Users Say New Business Objects Tool Overcomes XI Problems

Computerworld - Some users who passed on the business intelligence tools that Business Objects SA unveiled early this year are planning to move to the next release because it promises to ease administrative burdens and forge closer ties between ERP data and spreadsheets.

The first version of the Business Objects XI platform, which integrates BI software with the reporting tools the company acquired from Crystal Decisions, began shipping late last year.

Some organizations opted to wait for Release 2 because the first one lacked support for full-client query and analysis, according to some users at the company's Insight International User Conference here.

Release 2 is slated to begin shipping before the end of the month.

James Young, senior manager for enterprise business intelligence at Allstate Insurance Co. in Northbrook, Ill., said the insurer plans to begin shifting from Business Objects 6.5 to XI Release 2 during the second quarter of next year. With Version 6.5, the company moved to standardize on San Jose-based Business Object's Web-based query and analysis tools.

"We've been waiting on full client integration ... to put everything on a single server," Young noted.

Release 2 will also allow Allstate to combine server maintenance and load-testing administration teams, he added.

The Clarks Companies NA, a Newton, Mass.-based footwear company, is just now in the final stages of rolling out Business Objects 6.5, the version before XI, said Stephen Katsirubas, vice president of information systems.

Clarks plans to begin upgrading to XI Release 2 in the spring of 2006 because of its ability to manage full-client and Web-based tools on one server, Katsirubas said. In addition, Release 2 will allow the company to integrate multiple data sources for Web-based query and analysis, he added.

Clarks has between 300 and 350 Business Objects 6.5 users and has launched a pilot project to add 500 users at its 170 retail stores, Katsirubas said.

T. Rowe Price Associates Inc. has been beta-testing XI Release 2 for the past two months. Kipton Barkley, project lead at the Baltimore-based company, said he plans to upgrade from Version 5.1 to XI Release 2 in the first half of next year for one of the company's four proj-ects that use Business Objects' tools.

Barkley said Release 2 will support reporting and analysis for 2,000 users who access a repository of human resources and financial documents from ERP systems.

In addition to full-client support, Barkley said the company likes the new Live Office feature in Release 2, which integrates with Mi-cro-soft Office to allow users to refresh Excel spreadsheets with data from transactional systems.