Crystal Decisions
Encyclopedia
Crystal Decisions is the name of a company that was known for its Business intelligence
products.
The company was formed when hard disk manufacturer Seagate Technology
acquired Holistic Systems and Crystal Services with the intention of pursuing better profit margins in the software market. Holistic Systems had a wide range of sales offices, infrastructure and the Holos
OLAP
product, whilst Crystal Services had good OEM
deals for the Crystal Reports
database reporting product that they had written. The first new product from the combined company was Seagate Info, which later evolved to become known as Crystal Enterprise
. Crystal Analysis
followed as an OLAP client.
The company's structure reflected its heritage, with OLAP
technologies being developed out of the former Holistic Systems R&D site in Ipswich
, Suffolk
, England
and Relational Database technologies being developed out of the former Crystal Services R&D centre in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
.
Crystal Decisions was acquired by Business Objects
in December 2003. As part of this acquisition, the former Research and Development site in Ipswich
, Suffolk
, England
, was closed with a loss of about 80 jobs in order to centralize development in Vancouver
and Paris
, with the support for the Holos
product being outsourced to Raspberry Software
based near Ipswich.
The Holos
product line has now ceased.
Business Objects has since been purchased by SAP (March 2008).
(November 2009) Several of the founding members of Crystal Decisions have returned to the Business Intelligence
arena, launching Indicee, a SaaS
BI venture headquartered in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
The former Crystal Decisions members involved in this new venture include Terry Cunningham, Mark Cunningham, Craig Todd and Fred Tummonds.
Business intelligence
Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
products.
The company was formed when hard disk manufacturer Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology
Seagate Technology is one of the world's largest manufacturers of hard disk drives. Incorporated in 1978 as Shugart Technology, Seagate is currently incorporated in Dublin, Ireland and has its principal executive offices in Scotts Valley, California, United States.-1970s:On November 1, 1979...
acquired Holistic Systems and Crystal Services with the intention of pursuing better profit margins in the software market. Holistic Systems had a wide range of sales offices, infrastructure and the Holos
Holos
Holos is an influential OLAP product of the 1990s. Developed by Holistic Systems in 1987, the product remained in use until around 2004.-Conception:...
OLAP
OLAP
In computing, online analytical processing, or OLAP , is an approach to swiftly answer multi-dimensional analytical queries. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining...
product, whilst Crystal Services had good OEM
OEM
OEM means the original manufacturer of a component for a product, which may be resold by another company.OEM may also refer to:-Computing:* OEM font, or OEM-US, the original character set of the IBM PC, circa 1981...
deals for the Crystal Reports
Crystal Reports
-External links:*****Reviews:****...
database reporting product that they had written. The first new product from the combined company was Seagate Info, which later evolved to become known as Crystal Enterprise
Crystal Enterprise
Crystal Enterprise is the Business Objects server-based delivery platform for Crystal Reports and Crystal Analysis originally developed by Crystal Decisions....
. Crystal Analysis
Crystal Analysis
Crystal Analysis is an On Line Analytical Processing application for analysing business data originally developed by Seagate Software....
followed as an OLAP client.
The company's structure reflected its heritage, with OLAP
OLAP
In computing, online analytical processing, or OLAP , is an approach to swiftly answer multi-dimensional analytical queries. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining...
technologies being developed out of the former Holistic Systems R&D site in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Relational Database technologies being developed out of the former Crystal Services R&D centre in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Crystal Decisions was acquired by Business Objects
Business Objects (company)
SAP Business Objects is a French enterprise software company, specializing in business intelligence . Since 2007, it has been a part of SAP AG. The company claimed more than 46,000 customers worldwide in its final earnings release...
in December 2003. As part of this acquisition, the former Research and Development site in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, was closed with a loss of about 80 jobs in order to centralize development in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
and Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, with the support for the Holos
Holos
Holos is an influential OLAP product of the 1990s. Developed by Holistic Systems in 1987, the product remained in use until around 2004.-Conception:...
product being outsourced to Raspberry Software
Raspberry Software
Raspberry Software is a software company based near Ipswich in Suffolk, England which in the past offered support for legacy applications, currently it develops software for mobile devices....
based near Ipswich.
The Holos
Holos
Holos is an influential OLAP product of the 1990s. Developed by Holistic Systems in 1987, the product remained in use until around 2004.-Conception:...
product line has now ceased.
Business Objects has since been purchased by SAP (March 2008).
(November 2009) Several of the founding members of Crystal Decisions have returned to the Business Intelligence
Business intelligence
Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
arena, launching Indicee, a SaaS
Saas
SAAS is an abbreviation for* Social Accountability Accreditation Services* Software as a service * Student Awards Agency for Scotland* Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences* South Australian Ambulance Service...
BI venture headquartered in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
The former Crystal Decisions members involved in this new venture include Terry Cunningham, Mark Cunningham, Craig Todd and Fred Tummonds.
External links
- Indicee Website
- Sys-Con Media Article, December 17th, 2009
- TechCrunch Article November 4th 2009
- Press Release July 2003 - Business Objects to Acquire Crystal Decisions