In This Issue:

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

Processing Extension RAD - fast track processing extension development

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

After many months of design and development, we're thrilled about our new web site that is now on line. If you haven't visited our web site recently, please do so.

We've tried for a totally new look with a structure that makes it easy for our customers as well as first-time site visitors to find their way around. Have a look for these key features:

Case Studies - almost every page includes a comment reference from an APOS customer, linked to a detailed full case study.

Publications - a wealth of publications are now available in a dedicated section, publications that go beyond our own APOS material.

Search - look for information of interest on our whole site using any keyword or expression.

Freeware - easy access to 'no-charge' enhancements to your Crystal Enterprise or BusinessObjects XI system.

Self-Service Portal - technical support for customers and those evaluating APOS BI Tools - search our knowledgebase for support advice or create a support case on-line.

Events - an update on our webinars, seminars or plans for participation in user groups.

Visit today and have a look around!

This new logo is just one part of our ongoing efforts to create and expand a solid, professional, recognized suite of products to extend your business intelligence investment.

We appreciate the support of all our customers, we continue to be encouraged and inspired by the positive feedback from organizations using APOS BI Tools to extend and maximize their business intelligence investment.

Bursting Manager uses dynamic business rules to burst one large report instance into individual small ones OR burst one report to many instances.

Some powerful new features are now included . . .

Background:

As the largest independent office products dealer in Canada, Basics Office Products is the industry leader in customer satisfaction through account set-up, maintenance and fulfillment. With 230 employees, 6,000 stock items, and a 98.8% fill rate, Basics Office Products is keenly aware of the needs of its many commercial customers-the company is very strong in a number of vertical business segments from the automotive industry to institutional organizations. A key factor of Basics Office Products’ success is its outstanding response to customer needs.

Challenge:

• Restructure the legacy system to improve the content, quality and accessibility of reports

• Focus on a future predictive model

Basics Office Products succeeds because its customers know that they can get delivery the next day. But with growth comes greater complexity: managing personnel, managing stock, catering to special customer needs. Clearly, its forward-thinking management team realized that the company simply could not tolerate delays or miscues and that its present legacy system would not let it sustain its outstanding responsiveness. Management was eager for a vastly improved reporting solution. And management has also sets its sight on developing a predictive model that will allow it to manage its personnel in ways that will minimize operational risks. That is, Basics recognizes the importance of the link between outstanding customer responsiveness and the different facets of business intelligence technologies.

Solution:

Research told Basics that Crystal Enterprise offered the solution they needed. To make the process more effective, Frank Klatecki set up a team to draw upon different knowledge and skill sets-Judy Wiens, who as Director of Finance brought a tremendous amount of knowledge of the legacy system and Matt Brem, a VB programming expert from the Information Technology group. Together, this team began to scope out the problems. 

“We certainly have data. But our ability to access the wealth of data in our legacy systems was not as transparent as we wanted it to be,” said Mr. Klatecki. “So we chose the Crystal Enterprise platform and Crystal Reports to transform this data into a vastly improved delivery and reporting solution. Of course, we faced many hurdles in this migration, not only in extracting the data from the legacy systems, but also in harnessing the sophisticated features of Crystal Enterprise and Crystal Report. So, it made sense then to work with consultants who were recognized to be Crystal experts,” he added. 

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

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

Distribution Server - email link, email content, failure notification, distribute on alert

Subscription Manager - allow users to manage their own report subscription

Row Level Security . . .

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