Press Release 2008


Information Builders EMEA Partner Program and Customer Successes Skyrocket in 2007


Addition of More Than One Dozen Partners Expands Information Builders’ International Reach and Accelerates Adoption of WebFOCUS and iWay Software Solutions in New Markets

London, UK and New York, NY – January 31, 2008

Information Builders, the leader in production business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced continued growth from its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) Partner Program, which enables partners to deploy WebFOCUS and iWay Software solutions to customers seeking ways to overcome business intelligence and integration barriers. The significant expansion of the program into emerging markets in Africa, South Africa, Russia, and Poland further strengthens and extends Information Builders’ already strong international reach.

“We are responding to the growing demand for business intelligence and integration technologies around the world by delivering technology solutions that help organizations transcend barriers to integrating, capturing, analyzing, and reporting critical business information,” said Gerald Cohen, founder and CEO of Information Builders. “With a top-notch network of partners in place, we have extended Information Builders’ reach into new markets and helped deliver valuable solutions to customers in those territories.”

The Partner Program enables resellers to integrate and/or build products that utilize Information Builders’ industry-leading software offerings, as well as gain access to Information Builders’ education, technical, marketing, and sales resources. The program, led by Vice President of EMEA Partner Program Dave Watson, is designed to help partners accelerate time to market, increase sales opportunities, and drive their own business objectives by taking advantage of the company’s global resources more effectively.

In 2007, Information Builders signed more than one dozen new value-added reseller (VAR) and system integrator (SI) partner companies, greatly expanding the company’s national and regional reach throughout EMEA. New partners include:


“We continue to see the demand for our solutions in markets such as Africa, Eastern Europe, and Russia, and the most effective way to serve these markets is through our partners,” said Watson. “In the second half of 2007, Information Builders visited leading capital cities in Eastern Europe, one of the most exciting emerging markets in the world. We also sponsored IDC Business Intelligence seminars held in Budapest, Bratislava, Prague, Warsaw, and Moscow where more than 650 attendees learned about Information Builders enterprise search and pervasive BI offerings. Attendees ranked Information Builders speakers in the top third of the many presenters, indicating the caliber and sheer relevance of the content presented.”

In addition to gaining more than 30 percent mindshare with organizations across EMEA via partner and conference programs, Information Builders continued to see successful WebFOCUS and iWay customer deployments, including the sampling below - made possible with help from knowledgeable international partners.

Serving Citizens in South Africa
Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) is the economic hub of the Eastern Cape Province. The municipality covers an area of 1,950 square kilometers and has a population of 1.3 million people. NMBM is confronted by growth, high rural/urban migration and an increasing demand for better public services. As part of an IT modernization project, NMBM contracted Fujitsu Services (South Africa), an Information Builders Reseller in the region, to deliver a new billing and CRM solution. The task of integrating the new billing system with 25 other systems ranged from legacy AS400/DB2 applications to a modern Microsoft CRM system.

Developers used iWay Service Manager to replace the existing architecture, with minimal impact on the municipality’s entrenched systems. Next they used iWay DataMigrator to migrate approximately 400 entities from an AS 400/DB2-based billing system to the new Windows/SQL Server-based billing system. Finally, they used WebFOCUS to create a secure billing portal that enables consumers and employees to view account statements, make online payments, and update personal details.

Delivering Financial Data in Russia
GPB-Mortgage is one of the leaders in the Russian financial services industry. When GPB-Mortgage needed operational and analytical information to supply insight and give bank executives timely, accurate information for tactical decision-making, they turned to Information Builders for assistance. Using WebFOCUS, GPB-Mortgage created a BI solution that provides upper management and employees of the Risk department with a sophisticated reporting tool. InfoBuild Russia Consulting helped the bank migrate complex custom SQL code to a WebFOCUS environment and create parameterized reports that replace dozens of static reports. The new reporting solution delivers information to authorized users and provides a scalable solution for the future.

Mining Information in Africa
Anglo Platinum Ltd., based in South Africa, is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum. The mining company has a market capitalization of US$39.2 billion and produces 38 percent of the world’s supply of this precious metal, which is commonly used in jewelry, laboratory equipment, electrical contacts, dentistry, and emissions-control devices. Managers wanted a BI environment that would turn information into a strategic asset and contribute to the profitability and sustainability of the organization. They selected WebFOCUS, Visual Discovery, and the Performance Management Framework for the job and created a self-service application that supports operational, tactical, and strategic reporting.


Über Information Builders
Mit der Kombination von Software für Business Intelligence und Unternehmensintegration hat Information Builders in den letzten 30 Jahren mehr als 12.000 Kunden innovative Lösungen anbieten können. WebFOCUS ist weltweit die am häufigsten verwendete Business-Intelligence-Lösung. Auf jeder Stufe bietet sie global operierenden Unternehmen die benötigte Sicherheit, Skalierbarkeit und Flexibilität. Die Einfachheit von WebFOCUS trägt zum optimalen Aufbau von Anwendungen im Bereich Management, Analyse und im operativen Geschäft bei, welche Dutzende bis Millionen Anwender erreichen. Die Softwaresuite iWay von Information Builders bietet hochmoderne, multifunktionale, vorgefertigte Integrationskomponenten, die alle Anforderungen in den Bereichen SOA, Applikation, Daten- und Informationsverwaltung erfüllen. Ihre Integrationsadapter sind durch führende Softwareplattformanbieter übernommen worden. Zusammen befähigen diese Produkte die Kunden von Information Builders, dem Unternehmensmotto nachzuleben: "Because Everyone Makes Decisions". Zur Kundschaft von Information Builders zählen die meisten Firmen des Fortune-100-Index sowie Ämter und Agenturen der Bundesregierung der USA. Mit Hauptsitz in New York City und 90 Niederlassungen weltweit beschäftigt das Unternehmen 1.450 Mitarbeiter und kooperiert mit mehr als 350 Geschäftspartnern. Weitere Informationen: www.informationbuilders.de

Weitere Informationen
Anja Griebel
Information Builders
Marketing Manager Germany & Switzerland
Frankfurter Straße 92
D-65760 Eschborn
Tel. +49-6196-77576-30
Fax +49-6196-77576-66
E-Mail: anja_griebel@informationbuilders.com
www.informationbuilders.de

Heike Schubert
PR-COM GmbH
Account Manager
Nußbaumstraße 12
D-80336 München
Tel. +49-89-59997-801
Fax +49-89-59997-999
E-Mail: heike.schubert@pr-com.de
www.pr-com.de
Amtsgericht München, HRB-Nummer 114932
Geschäftsführer: Alain Blaes