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For Immediate Release
Crystal Decisions and Ascential Software Announce Marketing Agreement Industry leaders partner to deliver customers a complete end-to-end business intelligence solution PALO ALTO, CA and WESTBORO, MA—August 30, 2001—Crystal Decisions and Ascential Software Corporation (NASDAQ: ASCL) today announced a marketing partnership to provide customers with a complete end-to-end business intelligence solution. Crystal Decisions, a market leader in reporting, analysis and information delivery, and Ascential Software, the leading provider of Information Asset Management solutions, will collaborate to jointly market their business intelligence solutions, which enable customers to increase operational efficiency, improve decisions making capabilities and realize a significant return on their overall business intelligence investment. Crystal Decisions and Ascential Software will initially focus their efforts on SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) customers, enabling those companies in building enterprise data warehouse solutions that integrate data from virtually any source. Customers will then be able to use Crystal Decisions enterprise reporting solutions to easily create, schedule, view and share reports for meaningful analysis to support mission-critical business decisions. "The combination of Ascential’s information asset management solutions and Crystal Decisions’ enterprise reporting solutions will provide customers with a robust business intelligence offering for enterprise applications on the market," said Tim Lang, director of strategic alliances at Crystal Decisions. "Our partnership affords real value to customers looking for an open business intelligence solution that allows them to integrate disparate data systems and deliver decision-making information to end-users." "Ascential is committed to delivering the industry’s most complete business intelligence solution to the Global 2000 by partnering with leading companies, such as Crystal Decisions," said John Terlip, director of business development for SAP at Ascential Software. "We are pleased that Crystal Decisions has joined our Complementary Technology Partner Program to help us make this commitment a reality. By utilizing Crystal Decisions’ enterprise reporting solutions with Ascential’s industry-leading DataStage® data integration solution, customers will be able to integrate data from virtually any source and allow them to easily create, view and share reports for meaningful analysis to support mission-critical business decisions." Ascential’s DataStage is a complete, enterprise data integration infrastructure solution that enables companies to more efficiently manage and utilize their valuable business information. DataStage comprises a set of integrated components for data integration – the extraction, transformation and loading of data from any source to any target system or application – enabling a decision-maker to create customized, useful information based on data regardless of whether it is stored locally or across the enterprise. Ascential Software’s robust meta data management and data quality assurance tools further enhance the value of the information that DataStage creates. DataStage’s data integration capabilities are a key component of Ascential’s Information Asset Management framework that enables customers to turn structured or unstructured data into reliable, reusable information assets to improve operational efficiency and increase customer centricity. Crystal Decisions provides a complete range of solutions that extend the value of reporting with market-leading analytics and the underlying infrastructure that enables organizations to capitalize on their corporate data. From ad hoc query and reporting through to complex analysis, Crystal Decisions’ enterprise information delivery solutions are designed to integrate easily into existing environments for improved business performance. About Crystal Decisions Crystal Decisions, formerly Seagate Software, is a privately held Seagate company owned by a group of investors that include Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group. Crystal Decisions is an information infrastructure company, which provides award-winning reporting, analysis, and information delivery solutions. The company’s world-class products are used by millions of customers in thousands of companies worldwide and include Crystal Analysis, Crystal Enterprise, Crystal Reports and Holos. Crystal Decisions can be found on the Web at www.crystaldecisions.com.About Ascential Software Ascential Software Corporation is the leading provider of Information Asset Management solutions to the Global 2000. Customers use Ascential products to turn vast amounts of disparate, unrefined data into reusable information assets that drive business success. Ascential’s unique framework for Information Asset Management enables customers to easily collect, validate, organize, administer and deliver information assets to realize more value from their enterprise data, reduce costs and increase profitability. Headquartered in Westboro, MA, Ascential has offices worldwide and supports more than 1,800 customers in such industries as telecommunications, insurance, financial services, healthcare, media/entertainment and retail. More information on Ascential Software can be found on the Web at http://www.ascentialsoftware.com.### Crystal Decisions, Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, Holos and Seagate Info are either a registered trademark or trademark of Crystal Decisions Inc. Seagate is a registered trademark of both Seagate Technology and Seagate Software. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. © 2001 Ascential Software. All rights reserved. Ascential and DataStage are trademarks of Ascential Software Corporation or its affiliates and may be registered in other jurisdictions.For further information contact: Ian Galbraith, Corporate Communications CRYSTAL DECISIONS (604) 893-63702 |