The Dozen 2003Business Objects SAParis/San Jose, Calif.BI is in a time of transition. Industry maturity and tighter times have led to a fight for survival among the fittest. The very success of BI has customers holding vendors up to mission-critical standards for performance, reliability, and scalability — further winnowing out the contenders. Meanwhile, enterprise application and database vendors, always alert to opportunities to subsume third-party tools and leave less money on the table, want a piece of the pie. BI, data warehousing, OLAP, and analytics are becoming embedded in larger solutions, thereby enlarging the gray areas among once-familiar technology sectors. Business Objects, safely among the survivors, has never been one to rest under the shady tree of an installed base. It could: With an impressive cache of customers, Business Objects regularly appears in the top echelon of market surveys and product rankings, including the Intelligent Enterprise Readers' Choice Awards. Dedicated to the mainstream expansion of BI to help organizations of all sizes improve operational efficiency, customer interaction, and overall business performance, Business Objects is rarely the kind to revel in the avant garde — but the company knows that the ground is moving beneath its feet. The Collaborative DanceThrough acquisitions and internal product development, Business Objects spent 2002 preparing itself for the next phase of BI and analytics. One word will dominate: collaborative. It's been clear for some time that tools to empower decision-making can only go so far before they confront the reality that most decisions are made through collaboration with colleagues, business partners, and other key participants. Coming out of a personal productivity legacy, BI tools must now embrace collaboration. "Sundance," the development name for Business Objects' next generation, is shaping up to be one of 2003's most important releases. With workflow and collaboration features, Sundance is creating a foundation for "operationalizing" BI and analytics on an enterprise scale. Through exploitation of portal dashboards and Web technologies, Sundance will enable organizations to communicate business objectives more effectively. Rules-based BI processes, metrics, and best practices are key components of the Sundance arsenal. The 2002 Acta Technology acquisition was critical. It strengthened the company's ability to develop analytic applications that work with ERP systems, such as SAP R/3. Even as it matures, the very nature of BI leaves the sector refreshingly open to invention and variation. Rising to the collaborative challenge, Business Objects is poised to lead its customers to the frontier of strategic advantage. MAJOR MOVES IN 2002· Acquired Acta Technology, data integration provider · Acquired Blue Edge Software, maker of portal software for corporate intranets INTELLIGENT ENTERPRISES· Maxtor Corp. uses Business Objects' platform to gain a single view into operational data residing in multiple, distributed applications · The U.S. State Department uses WebIntelligence query and reporting software as part of its system to track potential terrorist threats
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