Business Objects announced Edge earlier this year as part of a major push into the mid-market, which is a relatively untapped sector of the market for BI query, reporting and analysis tools. From a product standpoint Edge is based on Business Objects former Crystal Decisions software line, which it re-branded earlier this month.
Business Objects already offers Standard and Professional editions in its Edge series. Like its name suggests, Edge Premium, now sits on top of these two editions and enriches the BI platform with performance management tools and applications designed specifically for small and medium sized corporations.
This includes added functionality around dashboards, scorecarding, metrics-based measurement and alerts and ad hoc reporting and analysis. The goal is to allow mid-market firms to grasp the benefits of classic performance capabilities that are normally reserved for large business organizations; for example, assigning accountability, cascading business goals down the enterprise and mapping strategy to business operations.
The Edge software is being sold direct from Business Objects and through its worldwide channels. It is available in 12 languages. Existing Edge customers migrating from lesser versions only have to pay the difference of the list price to upgrade, Business Objects said.
The Premium version of Edge allows us to offer an end-to-end BI solution for our mid-market customers, said Todd Rowe, vice president and general manager, worldwide mid-market business at San Jose, California-based Business Objects.
Like large enterprises, mid-market organizations must also continually evaluate their business needs as they grow and evolve their capabilities and customer base.
