December, 2007

In This Issue:


APOS Solutions News is published approximately once a month, to share information about how APOS BI Tools and services are extending the Business Objects platform for companies like yours. If you don’t want to receive future newsletters or would like to add someone else to our email list, visit here.

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http://www.apos.com/Company/SolutionsNewsletter/APOS Solutions News 12-2007.htm?source=nl

 Integration Kit for Microsoft Outlook  |  Download beta version now

Connect to BusinessObjects XI from Microsoft Outlook, with on-line and off-line report viewing, scheduling!

Download and test drive the beta version of the Integration Kit for Microsoft Outlook now! This latest member of the industry leading APOS BI Tools suite enables your Office 2007 users to maximize on your Business Objects investments.

Right from Microsoft Outlook as their Business Objects XI portal, users can:

access and view all authorized Business Objects folders and reports
schedule reports while connected on-line to BusinessObjects XI
schedule reports even while not connected to BusinessObjects XI
view and analyze reports off-line - take reports with you for off-line analysis
Webi, Deski, CR, Office, Xcelsius report formats are supported
schedule or reschedule reports (with parameters)
choose report output format
request notification of scheduling success or failure
request an email with the report instance
automatically ‘refresh’ their local Outlook BI data
download instances and export in multiple formats
choose to zip downloaded files – separately or together in one zip file – password protected

Please visit here for a full feature list and a web demo of the Integration Kit for Microsoft Outlook for BusinessObjects XI Release 2.

To check out for yourself how integrating with Microsoft Outlook can help your organization, please visit here to request evaluation software download instructions and current pricing information.

 Universe Promotion and Management with Object Manager|  Powerful new features added

Powerful new Universe support assists with promotion and management of Universes!

Object Manager enables bulk maintenance of objects (reports, folders, users, groups etc.) - instead of using the Central Management Console one object at a time.

Object Manager is one of the most popular members of the APOS BI Tools suite. Here are some highlights of the most popular features of Object Manager:

User Maintenance - bulk editing

Object Settings - bulk editing

Security and limits management - bulk editing

User preferences management - bulk editing

Report Promotion - powerful enhancement

We're now seeking beta sites for some powerful new capabilities related to managing your BOE Universes, here's an overview of the new features . . .

BOE Universe Promotion

• promote Universes from another BOE system
• promote Universes from an external file

• preserve Universe folder structure while promoting

change a Universe's data connection on the target system while promoting

BOE Universe Management

• change Universes to work with different data connections
• add, delete, or modify Universe connections
• manage the folder structure the Universes are using and move Universes from folder to folder

Please visit here for a full feature list and a web demo of Object Manager for BusinessObjects XI Release 2.

To check out how Object Manager can help your organization, please visit here to request evaluation software download instructions and our current price list.

Integration Kit for crystalreports.com Now Available by Subscription |  Expanding relationship

Business Objects signs as global Reseller for the APOS Integration Kit for crystalreports.com

Based on a recently signed agreement, the APOS Integration Kit for crystalreports.com can now be purchased from Business Objects as a subscription service directly from crystalreports.com.

"This is another exciting step forward for the APOS team; it demonstrates, yet again, the solid value that APOS solutions bring to the Business Objects XI platform. Customers worldwide can now integrate their in-house Business Objects systems directly with crystalreports.com on a monthly subscription basis." said Dan Clements, President of APOS Systems.

"APOS is a trusted partner that's been extending the Business Objects platform for many years. Reselling the capabilities of the new APOS Integration Kit for crystalreports.com will help Business Objects fill a real customer need," said Jesse Sims, Global Director, Technology Partner Program, Business Objects.

Here are some highlights about available 'Schedule and Publish to crystalreports.com' capabilities:

• specify crystalreports.com destination folder when scheduling from XI InfoView

• publish Crystal Reports in any supported format, or native format

• publish Web Intelligence reports in any supported format or native format
• publish Desktop Intelligence reports as XLS, PDF, RTF, TXT, HTML
• use InfoView's 'send to' feature to publish existing files of these types: RPT, WID, PDF, XLS, TXT, RTF, DOC, SWF, PPT
• any XI Release 2 user or user group can receive notification of publishing success or failure
• security 'right to publish to cr.com' can be controlled by an XI Release 2 user group
• choose to keep historical versions of crystalreports.com reports or overwrite them

• groups of reports can be scheduled in a batch, directly to crystalreports.com

Visit here to view a short web demo and learn more information about the Integration Kit for crystalreports.com.

To check out how this great new solution can help your organization, please visit crystalreports.com to request evaluation software download instructions and current pricing information.

APOS BI Tools Trademark News|  Increasing our profile worldwide

Click for APOS BI Tools Webinar RegistrationAPOS authorized to use 'APOS BI Tools' as a company trademark.

"We've worked hard to gain recognition for the APOS BI Tools suite of solutions over many years. Our success is demonstrated by the over 650 Business Objects customers who have purchased APOS BI Tools, from over 28 countries worldwide."

"With this recent regulatory approval, APOS BI Tools is an official corporate trademark; a great step for APOS as we continue to develop and support innovative extensions for the Business Objects platform, " said Dan Clements, President of APOS Systems.

