Background - Business Objects (then Crystal Decisions) was the first technology Strafford implemented, back in 1995 for Verizon. We continue to work actively in the technology. Crystal was acquired by Business Objects with most of the original Crystal Reports technology continuing to form the basis for the current Business Objects XI reporting platform. Over the years we have consulted, implemented and trained in various areas of the technology, including Web Intelligence, Universes, Data Integrator and Rapid Marts.
Lack of Financial Intelligence - As Strafford client demands pulled us almost exclusively into Finance, we moved away from the generic BI tools like Crystal and Business Objects. At the time (2002), these products just did not have the functionality to work complex Finance processes such as consolidation or budgeting/forecasting.
Back to the Future - With acqusitions of a mid-market budgeting platform (SRC) and a European-based leader in consolidation (Cartesis), Business Objects reversed course. It seemed that Business Objects would mount a threat to Hyperion in Finance, yet SAP acquired Business Objects (2007) and those dreams have been deferred while SAP organizes its acquisitions.
Related Practice Area
Reporting and Analytics