Business Objects and IBM announced the formation of a strategic alliance, the highest level partner relationship for both companies. The new agreement is aimed at providing support for the thousands of joint Business Objects and IBM customers. In addition, the agreement will position Business Objects and IBM to capture market share in new geographies, industries, and mid-sized businesses looking to embrace information on demand, a method for unlocking and extracting value from information to globalize and integrate their business processes.
As part of the expanded alliance, Business Objects and IBM are increasing investment in the areas of joint solution development, tighter product integration, global industry support, and expansion of the Business Objects Centre of Competency. Building upon the relationship the two companies have developed over the past twelve years.
John Schwarz, CEO of Business Objects, said, "This alliance agreement is a significant step forward in our relationship with IBM, and will help our companies deliver new and innovative solutions to the market. From investments in developing additional industry-specific solutions to new initiatives focused on reaching further into the mid-market, Business Objects and IBM are working closely to enable companies to better use their corporate information to build high-performance organizations. In addition, existing joint customers will benefit from tighter, more seamless integration of their Business Objects and IBM solutions to gain increased return on their investments."
Janette Beauchamp, general manager of global alliance solutions at IBM, stated, "Companies around the world are embracing open standards as they look to unlock and extract value from their data. By combining the strengths of IBM and Business Objects, we are going to deliver powerful Information On Demand solutions, grow in new markets, and provide an unprecedented level of global support to our joint clients."
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