New Migration Tool - Seagate Info to Crystal Enterprise *New The just released Crystal Data Source Migration Wizard allows you to migrate reports that are based on Crystal queries, dictionaries, and InfoViews to a Crystal Enterprise 10 deployment. You migrate two types of objects: reports and data sources. The wizard converts the data source of each report into an object that is usable in Crystal Enterprise, and then resets the data source location of the report to point to the new object. The result is that you are able to make use of the new features of Crystal Enterprise 10, while keeping the functionality of the reports and data sources from your Info installation. By migrating your reports, you can take advantage of the new features that are offered by Crystal Enterprise 10 while maintaining the functionality of the reports and data sources from your Info installation. Visit here to download this valuable new tool from Business Objects. Some aspects of migrating from Seagate Info to Crystal Enterprise are still challenging, even with this new migration tool. APOS has the tools and experience to assist. Visit here to request additional information on Seagate Info migration services available from APOS Systems. Business Objects Data Integrator *ETL Tool to Migrate and Consolidate Data Data Integration products extract data from disparate sources, transform, and load it into data marts and warehouses. Delivering data in batch and real time, enterprise-class data integration helps accelerate BI deployments and provides metadata management and impact analysis across the BI environment. Data Integrator 6.5 is a comprehensive, high-performance ETL tool from Business Objects that meets the complex data integration requirements of your most demanding data warehousing projects. Data Integrator features automatic code generation that is specific to each application it accesses (e.g., ABAP for SAP R/3, optimized SQL for PeopleSoft, automatic data type conversions for J.D. Edwards, Flexfields from Oracle Applications, etc). Data Integrator Designer gives data analysts the ability to easily create batch and real-time data flows by using data objects-tables, views, PeopleSoft trees, SAP R/3 hierarchies, XML Schemas, and more-in a single workspace. The powerful visual mapping and transformation logic of Data Integrator can specify how data should be integrated across enterprise systems. Data Integrator also provides a wide range of pre-packaged functions and transformations that are essential to the rapid development of data integration or data warehouse projects. Data Integrator can save you time by making many common, yet complex, transformations available in a single step. For example, imagine you have a data source containing financial information where "months" data is stored in columns while "accounts" data is stored in rows. With the reverse pivot transformation, you can easily transpose the data so that each account code is stored as a column, leaving one row of data for each month. This transformation makes the information more accessible for SQL-based queries. To review the April 6, 2004 Business Objects press release, visit here. We’d like to discuss how Data Integrator can assist your organization, please visit here to request additional information.
Business Objects Update *Crystal & Business Objects Roadmap Analysis Industry acceptance of the Business Objects roadmap for integrating the Crystal product line has been very good. Here are some industry reactions: Current Analysis AMR Research Report Bloor Research Report Case Studies *Success Stories As you may know, APOS Systems is focused on working with customers to fulfill their information requirements through implementation of Enterprise Reporting and Business Intelligence solutions. Below is a condensed version of the case study of one such customer scenario. Please contact us to discuss the impact such a solution could have on the effectiveness and profitability of your organization.
Case Study - Kao Professional Salon Services   "The ability to drill down on the general ledger and get right down to the gritty data is crucial; it's very powerful and allows us to really understand the nuts and bolts of our distribution business," . . . Tom Johnston, CFO

"We chose APOS because they took the time to understand our needs before selling to us."

. . . Tom Johnston, CFO

Tools Used:

Crystal Enterprise 8.5, Crystal Analysis 8.5, Seagate Info 7.5

Background:
A leading distributor of hair care products, Kao Professional Salon Services (KPSS) brings such well known lines as Goldwell and KMS to salons across Canada and the USA. With 33 salespeople in Ontario and British Columbia, each with 200-300 customers, KPSS handles a high volume of orders and needed an effective way to maximize their distribution network and analyze their data quickly.

Business Issue:
To meet the management and operational demands of the business, KPSS concluded that their existing ERP system lacked sufficient reporting detail in sales and financial analysis, as well as inventory and supply chain management. With approximately 50 users needing report data, it was imperative to find a scalable system to push timely, accurate and detailed data out to the sales and management staff.

Solution:
KPSS chose APOS Systems Inc. as their technology partner to help them implement a vastly improved information reporting and delivery system using Crystal and Seagate Info tools, while cost-effectively retaining existing ERP components. "We chose APOS because they took the time to understand our needs before selling to us," says CFO, Tom Johnston. This solution, now operational in their Canadian Headquarters, addresses these key business reporting areas:

• It tracks a variety of sales, inventory, and general ledger metrics, giving sales personnel, data analysts and management staff an easy-to-understand view of operational information that they can take action on.

• It gives management staff key performance indicators to focus on, with the ability to drill down to specifics in the general ledger.
• It provides tight integration with Microsoft Excel, allowing for easy customization of reports by end-users.

KPSS has also developed a monthly scorecard from reports provided by Crystal. This scorecard allows them to quickly see a complete snapshot of their business, allowing them to immediately focus on any areas of concern while at the same time building on their strengths and successes. By streamlining their financial reporting, KPSS can now effectively analyze the strength of their profit centres, cost centres and various market P & L. Having this detailed information also makes it possible for KPSS to immediately work on any areas of concern before they become major problems. "The ability to drill down on the general ledger and get right down to the gritty data is crucial; it's very powerful and allows us to really understand the nuts and bolts of our distribution business," says Tom Johnston.

APOS Systems Inc. played a pivotal implementation role in this solution by ensuring that the data and information were delivered through Crystal Enterprise. Key technical accomplishments included creating the data warehouse, importing legacy ERP data, setting up the Data Transformation Services, creating the multi-dimensional cubes -- one GL cube for each company and one Sales cube for Canada -- automating the load process for refreshing the cubes, designing and developing the reports, and establishing the infrastructure for both "push" and web deployment of the information. In fact, the new implementation reduced the time for refreshing the cubes from two hours to only twenty minutes. "This is absolutely unbelievable," says Gris Liddie, a Data Analyst at KPSS.

Results:
This solution gives the different KPSS constituents data and information quickly. For example, this immediacy has given sales staff more confidence in their daily interaction with customers (and mobile sales staff can take up-to-date reports in their laptops). The ability to export reports to the sales team in Excel format has proven to be an important feature for KPSS, our users are already familiar with Excel and can design and edit their own reports in Excel format with little or no training. With better analysis for all staff, the APOS-Crystal Enterprise solution empowers KPSS sales staff to sell more, and KPSS management staff to address business issues quickly.

To read the full KAO Case Study or view others, visit here.

This session involves a presentation supported by a customer panel. The customer panel participants represent companies utilizing APOS Add-In software solutions to enhance their Crystal Enterprise reporting systems. The customer panel participants will provide information about how they are using APOS Add-In software, their business case for doing so, and answer questions from the audience.

On-Line Solutions Presentations *Web Demos

Find out more about the Enterprise Reporting and Business Intelligence solutions from Business Objects by attending one of the online presentation times shown below, or contact us to arrange a presentation specifically for you and your company associates . . .

12:00 noon EST

June 1, 2004

1:00 PM EST

3:00 PM EST

12:00 PM EST