Business Objects Eases Workflow

The company this week plans to introduce business-intelligence software that simplifies the setup, tracking and realtime analysis of repetitive business operations. Going by the unwieldy handle of BusinessObjects XI Built for Operational BI, the application is based on the next-generation BusinessObjects XI application. The fruit of the $820 million acquisition of Crystal Decisions, that application merged the services-oriented architecture framework of Crystal Enterprise 10 with the query and analysis strengths of Business Objects.

The newest application helps systems integrators more easily shine a light on customers' internal performance. With it, partners can embed realtime analytics into ERP or manufacturing resource planning applications that oversee an operation and set up procedures that mirror best practices and enable customers to analyze performance.

"This definitely helps us because we're doing a lot of this sort of customization now," said Joseph Guerra, vice president and chief architect of Andrews Consulting Group, a systems integrator in Cheshire, Conn. "Now we no longer have to build it for every customer because it's configurable from Business Objects."

Available now, the application supports a variety of realtime data sources, including Web services, XML data streams, Enterprise Java Beans and .Net objects, making it possible to add business intelligence to other realtime applications. It also includes two new modules—BusinessObjects Process Tracker and Business- Objects Process Analysis.

"It's difficult today to define and codify a decision-centric process," said Lance Walter, Business Objects' vice president of product marketing. "Now we offer Process Tracker, which lets me define the steps, who needs to do what, and what analyses and reports are relevant to make the decision possible." Process Analysis then allows customers to fine-tune the procedures.