Press Release
September 13, 2005
Business Objects Customers Benefit From Rich History Of Innovation
Business Intelligence Deployments Mark Industry Firsts for Business Objects and its Customers
SAN JOSE, California and PARIS—September 13, 2005—Business Objects contributed to the founding of the modern day business intelligence industry, but the company would not be where it is today without the customers who deployed the software. As Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250—BOB), the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, celebrates its 15-year anniversary it recognizes the innovative and creative ways its customers have deployed its leading business intelligence products. Whether as the first enterprise deployment across an organization, an extranet to suppliers and partners, a dashboard to executives to monitor key performance indicators, or a way to access Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) data, Business Objects has made it possible for customers to achieve operational efficiency and true ROI as a result of their BI deployments. As Business Objects looks back on its accomplishments, it also looks forward to the next 15 years of innovation beginning with the anticipated launch of BusinessObjects™ XI Release 2, which features innovations that will deliver an entirely new way for users to discover an interact with information.
“Business Objects was born out of an idea, out of hope, and out of great motivation,” said Bernard Liautaud, chairman of the board and chief strategy officer of Business Objects. “We wanted to build something that mattered—a product that would change the way information is used. Along the way, we worked closely with our customers, to deliver software that would solve real business problems. As a result, each of these industry firsts ushered in significant changes, in the BI industry, and the markets in which our customers competed. These early adopters became leaders in their industry, and are now some of our most important and prestigious customers in our company’s history.”
THE FIRST ENTERPRISE DEPLOYMENT—FRANCE TELECOM
France Telecom was Business Objects’ first customer. France Telecom viewed a prototype of the first Business Objects product in 1990, and then purchased the software in 1991. France Telecom was one of the first companies in the world to recognize the benefits of gaining a 360 degree view of your organization, and expanding a BI deployment beyond one department, and out to the entire company. Business Objects is now the preferred business intelligence partner for France Telecom, which has deployed Business Objects across its enterprise to more than 45,000 users. Business Objects plays a key role in retrieving and analyzing data within human resources, finance management, marketing, sales, and networks, and has assisted the company in adopting a more global approach to management.
THE FIRST EXTRANET—OWENS & MINOR
Owens & Minor, a multi-billion dollar medical supplies distributor, pioneered a powerful supply-chain extranet application called “WISDOM” that was the first of its kind when it was developed in 1998. “WISDOM” stands for Web Intelligence Supporting Decisions with Owens & Minor, and was built using BusinessObjects Web Intelligence. The extranet application changed the healthcare supplies industry, and today thousands of O&M’s customers and suppliers use WISDOM to access their own buying and selling data from O&M’S website. Users can track sales, manage inventory, and negotiate improved contracts through product consolidations. WISDOM has led to many awards and accolades for O&M over the years. In 2001, Owens & Minor was ranked number one in the InformationWeek 500, the publication’s annual ranking organization’s innovative use of technology. More importantly, the application has generated significant competitive advantage for Owens & Minor—in the first year of deploying WISDOM, Owens & Minor was able to use the system to win over $60 million in new business.
THE FIRST DASHBOARD—LANDS’ END
Land’ End, a leading direct retailer owned by Sears Roebuck, deployed one of the first executive dashboards in 2002. The dashboard, known as a workbench at Lands’ End, monitors merchandise and inventory levels, including seasonal flow. For example, the dashboards include an early alert system to target items selling faster than expected and gives managers the ability to adjust inventory levels at distribution centers and stores far earlier than they were in the past. After rolling out the dashboard in the spring of 2002, Lands’ End saw a one-third reduction in lost sales over the rest of the year.
THE FIRSTS CONTINUE WITH GRANITEROCK
Graniterock, a materials supply and construction company, is one of the first companies in any industry to access and analyze RFID (radio frequency identification) data. The company has implemented an RFID tagging system that tracks inventory and supply movement, such as the arrival and departure of trucks through its asphalt and quarry loading locations. With Business Objects, Graniterock has been able to leverage its RFID information to improve operational performance and boost customer satisfaction and savings. The company estimates that as a result of the system, they have been able to reduce by half the amount of time it takes to load customer trucks at its quarries, and estimates it has saved as much as $300,000 in payroll using the system.
“We have thousands of customers that use Business Objects everyday to become winners in their industry,” said Liautaud. “France Telecom, Lands’ End, Owens & Minor and Graniterock are visionaries that have something very important in common—they know the secret to improved profitability is business intelligence. By embedding business intelligence into the fabric of their organizations and into every business process, they have gained first mover advantages and become winners in their industry. And the future remains bright with BusinessObjects XI Release 2, as we will deliver innovations that help our customers reach amazing new heights.”
ABOUT BUSINESS OBJECTS
Business Objects is the world’s leading business intelligence (BI) software company. With more than 30,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helps organizations gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company’s business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects™ XI, offers the BI industry’s most complete and trusted platform for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and data integration. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports®, the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has also built the industry’s strongest and most diverse partner community, and the company offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.
Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, California, and Paris, France. The company’s stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250—BOB) stock exchanges. Get more information aboutBusiness Objects.
Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, WebIntelligence, Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, Crystal Analysis, RapidMarts, and BusinessQuery are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. or its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
SAN JOSE, California and PARIS—September 13, 2005—Business Objects contributed to the founding of the modern day business intelligence industry, but the company would not be where it is today without the customers who deployed the software. As Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250—BOB), the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, celebrates its 15-year anniversary it recognizes the innovative and creative ways its customers have deployed its leading business intelligence products. Whether as the first enterprise deployment across an organization, an extranet to suppliers and partners, a dashboard to executives to monitor key performance indicators, or a way to access Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) data, Business Objects has made it possible for customers to achieve operational efficiency and true ROI as a result of their BI deployments. As Business Objects looks back on its accomplishments, it also looks forward to the next 15 years of innovation beginning with the anticipated launch of BusinessObjects™ XI Release 2, which features innovations that will deliver an entirely new way for users to discover an interact with information.
“Business Objects was born out of an idea, out of hope, and out of great motivation,” said Bernard Liautaud, chairman of the board and chief strategy officer of Business Objects. “We wanted to build something that mattered—a product that would change the way information is used. Along the way, we worked closely with our customers, to deliver software that would solve real business problems. As a result, each of these industry firsts ushered in significant changes, in the BI industry, and the markets in which our customers competed. These early adopters became leaders in their industry, and are now some of our most important and prestigious customers in our company’s history.”
THE FIRST ENTERPRISE DEPLOYMENT—FRANCE TELECOM
France Telecom was Business Objects’ first customer. France Telecom viewed a prototype of the first Business Objects product in 1990, and then purchased the software in 1991. France Telecom was one of the first companies in the world to recognize the benefits of gaining a 360 degree view of your organization, and expanding a BI deployment beyond one department, and out to the entire company. Business Objects is now the preferred business intelligence partner for France Telecom, which has deployed Business Objects across its enterprise to more than 45,000 users. Business Objects plays a key role in retrieving and analyzing data within human resources, finance management, marketing, sales, and networks, and has assisted the company in adopting a more global approach to management.
THE FIRST EXTRANET—OWENS & MINOR
Owens & Minor, a multi-billion dollar medical supplies distributor, pioneered a powerful supply-chain extranet application called “WISDOM” that was the first of its kind when it was developed in 1998. “WISDOM” stands for Web Intelligence Supporting Decisions with Owens & Minor, and was built using BusinessObjects Web Intelligence. The extranet application changed the healthcare supplies industry, and today thousands of O&M’s customers and suppliers use WISDOM to access their own buying and selling data from O&M’S website. Users can track sales, manage inventory, and negotiate improved contracts through product consolidations. WISDOM has led to many awards and accolades for O&M over the years. In 2001, Owens & Minor was ranked number one in the InformationWeek 500, the publication’s annual ranking organization’s innovative use of technology. More importantly, the application has generated significant competitive advantage for Owens & Minor—in the first year of deploying WISDOM, Owens & Minor was able to use the system to win over $60 million in new business.
THE FIRST DASHBOARD—LANDS’ END
Land’ End, a leading direct retailer owned by Sears Roebuck, deployed one of the first executive dashboards in 2002. The dashboard, known as a workbench at Lands’ End, monitors merchandise and inventory levels, including seasonal flow. For example, the dashboards include an early alert system to target items selling faster than expected and gives managers the ability to adjust inventory levels at distribution centers and stores far earlier than they were in the past. After rolling out the dashboard in the spring of 2002, Lands’ End saw a one-third reduction in lost sales over the rest of the year.
THE FIRSTS CONTINUE WITH GRANITEROCK
Graniterock, a materials supply and construction company, is one of the first companies in any industry to access and analyze RFID (radio frequency identification) data. The company has implemented an RFID tagging system that tracks inventory and supply movement, such as the arrival and departure of trucks through its asphalt and quarry loading locations. With Business Objects, Graniterock has been able to leverage its RFID information to improve operational performance and boost customer satisfaction and savings. The company estimates that as a result of the system, they have been able to reduce by half the amount of time it takes to load customer trucks at its quarries, and estimates it has saved as much as $300,000 in payroll using the system.
“We have thousands of customers that use Business Objects everyday to become winners in their industry,” said Liautaud. “France Telecom, Lands’ End, Owens & Minor and Graniterock are visionaries that have something very important in common—they know the secret to improved profitability is business intelligence. By embedding business intelligence into the fabric of their organizations and into every business process, they have gained first mover advantages and become winners in their industry. And the future remains bright with BusinessObjects XI Release 2, as we will deliver innovations that help our customers reach amazing new heights.”
ABOUT BUSINESS OBJECTS
Business Objects is the world’s leading business intelligence (BI) software company. With more than 30,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helps organizations gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company’s business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects™ XI, offers the BI industry’s most complete and trusted platform for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and data integration. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports®, the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has also built the industry’s strongest and most diverse partner community, and the company offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.
Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, California, and Paris, France. The company’s stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250—BOB) stock exchanges. Get more information aboutBusiness Objects.
Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, WebIntelligence, Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, Crystal Analysis, RapidMarts, and BusinessQuery are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. or its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
