Beta users of BusinessObjects version 4.0 indicate that the new version could very well give it back the technology lead and propel even faster its already double-digit rate of growth. Some integrators and users acknowledge that Business Objects’ fundamental technology varies little from that of its principal competitor, Cognos Inc. But BusinessObjects’ greater simplicity of use and training, its leading installed base and its ease of integration with Oracle and other databases bode well for a future of solid growth. In fact, every integrator, value-added reseller and user interviewed in the US, Germany, France, and the UK said it is this simplicity that keeps Business Objects ahead of its competitors because, in the end, it is the end-user’s choice that makes the sale. Business Objects’ greatest strength is how it hides the technical pieces from the end user, said a human resources manager at a US-based pharmaceutical company. Said the technical manager at the French subsidiary of paper manufacturer Arjo Wiggins SA, We showed our users Cognos’ Impromptu and BusinessObjects and they chose BusinessObjects. We have eight posts licensed, but between 30 and 40 people use them; the demand is so great. Despite some considerable work involved at the beginning, the paper manufacturer said, We came in under budget because we expected to need more external services than we did.

Autonomous

He added that they were largely up and running three months after starting the project. Another manager at a petroleum company subsidiary said that one of its managers, after three days’ training at Business Objects, was fully autonomous and trained all of the other users. Without a doubt, all of the Business Objects customers interviewed said they were enlarging their installations. Five users in France, for example, each cited increases of up to 20-fold in the next two to three years. Said Pierre Touton, finance manager for Shell subsidiary Wavin sa, which will expand its Business Objects user community from 15 to between 250 and 300 by January: We originally saw BusinessObjects as an upper management tool to see what’s going on in the company. Now we want to extend it to everyone else in the company, by defining the appropriate user profiles for them. We liked it in the tests, said one German customer, and now we’re getting ready to use it throughout the company. While he could not say for sure how many units he would buy, he estimated a growth within this year from 50 to over 300 users. Sources were split over the limitations of the reporting tool in the current version of Business.1.1. Several US sources criticized it and one UK source used Holistic Systems’ Holos tool for some reporting functions instead of Business Objects, where a multi-dimensional approach was required. The reporting pieces are weak, said the personnel manager. There’s not a lot of functionality. It’s minimal, archaic – arithmetic, sums, minima, maxima, and maybe standard deviation. However, a leading UK Business Objects value-added reseller, who made a two-year evaluation of all end-user query tools, including Cognos, Software AG and Oracle, said Business Objects provides the best integral report writer for the financials, as well as the best way of accessing information from a data warehouse.

By Marsha Johnston

I’m in no doubt that it is still easily the best thing on the market and the next version will keep it way ahead of the competition. In any case, version 4.0 has both users and business partners excited. Most importantly, Version 4.0 provides the on-line analytical processing, multi-dimensional drilling down capability that the previous version lacked, moving Business Objects ahead of Cognos, which has had success with its multi-dimensional version of Powerplay. They’ve beefed up the OLAP-type tool. There’s incredible drill-down capability. I haven’t thoroughly tested it yet, but others here are very excited and extremely positive. We’ll upgrade this year, said one US user. Damien Poulain, data warehouse manager at French nuclear energy concern CEA-Industrie, which has beta-tested Version 4.0, said, It’s a revolution, or at the very least an enormous evolution. Business Objects is the first to market with a product that can change the analytical parameters from a personal computer without the intervention of IT. It provides enormous gains in productivity. With version 4.0, they’ve got another advance on their competitors. [Version 4.0] will increase synergy with our products, said a US computer manufacturer executive. It allows caches of mini hyper-cubes on the client, directly fed from mining tools and relational databases. There is multi-dimensional capability. Version 4.0 moves the ball ahead for Business Objects over Cognos. Another improvement in version 4.0 is two modules for data processing professionals – Designer and Supervisor – rather than the single Manager module of version 3.1.1. Designer enables them to define universes of data while Supervisor lets them create user profiles. One of Business Objects’ most formidable strengths is its near-native compatibility with Oracle’s database and Financials. Said one French telecommunications user, who reflected the experience of others, We looked at other competitors to BusinessObjects, but those were the least extensive studies considering that BO was the natural extension to Oracle Financials. Noting that Oracle was the first system for BusinessObjects, a manager from French systems integrator Univers Informatique said Between BusinessObjects and Oracle, there is not a single problem of communication. It does not seem to have much problem with other databases either. Thierry Chatenet, systems integration marketing programs manager for DEC Europe, says Their tools are capable of searching through a variety of different databases and environments and presenting the data in a professional way. Others don’t have the same multi-dimensional, integrated approach. One German customer, who ran tests of both Business Objects Pathfinder and Report Generator against Cognos’s Impromptu said the products were almost identical, but only Business Objects could access information stored in a DB2 database. Cognos promised this but Business Objects really achieved it… so we decided to buy Business Objects. Only Red Brick Systems Inc showed more compatibility with Cognos than with Business Objects.

Personal favorite

A Red Brick manager said that Cognos adjusts its beta code prior to each new release from his company, which comes every six months, whereas Business Objects does not. He said the difference makes it difficult to recommend Business Objects, while adding that his personal favourite is Brio for its ease of use. Business Objects was found to have important technological links with other applications and databases that are critical to making a data warehouse operation work. Sources cited its ease of integration with Microsoft Corp’s Windows and Office. And the Arjo-Wiggins manager noted that the next version of Ross Systems Inc’s CS Renaissance financial application will include pre-defined Business Objects universes to make it even easier and faster to link the two systems. Finally, Business Objects’ larger installed base gives the company a critical edge over its competition. Customers said that switching to another vendor in mid-stream is out of the question, even if the competition had improved such that the decision made again might be different. Once you buy such a tool you are heavily committed. It’s a three- to five-year investment – minimum, noted a UK source. A German banking industry value-added reseller also noted that German banks now think of Business Objects as a strategic decision and that, once convinced, it’s a relationship for the long term.