Business Objects moves forward

Business Objects Inc. is taking a phased approached to its integration of Crystal Decisions, which it acquired in December for $1.2 billion.

The Crystal brand will remain part of the company's product suite, underscored by the delivery last month of new versions of Crystal Reports, Analysis and Enterprise.

Business Objects will also release a new version of its own tools, which include query and analysis, performance management and data integration, in the second quarter of this year.

Business Objects will begin integrating the two product suites soon after the release of BusinessObjects Enterprise 6.5 through distribution of an integration pack. The free software will pull together front-end functionality of the BusinessObjects and Crystal products so, for example, a Crystal report can be published in a BusinessObjects portal.

The second integration phase will begin at the end of 2004, when the company begins developing a common architecture for the combined product suite. By the end of 2005 the company expects to release a fully integrated product.