Grubb & Ellis Selects Crystal Decisions to Enhance Information Flow and Leverage Up-To-The-Minute Data

Leading Commercial Real Estate Brokerage Uses Crystal Decisions to Uncover Hot Properties

PALO ALTO, CA, Oct. 28, 2003 - Crystal Decisions, a leading global provider of business intelligence software and services, today announced that Grubb & Ellis has selected Crystal Decisions to deliver up-to-the-minute information and real-estate reports to more than 100 offices throughout North America. The Crystal Decisions solution will enable executives, salespeople and researchers at Grubb & Ellis to quickly identify market trends and make better business decisions based on the timely flow of relevant information, such as vacancy rates and buyer activity within local markets.

"We evaluated many competing packages, but no one else could compare with Crystal Decisions in terms of functionality and reputation. We are especially impressed with Crystal Decisions' ease-of-use and its open architecture, which allows us to leverage and scale our existing technology investments. In particular, the tight integration between Crystal Reports and Microsoft's Visual Studio .NET provides our developers with a fast and productive experience for creating high-quality, interactive reports that can be integrated into virtually any type of application," according to Lyndal Hanna, Senior Vice President of Information Technology at Grubb & Ellis.

As part of the Crystal Decisions solution, Grubb & Ellis senior management, employees and brokers, will have better and quicker access to business critical information including business reporting, financial performance and real estate market trends. In the past, the company relied upon multiple reporting engines in its systems, which required a larger time commitment from employees to compile information. Now, information can be presented in a consistent format, allowing for more efficient and informed decisions.

With Crystal Decisions, Grubb & Ellis Research is more efficient in understanding the trends shaping the commercial real estate market. For instance, it can quickly determine common attributes among buyers and sellers, as well as gain valuable insight into how deals are being financed and how much space is available in each local market.

"Grubb & Ellis is gaining a critical edge over its competition by using Crystal Decisions to provide a more effective flow of information," said Bill Gibson, Chief Operating Officer at Crystal Decisions. "Senior executives now have the tools they need to capture the right information at the right time, enabling them to make better business decisions."

For More Information

For more information on Crystal Decisions technologies and services, phone 1-800-877-2340 (North America) or 1-604-681-3435 (International), or visit the Crystal Decisions Web site at http://www.crystaldecisions.com.

About Grubb & Ellis

With access to collective resources of more than 8,000 people in over 200 offices in 31 countries, Grubb & Ellis is one of the world's leading providers of integrated real estate services. The company provides a full range of real estate services, including transaction, management and consultative services, to users and investors worldwide through its domestic offices and affiliates, global strategic alliances with Knight Frank, one of the leading property consulting firms in Europe, Africa and Asia Pacific, and with Canada's Avison Young.

About Crystal Decisions

Crystal Decisions is a leading global provider of business intelligence software and services with more than 15 million licenses shipped. Since 1984, Crystal Decisions has powered winning organizations with one of the fastest ways for employees, partners and customers to access the information they need to make the best decisions and ultimately reduce costs and increase productivity. The Crystal brand is among the most trusted names in enterprise reporting and more than 360 Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have standardized on Crystal Decisions' solutions. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Crystal Decisions has more than 30 offices worldwide and can be found on the Internet at http://www.crystaldecisions.com.


    For Further Information, Contact:

    Ian Galbraith, Crystal Decisions
    (604) 974-2370
    Ian.Galbraith@crystaldecisions.com

Crystal Decisions, Crystal Reports & Crystal Enterprise, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Crystal Decisions, Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. All other trademarks or registered trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE Crystal Decisions Inc.