Moving reporting ahead of the curve in SaaS fashion

Business Objects is using the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to get its sophisticated business intelligence and reporting solutions into midsize enterprises. Its SaaS solution, Crystalreports.com, went from concept to 40,000-plus subscribers in just 12 months. “We moved our SaaS product from concept to actual subscribers while creating a new and sustainable revenue model for Business...

By Staff July 1, 2007

Business Objects is using the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model to get its sophisticated business intelligence and reporting solutions into midsize enterprises. Its SaaS solution, Crystalreports.com, went from concept to 40,000-plus subscribers in just 12 months.

“We moved our SaaS product from concept to actual subscribers while creating a new and sustainable revenue model for Business Objects,” says Steve Lucas, VP of the on-demand business. Crystalreports.com allows users to move beyond static reports delivered by email or hard copy to dynamic, real-time documents.

Companies that still prefer on-premise software can purchase Business Objects Crystal Decisions. This three-product suite complements existing business applications, data sources, and platforms.

Business Objects released a new Standard Edition of Business Objects Crystal Decisions in February, and a new Professional Edition in June. Both editions feature:

Ad hoc reporting, query, and analysis;

Dashboards and visualization capabilities;

Live access to data in Microsoft environments; and

What Business Objects says is a proven, open BI platform.

The Professional Edition adds data integration capabilities to the Standard Edition, which allows extracting data from Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, Oracle, Ingres, and other databases; and moving the data to a single target source.

Still to come is the Premium Edition, which will add performance management functionality.

All three editions are built on the BusinessObjects XI platform.