Business Objects announced the general availability of Business Objects Crystal Decisions, Standard Edition.
The first offering from a new line of products that target the specific needs of mid-size companies, Crystal Decisions is designed to introduce companies to the benefits of intelligent reporting, ad hoc query and analysis, and dashboards.
The announcement is part of an expanded focus from Business Objects on delivering affordable BI solutions for mid-market companies – those companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenues or fewer than 2,500 employees.
The standard edition is currently available from Business Objects channel partners starting at US$20,000 for five concurrent users on a single Windows or Linux server.
The business intelligence needs of mid-sized companies are very similar to those of larger, enterprise companies. However, these companies typically have smaller budgets and fewer technical resources. Most BI companies have approached the mid-market by reducing the price of their enterprise solutions by turning off some of the features and functionality.
With the new Business Objects Crystal Decisions product line, the company said it is providing mid-market companies with all the features of the enterprise-class BusinessObjects XI platform, but at a lower price and with streamlined deployment configurations to speed implementation.
The product includes: ad hoc reporting, query and analysis, live data in Microsoft environments, dashboards and visualizations and an open BI platform.
Todd Rowe, vice-president and general manager of worldwide mid-market business at Business Objects, said with more than 30,000 small and mid-sized customers, Business Objects has a clear understanding of the unique business intelligence needs of the mid-market. Crystal Decisions delivers a holistic platform to address the full spectrum of business intelligence needs in the mid-market, the company said, with a low total cost of ownership.
