Walker Interactive Systems Inc has launched its Horizon 3.0 suite of analytic applications, which it claims is the first comprehensive suite of business analysis apps that leverages OLAP technology. The suite consists of three modules, including Performance Analysis, which offers web-enabled reporting and analysis based on OLAP; Planning and Forecasting, which automates planning, forecasting and budgeting at the level of each business unit; and Financial Consolidation, which manages the collection of consolidated results for statutory, management and tax reporting purposes. Horizon integrates data from major ERP and financial applications with data from operational apps to automate business processes and runs on Windows NT, Unix, AS/400 and OS/390 platforms. Walker claims Horizon is unique in that it leverages a single OLAP database through support for OLE/DB for OLAP, allowing it to rely on one consistent source of data. Until now, Walker’s OLAP work had been carried out mainly through a partnership with Arbor Software Corp, which saw Walker’s applications tied to Arbor’s Essbase OLAP server. But Walker chief executive Leonard Liu says the company has also been working with Microsoft Corp and will integrate Horizon with Redmond’s forthcoming Plato OLAP server as soon as it’s ready. The OS/390 support for Horizon is new and comes as a result of Arbor’s yet-to-be-announced agreement with IBM Corp to port Essbase to the OS/390. The support for AS/400 comes as part of a new deal between Walker and ShowCase Corp, with its Essbase/400 engine based on Arbor’s technology. Liu says the deal with ShowCase – which enjoys exclusive distribution rights of Essbase for the AS/400 – effectively gives Walker the only analytical applications offered on AS/400. Liu, who spent 20 years at IBM and assembled the team that developed SQL, figures Horizon’s comprehensive offering is just the thing to lead the 25 year-old- company into the upper echelon of software companies. International Data Corp says the analytic application market will grow to $2.6bn by 2001 and Liu figures that his company should be poised to take about 10% of that, or between $200m – $300m. To that end, the company is also moving away from its traditional direct model sales approach and will rely more on partnerships to help reach more customers. In addition to working with companies such as Arbor and ShowCase, Walker will look to arrangements with consultants and systems integrators to widen its distribution net. Walker recently reported first-quarter revenue of $23.7m, up from $17.1 in the year-ago quarter. 1997 revenues totaled $71.4m, up 14% from the prior year.
á
