or eliminate all 
rights of such holder under this Warrant or under the Purchase Agreement.

     14.  GOVERNING LAW.  This Warrant shall be governed by the laws of the 
State of Minnesota as applied to agreements among Minnesota residents made 
and to be performed entirely within the State of Minnesota.

     This Warrant is issued effective as of this _____ day of _________, 1997.

 
                                                  INFORMATION ADVANTAGE, INC.


                                                  ____________________________
                                                  Larry J. Ford, President and
                                                  Chief Executive Officer

                                       5

<PAGE>


                                   SUBSCRIPTION
                                           
                                           
Information Advantage, Inc.
Attention:  Corporate Secretary

     The undersigned hereby elects to purchase, pursuant to the provisions of 
the Warrant to Purchase Shares of Series D Preferred Stock issued by 
Information Advantage, Inc. and held by the undersigned, ___________ shares 
of _______________________________ Stock of Information Advantage, Inc.

     Payment of the exercise price per share required under such Warrant 
accompanies this Subscription.

     The undersigned hereby represents and warrants that the undersigned is 
acquiring such shares for its own account for investment purposes only, and 
not for resale or with a view to distribution of such shares or any part 
thereof.

     WARRANTHOLDER:



          
     Date: _____________________   By: ____________________________________ 
                                   Title: _________________________________ 
                                   Address:________________________________ 
               

Name in which shares should be registered: _________________________________

                                       6


<PAGE>
                                                                    EXHIBIT 23.1
 
                       CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT ACCOUNTANTS
 
   
    We hereby consent to the use in the Prospectus constituting part of this
Registration Statement on Form S-1 of our report dated November 13, 1997,
relating to the financial statements of Information Advantage, Inc., which
appears in such Prospectus. We also consent to the reference to us under the
heading "Experts" in such Prospectus.
    
 
                                          /s/ PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP
 
   
PRICE WATERHOUSE LLP
Minneapolis Minnesota
December 4, 1997
    


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