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Business Objects (BO, BOBJ, or BObjects) was an
enterprise software Enterprise software, also known as enterprise application software (EAS), is computer software used to satisfy the needs of an organization rather than individual users. Such organizations include businesses, schools, interest-based user groups, ...
company, specializing in
business intelligence Business intelligence (BI) comprises the strategies and technologies used by enterprises for the data analysis and management of business information. Common functions of business intelligence technologies include reporting, online analytical pr ...
(BI). Business Objects was acquired in 2007 by German company
SAP AG Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a sepa ...
. The company claimed more than 46,000 customers in its final earnings release prior to being acquired by SAP. Its flagship product was BusinessObjects XI (or BOXI), with components that provide
performance management Performance management (PM) is the process of ensuring that a set of activities and outputs meets an organization's goals in an effective and efficient manner. Performance management can focus on the performance of a whole organization, a d ...
,
planning Planning is the process of thinking regarding the activities required to achieve a desired goal. Planning is based on foresight, the fundamental capacity for mental time travel. The evolution of forethought, the capacity to think ahead, is consi ...
, reporting, query and analysis, as well as enterprise information management. Business Objects also offered consulting and education services to help customers deploy its business intelligence projects. Other toolsets enabled universes (the Business Objects name for a semantic layer between the physical data store and the front-end reporting tool) and ready-written reports to be stored centrally and made selectively available to communities of the users.


History

co-founded Business Objects in 1990 together with , and was chief until September 2005, when he became chairman and chief until January 2008. The concept of Business Objects and its initial implementation came from Jean-Michel Cambot. In 1990, the first customer, Coface, was signed. The company went public on
NASDAQ The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
in September 1994, making it the first European software company listed in the United States. In 2002, the company made ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'' magazine Europe's Digital Top 25 of 2002 and were ''
BusinessWeek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...
'' Europe Stars of Europe. On 7 October 2007,
SAP AG Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a sepa ...
announced that it would acquire Business Objects for $6.8B. As of 22 January 2008, the corporation is fully operated by SAP; this was seen as part of a growing consolidation trend in the business software industry, with
Oracle An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination. Description The word '' ...
acquiring Hyperion in 2007 and IBM acquiring
Cognos Cognos Incorporated was an Ottawa, Ontario-based company making business intelligence (BI) and performance management (PM) software. Founded in 1969, at its peak Cognos employed almost 3,500 people and served more than 23,000 customers in over 1 ...
in 2008. Business Objects had two headquarters in
San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political center of Silicon Valley and largest city in Northern California by both population and area. With a 2020 popul ...
, and
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, France, but their biggest office was in
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
, Canada. The company's stock was traded on both the Nasdaq and Euronext Paris (BOB) stock exchanges.


Legal

On April 2, 2007, a lawsuit from
Informatica Informatica is an American software development company founded in 1993. It is headquartered in Redwood City, California. Its core products include Enterprise Cloud Data Management and Data Integration. It was co-founded by Gaurav Dhillon and Di ...
(inherited by Business Objects from the purchase of Acta Technologies in 2002) resulted in an award of $25 million in damages to Informatica for
patent infringement Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a license. The definition of patent infringement may v ...
. The lawsuit related to embedded data flows with one input and one output. Informatica asserted that the ActaWorks product (later sold by Business Objects as part of Data Integrator), infringed several Informatica patents including US Patent Nos. 6,014,670 and 6,339,775, both titled "Apparatus and Method for Performing Data Transformations in Data Warehousing." Business Objects subsequently released a new version of Data Integrator (11.7.2) which removed the infringing product capability.


Timeline

* 1990: Business Objects launches Skipper SQL 2.0.x. * 1994: Launches BusinessObjects v3.0 and goes public on the NASDAQ in September — the first French software company listed in the United States. * 1996: Enters the OLAP market and launches BusinessObjects v4.0. Bernard Liautaud named one of BusinessWeek's "Hottest Entrepreneurs of the Year." * 1997: Introduces WebIntelligence thin client, which enables shared information across an extranet.Howson, Cindi. ''BusinessObjects: the complete reference.'' RR Donnelley, 2003. * 1999: General Electric (GE) begins working with the company. Business Objects goes public in France on the Premier Marché. Acquires Next Action Technologies. * 2000: Acquires OLAP@Work for approximately $15 million and announces MDX Connect from this acquisition. * 2001: SAP signs an OEM and reseller agreement to bundle Crystal Reports. Acquires Blue Edge Software. * 2001: Signs up its single largest global software licensing transaction with Three, formerly known as Hutchison 3G. Transaction was led by Edwin Moore Momife and Jon Stubbington of the UK Company. * 2002: Acquires Acta Technologies. Bernard Liautaud named to Business Week's "Stars of Europe," and the company is named one of the "100 Fastest Growing Tech Companies" by Business 2.0.
Informatica Informatica is an American software development company founded in 1993. It is headquartered in Redwood City, California. Its core products include Enterprise Cloud Data Management and Data Integration. It was co-founded by Gaurav Dhillon and Di ...
files a lawsuit against Acta, claiming patent rights infringement. * 2003: Acquires
Crystal Decisions Crystal Decisions (previously known as ''Seagate Software Information Management Group'') was a company that was known for its business intelligence products. The company was formed when hard disk drive manufacturer Seagate Technology acquired Ho ...
for $820 million. Business Objects releases Dashboard Manager, BusinessObjects Enterprise 6, and BusinessObjects Performance Manager. * 2004: Debuts new combined company with the slogan, "Our Future is Clear, Crystal Clear." Launches Crystal v10 and BusinessObjects v6.5. * 2005: Launches BusinessObjects XI. Acquires SRC Software, Infommersion, and Medience. Launches BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2. * 2006: Business Objects acquires Firstlogic, Inc and Nsite Software, Inc. * 2006: Acquires ALG Software (formerly Armstrong Laing Group). Launches Crystal Xcelsius, which allows users to transform Microsoft Excel spreadsheet data into interactive Flash media files. * 2007: Continuing its string of acquisitions, Business Objects acquires Cartesis and
Inxight Inxight Software, Inc. was a software company specializing in visualization, information retrieval and natural language processing. It was bought by Business Objects in 2007; Business Objects was in turn acquired by SAP AG in 2008. Founded in 199 ...
. * 2007: In October,
SAP AG Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a sepa ...
's Chief Executive
Henning Kagermann Henning Kagermann (born 12 July 1947) is a German physicist and businessman. He was the former chairman of the Executive Board and Chief Executive Officer of SAP. Early life and education Born in Braunschweig, Kagermann studied physics in Brau ...
announced a $6.8 billion deal to acquire Business Objects. * 2008: In January, SAP absorbs all of Business Objects' offices, and renames the entity "Business Objects, an SAP company". Following the acquisition of Business Objects by SAP, the founder and CEO of Business Objects, Bernard Liautaud, announces his resignation. * 2009: Business Objects becomes a division of SAP instead of a separate company. The portfolio brand "SAP BusinessObjects" was created. Some former Business Objects employees now officially work for SAP.


References


External links


SAP BusinessObjects portfolio
{{DEFAULTSORT:BusinessObjects (Company) Software companies established in 1990 Software companies of France SAP SE acquisitions 2008 mergers and acquisitions Data visualization software Business software companies Big data companies Extract, transform, load tools Data analysis software Business intelligence companies Data companies Data warehousing products