Business Objects announces Crystal Reports Server XI

Business Objects, the world`s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the availability of Crystal Reports Server XI, a packaged reporting solution that includes everything mid-market organisations need to create, deliver and manage reports over the Web.

This new release provides small to medium organisations with a complete reporting platform that helps them to better track, understand and manage their business performance. Crystal Reports Server XI is affordable, fast and simple to deploy, and delivers immediate benefits.

With fewer IT resources, small to medium organisations need a packaged reporting platform they can easily deploy and manage. Crystal Reports Server XI gives these organisations a complete solution that delivers reports over the Web and allows reporting to be embedded within business applications.

With Crystal Reports Server XI, organisations can take advantage of improvements in Crystal Reports XI, the industry`s leading report authoring product (please see press release www.businessobjects.com/releases/crystalreportsxi/), as well as leverage their existing Crystal Reports implementations.

"Price and performance improvements are enabling small and medium businesses to take advantage of technologies that used to be limited to large enterprises," said Mark Thabit, director of product management at CDW Corporation, a Fortune 500 technology solutions provider to businesses and government. "Crystal Reports Server XI will be particularly useful for businesses that have remote offices and want centralised reporting capabilities."

Customers and partners worldwide have praised the release of Crystal Reports Server XI. Customers include: Missouri Department of Elementary Secondary Education, Port of Napier, Remedy Intelligent Staffing, Simon & Schuster, and STAEDTLER Mars GmbH & Co. KG. Partners include: Andrews Consulting Group, ASAP Software, BluDev, CDW Corporation, Connect Distribution, Decision First Technologies, Developer Solutions Ltd., PeopleServices, Result Data, Softcat PLC and Tech Data. To read more, see www.businessobjects.com/releases/crystalreportsxi_customers/ and www.businessobjects.com/releases/crystalreportsxi_partners/.

Crystal Reports Server XI provides organisations with the same reporting capabilities as large enterprises without the cost and complexity of those implementations. This new product offers concurrent access licensing which permits more people to use the reporting platform, and is particularly useful in organisations that need a flexible, lower-cost system that can grow as their reporting needs increase. Crystal Reports Server XI also includes one year of maintenance and technical support to ensure organisations` success and ability to leverage existing Crystal Reports investments.

"Today, Business Objects is the dominant business intelligence provider for small to medium businesses," said Bernard Liautaud, chairman and CEO of Business Objects. "We recognise the importance of the mid-market and are the only BI vendor to deliver a packaged reporting solution that addresses the specific requirements of these organisations. Crystal Reports Server XI makes it easy for small to medium organisations to create, deliver and manage reports."

Crystal Reports Server XI is available now directly from Business Objects and its channel partners. Crystal Reports Server is $7 500 per package. Each package includes five concurrent access licences, one Crystal Reports authoring licence, and one year of maintenance and technical support. More information can be found at www.businessobjects.com.