The Week In Review: July 25, 2003

In the news... Business Objects has acquired Crystal Decisions in a deal valued at $820 million. The business intelligence companies say they plan to capitalize on significant growth opportunities resulting from complementary products, channels, and geographic presence. According to a statement from AMR Research, "What at first glance looks like lots of overlapping products and strikingly similar marketing messages masks how these products are really used. The key to success in this marriage will be in accentuating the differences rather than focusing obsessively on the overlaps." Following the Business Objects acquisition, Hyperion announced this week its plans to acquire BI firm Brio. Hyperion says it plans to add Brio's query and reporting capabilities to the Hyperion platform, making its Business Performance Management software even more robust. The deal is valued at $142 million. Hewlett Packard Wednesday announced the acquisition of PipeBeach AB, a Stockholm-based provider of speech-based products and technology that enable the delivery of interactive voice solutions. HP says it plans to integrate PipeBeach's VoiceXML--based products into its OpenCall suite of enhanced telecommunications software. Some good news among the barrage of earnings statements this week, Art Technology Group turned its first profit, bringing in $6 million in net income for the second quarter ended June 30, compared to a net loss of $2.8 million in the second quarter of 2002. Merkle Direct Marketing, a provider of information-based database marketing services, has announced the creation of its Professional Services Group, comprising a team of marketing professionals with database, marketing, and analytical expertise. The group will help to maximize strategic database marketing initiatives for the company's current and future clients by providing both initial and ongoing consultation, personalized training, and by building and managing Knowledge Centers (Merkle's proprietary database marketing solution), the company says. Executive changes... Salesforce.com this week announced the addition of Dr. Steve Garnett to the company's executive team as senior vice president and general manager of the EMEA region. Garnett was most recently head of worldwide alliances at Siebel Systems. Consulting firm Arthur D. Little this week announced new executive appointments for North America. Thomas Manning will assume the managing director role, and director Paul MacKinnon will join the management team as it redefines and expands its presence in Canada, Mexico, and the United States. The NPD Group, a provider of market information, has appointed Evan Neufeld vice president of client development. Prior to NPD Neufeld spent more than eight years with Jupiter Media Metrix, where he most recently served as senior vice president of global research.