Case Study|  Pfizer

Click for APOS BI Tools Webinar Registration"Pfizer deployed Archive Manager to take completed Instances out of the enterprise. We scheduled it to run every week, on x-days aging schedule. Archive Manager maintains a short user response time while allowing users to retrieve historical instances from disk when required."

…Ron Gladski, BI Architect/Analyst, Pfizer

Tools Used:
Archive Manager for Business Objects XI R2.

Background:
Pfizer is the world’s largest research-based biomedical and pharmaceutical company. Their corporate headquarters are located in New York, with major research and development locations in the United States and England.

Challenge:
Pfizer was looking to prevent excessive instance growth in their BusinessObjects XI R2 system. Pfizer's server handles approximately 1,400 recurring jobs. The number of completed instances grows rapidly each week, quickly consuming disk space and progressively hampering response times in the enterprise system. In Pfizer’s quest to continually improve the way they do business they contacted APOS Systems for a solution.

Solution:
Pfizer purchased the APOS Archive Manager to prevent excessive Instance growth which slows performance in InfoView.

"I continue to recommend the APOS Archive Manager product to my colleagues," stated Ron Gladski, BI Architect/Analyst. "Pfizer is realizing time savings, improved performance and system management," continued Ron.

Why APOS?
When asked about the APOS experience Ron said, "My experience with APOS Systems has been positive all around. The APOS support team is always quick to respond and provides excellent support."

Visit here to view this case study in full and other APOS case studies.

Contact apos@apos.com to have your company featured in an APOS Case study.

 APOS BI Tools Overview Webinar  |  Learn more about current APOS solutions

Click for APOS BI Tools Webinar RegistrationWebINAR - Tuesday, December 11

Join us for a webinar covering an overview of the APOS BI Tools suite for the BusinessObjects XI platform.

The main purpose of this webinar is to provide high level information to help you better assess the range of current solutions available. Learn how APOS BI Tools can help you leverage and extend the value of your business intelligence investment.

Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007
Time:
8am PDT, 11am EDT, 4pm BST

Speakers:
Allan Pym, VP Sales - Eastern Region, APOS Systems Inc.
Warren Kobbeltvedt, VP Sales - Western Region, APOS Systems Inc.

 APOS BI Tools Suite  |  Extend BusinessObjects XI Without Custom Development

One of our challenges is keeping our customers and colleagues current on the APOS BI Tools suite as it grows. Visit here to request evaluation software download instructions and our current price list.

Instance Administration and Scheduling . . .

InfoScheduler - power batch scheduling from Microsoft Excel

Instance Manager - administrator power tool for managing instances

Archive Manager - report instance archiving, with restore capability!

Instance Monitor - email notification of failed instances

System Management and Monitoring . . .

Object Manager - report promotion, object & security management

RealTime Monitor - powerful SNMP monitoring & control of servers, with alerts

KPI - metadata for analysis, who's viewing which reports, license analysis, server activity monitoring

RunTime Manager - set availability time windows for Job Servers, Page Servers, etc.

Enhanced Report Distribution . . .

Bursting Manager - burst a large instance into small ones, burst one report to many

Distribution Server - powerful post processing capabilities, zip support, password security and more

Report Package Booster - consolidate reports to password protected pdf/xls and distribute

Application Integration . . .

AddressBook Gateway - integrate Outlook/Exchange with ePortfolio/InfoView 'schedule to email'

Integration Kit for ESRI GIS - two-way integration between Business Objects and ESRI GIS

Integration Kit for crystalreports.com - schedule Webi, Deski, Crystal Reports to crystalreports.com

Integration Kit for Microsoft Outlook - connect to BusinessObjects XI from Outlook, offline report viewing

Miscellaneous Tools . . .

Add-In Wrapper for BusinessObjects XI Release 2 - Crystal Reports Add-In menu fast track integration

Processing Extension RAD - fast track processing extension development

View Time Security - row level data security without C++ development

Dynamic Parameters - SQL-based, user-specific pick lists, cascading parameters *CE10 and prior

Subscription Manager - allow users to manage their own report subscription *CE10 and prior

Custom Development for Unique Requirements 

If you have a unique reporting system requirement, let us know. We love to work on special projects and regularly save our customers a lot of time and money by using APOS BI Tools as a fast-track foundation for a specific customized solution.


Head Office: 1118-100 Conestoga College Blvd, Kitchener, Ontario, Canada N2P 2N6
Tel: 519.894.APOS(2767) - Fax: 519.894.1891
Help Desk: 519.894.APOS(2767) Ext. 1

Branch Office: 35447 McKee Road, Abbotsford, BC, Canada V3G 3E4
Tel: 604.864.0766 - Fax: 604.864.4291

 Email: apos@apos.com - Web: www.apos.com

This newsletter is published approximately 12 times a year. If you don’t want to receive future newsletters or would like to add someone else to our email list, visit here. If you have any compliments or suggestions, we welcome those too! This newsletter was sent to: {EMAIL}

(c)2007 APOS Systems Inc. All rights reserved. APOS BI Tools is a registered trademark of APOS Systems Inc. The Business Objects logo, Business Objects, Crystal Reports, Xcelsius, WebIntelligence and Desktop Intelligence are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects and its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.