The Dozen 2004Business ObjectsParis/San Jose, Calif.Business Objects pulled off the software industry acquisition of 2003 when it picked up Crystal Decisions for $820 million. First and foremost, the acquisition let the world know that Business Objects would do what it took to remain strong for the long haul. Second, the move changed the industry favorably toward larger, consolidated suite vendors — and incidentally took out a revitalized competitor. Finally, in a larger sense, it firmly established BI as a distinct enterprise software category, raising the bar for competitors expanding into the space from other domains, such as Microsoft, Oracle, and the enterprise application providers. The acquisition also set off a consolidation chain reaction and numerous battles over reseller arrangements and intellectual property ownership as vendors — not to mention their customers — realized it was time to clean up the mess and get ready for the next phase. What will that be? Rising consulting revenue and a strong focus on the development of vertically oriented, performance management-flavored analytic application modules tell us that Business Objects, secure in its place as one of the select few enterprise BI suite providers, is going after bigger game. Business Objects and its customers have declared an end to stovepiped intelligence and reporting. BI independence is here to stay; now's the time to build value upon it.
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