All you have to do is look at the numbers to determine the real market leaders. That`s what Brian Turchin, president and founder of Cape Horn Strategies, set out to do. The result: of the largest 223 publicly traded software companies, only five have a track record of sustained growth and profitability of 10 years or more.
Business Objects, the world`s leading provider of business intelligence software, has recorded 10 consecutive years of growth and profits, and joins a very distinctive group of top performing software companies, including Microsoft, SAP, Kronos and Manhattan Associates.
Turchin, who is writing a book on the strategies used by the world`s most successful software companies, began his research in January 2002, and found at the time that only six software companies had a record of growth and profits for 10 consecutive years or more. When he revisited the study in March 2003, he found that in the space of a year, two companies had dropped off the list, and Business Objects had been added.
"This distinction is a tremendous reflection on the commitment and quality of our employees and customers," said Bernard Liautaud, chairman and chief executive officer of Business Objects. "When we started the company 12 years ago, we introduced the world to a powerful new way to improve business performance, using business intelligence. Since then, the business intelligence industry has grown tremendously, and Business Objects has continued to lead in vision and execution. While competitors have embraced fads that come and go, Business Objects has been rewarded by focusing on the fundamentals: continuous innovation, customer focus, and a commitment to help our customers improve their business performance through business intelligence."
Business Objects, which created the modern day business intelligence industry with the invention of the semantic layer, has always been at the forefront of change and innovation. The semantic layer is the fundamental building block of business intelligence - it translates complex database code into the language of business, allowing non-technical professionals to access and analyse any information that is stored in corporate databases. Business Objects also developed the industry`s first enterprise query, reporting, and analysis solution for the Web with the release of WebIntelligence in 1997, which also allowed the company to pioneer the business intelligence extranet market. Today Business Objects is the de facto standard for extranet solutions, with over 1000 customers that use WebIntelligence to share information over the web with customers, partners and suppliers.
"As other software companies have discovered to their dismay, unlike other more mature industries, long-term success in the software industry is as ephemeral as sand castles on the beach," said Brian Turchin, president and founder of Cape Horn Strategies. "Just when you have succeeded in building a growing, profitable software business, a giant technological wave, or the wake from a competitor`s speed boat, has the potential to sweep away all that you have created. That is why the long-term success of companies like Business Objects is truly remarkable. The company has successfully continued to innovate, delivering the Products and services necessary for long-term growth, but has also developed the discipline and best practices necessary to generate consistent profits as well."
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Cape Horn Strategies is a five-year old management advisory, research and consulting services company focused exclusively on the software industry. The company assists software CEOs in creating long-term, profitable, growing software businesses in a variety of ways : for example, building strong executive leadership teams, investigating market segment growth opportunities, or establishing effective and efficient strategic planning processes. Cape Horn Strategies can be reached at (516) 377 4244.
Business Objects
Business Objects is the world`s leading provider of enterprise business intelligence (BI) solutions. Business Objects enables organisations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company`s solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Popular uses of BI include management dashboards and scorecards, enterprise performance management applications, customer intelligence applications, enterprise reporting, financial reporting, and both customer and partner extranets. These solutions enable companies to gain visibility into their business, acquire and retain profitable customers, reduce costs, optimise the supply chain, increase productivity and improve financial performance.
Business Objects provides the industry`s most integrated business intelligence suite, called BusinessObjects Enterprise 6. This suite includes the industry`s best Web query, reporting, and analysis; the most advanced and complete suite of analytic applications; and the best connectivity to packaged applications.
Business Objects has more than 17 500 customers in over 80 countries. The company`s stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (Euroclear code 12074). It is included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.