Building on the success of its Open Appliance Initiative, Business Objects
(Nasdaq: BOBJ) (Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world’s
leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today
announced it has partnered with leaders in the application delivery
space – including Citrix Systems (Nasdaq:
CTXS), rPath, and RightScale - to deliver a Crystal Reports®
Server XI virtual appliance. The new offering is a pre-installed and
pre-configured solution that will help reduce deployment time from days
to minutes. In addition, for the first time, the two companies are
offering customers a chance to instantly evaluate the product through a
virtual ‘test-drive’,
thus eliminating the cost and complexity typically associated with
enterprise software evaluations.
"Today we are introducing a new, radically
simplified way for small and mid-sized organizations to test drive and
deploy the world’s favorite reporting solution,”
said John Schwarz, CEO of Business Objects. "We
have worked closely with Open Appliance Initiative partners Citrix,
rPath, and RightScale to help customers deploy our software more easily
and effectively. With the Crystal Reports Server XI virtual appliance,
our aim is to provide faster time-to-value for mid-market companies and
provide them with the same benefits and business value long enjoyed by
their enterprise counterparts.”
The partnership and collaboration between Citrix Systems and Business
Objects underscores the growing importance of virtualization in the
mid-market. With Citrix’s new line of virtual
appliances based on the XenSource technology, customers with limited IT
resources will be able to easily deploy a Business Objects solution and
take advantage of the tremendous flexibility, security, and cost-saving
benefits that virtualization can provide.
"We are excited to team with Business Objects
to produce a virtualization solution that addresses all application
delivery challenges for organizations of any size or industry,”
said Mark Templeton, president & CEO, Citrix Systems. "We
are now in an enviable position to virtualize, optimize, stream, secure,
and manage any type of application for any customer delivery challenge.” Open Appliance Initiative: Continued Innovation
rPath and RightScale, both members of the OAI, have contributed
significant technology advancements towards the realization of today’s
announcement:
"We transform enterprise applications into
easy-to-use virtual appliances,” said Billy
Marshall, CEO of rPath. "We are thrilled to
partner with companies such as Citrix and RightScale to make these
benefits a reality for Business Objects as they deliver their leading
Crystal Reports Server as a virtual appliance.” "Rightscale is delighted to help Business
Objects enable pushbutton access to run trial versions of Crystal
Reports Server in the cloud,” said Michael
Crandell, CEO of RightScale. "Business
Objects, a pioneer ISV, is realizing the promise of cloud computing with
Rightscale’s ability to launch and manage
virtual software appliances for trial or production use.” Availability
The Crystal Reports Server XI virtual appliance is expected to be
generally available in Q1 2008.
For more information on the Crystal Reports Server XI virtual appliance,
please visit www.rpath.com/crystalreports
for a test drive. For more information on the Business Objects Open
Appliance Initiative, please visit http://www.businessobjects.com/partners/oai/default.asp About Business Objects
Business Objects has been a pioneer in business intelligence (BI) since
the dawn of the category. Today, as the world’s
leading BI software company, Business Objects transforms the way the
world works through intelligent information. The company helps
illuminate understanding and decision-making at more than 44,000
organizations around the globe. Through a combination of innovative
technology, global consulting and education services, and the industry’s
strongest and most diverse partner network, Business Objects enables
companies of all sizes to make transformative business decisions based
on intelligent, accurate, and timely information.
Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris,
France. The company’s stock is traded on both
the
Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB) stock
exchanges. More information about Business Objects can be found at www.businessobjects.com.
Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements
Certain sections of this press release contain forward-looking
statements that are based on assumptions regarding product release dates
and features which will be included. However, these statements are not
guarantees of the date of availability, which may be delayed or
cancelled, or of the availability of features mentioned, which may
be changed or removed prior to release. Statements such as "expected”
or "planned”
denote forward-looking statements, and the word "introduced”
refers to pre-release marketing activities and does not denote general
availability. Forward-looking statements are made pursuant to the safe
harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995, as amended. More information about potential factors that could
affect Business Objects' business is included in Business Objects' Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 2006 and Form 10-Q for the quarter
ended June 30, 2007, each of which is on file with the SEC and available
at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.
All forward looking statements speak only as of the date of this press
release. Business Objects is not obligated to undertake any obligation
to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events,
circumstances or changes in expectations after the date of this press
release.
Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects and
Crystal Reports are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business
Objects in the United States and/or other countries. All other names
mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
