Wires: News and Technology for October 29, 2004

Hyperion announced the launch and availability of three new products. Hyperion Essbase 7X, a real-time enterprise analytic infrastructure that is available for both financial and business users, and is designed to allow the analytics that finance departments use to be available to business users in sales, marketing, supply chain and human resources. According to Godfrey Sullivan, president and CEO of Hyperion, Hyperion Essbase 7X is the company's most significant analytic software development since the company originally introduced Essbase in 1992. Another new product is Profitability Management, which uses reports, dashboards, advanced analytics, and operational models to help businesses analyze and understand key profitability information like customer-purchasing behaviors and which channels, products, and regions are most profitable. Last, Hyperion announced Hyperion Data Integration Connector, a tool designed to help SAP Business Information Warehouse customers leverage Hyperion Essbase throughout an entire company. This new connector is designed to allow users to obtain snapshots of information in SAP BW for reporting and analytics. WebSideStory announced the launch of the HBX Stream Platform, an application programming interface (API) suite that allows partners to integrate analytics reports into their own applications; Web Visitor Profile API, which allows partners to integrate Web-site behavior and activity information into their online marketing campaigns; and Campaign Creation API, with which partners can automatically establish campaign tracking in the HBX service via their own applications. "Applications in this marketplace are all on their own islands," says Jay McCarthy, vice president of business development at WebSideStory. "Because they are separate applications and they are not fully integrated, it presents a problem with understanding the effectiveness of those applications...and understanding the effectiveness of your marketing mix as a whole, and that's the problem that we're trying to solve." Databeacon announced the availability of Databeacon Analyst, an entry-level application that aims to allow users to design and use self-serve reports on a PC with the .NET framework installed. It can then share static or Microsoft Excel versions of those reports via email. All reports created are fully compatible with: Databeacon Smart Client Standard and Smart Client Professional. ChannelWave announced the release of Commerce Manager, a new Web-based application for managing online commerce operations from site launch through customer service and returns. Retail companies can use Commerce Manager to manage both online and catalog orders from one using this one system. Users can also use ChannelWave to enhance marketing and content management using the application's reporting and business intelligence features. ChannelWave combined the tools of previous applications, including Control Panel and Service Panel, to better integrate Commerce Manager with the ChannelWave 6.1 Partner Relationship Management product. Avaya announced the launch of Avaya Contact Center Express, the company's first multimedia contact-center solution designed solely for medium-size businesses. This new application extends customer service capabilities that would be found at larger companies to midsize organizations, such as being able to take analytic customer data and reference it with marketing data to improve marketing campaigns. Avaya Contact Center Express uses IP telephony to allow for easier use and installation. The software also allows businesses to use IP networks to link distributed workers. Click Commerce announced availability of the Click Commerce 7.5 Business Suite. The new program will combine multiple activities to improve presales, sales, and after-sales service. Some of the new features and activities of Business Suite includes integrating of ordering across multi-channel communications, and improving the customer business transactions and processing of orders and shipping. OneSource Information Services announced two business information offerings. Company Insights and Executive Insights are two add-ons for the OneSource Browser and AppLink products. Both are information modules that use pattern recognition and linguistic technologies to help sales and marketing users gain access to hard-to-find information from unstructured sources. The program helps to uncover information buried within such unstructured text as reports and Web sites. Related article: Gaining a Holistic View of the Customer The hybrid approach to advanced analytics means using both textual and numeric data.