MILA, Inc. Implements BusinessObjects Enterprise 6; Business Intelligence Solution Helps One of the Top U.S. Wholesale Mortgage Lenders Improve Enterprise PerformanceMILA, Inc. Implements BusinessObjects Enterprise 6; Business Intelligence Solution Helps One of the Top U.S. Wholesale Mortgage Lenders Improve Enterprise Performance SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 26, 2004 -- Business Objects, the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that MILA, Inc. is implementing BusinessObjects Enterprise 6, the industry's leading suite of query, analysis and performance management products. The Business Objects solution will help MILA, one of the top wholesale mortgage lenders in the United States, improve overall efficiency, reduce turnaround time for loan approvals, and provide easy access to loan status information to lending partners through its extranet. With this solution, MILA expects to see a gain of between 35 and 40 percent in overall loan processing efficiency. MILA offers a broad range of alternative mortgage-lending products in 27 states and is one of the fastest growing companies in Washington State. Using Business Objects, MILA will focus on creating a more efficient workflow and track the location and status of each loan file throughout its entire lifecycle. MILA will now be able to measure and report on expected completion times and prioritize activities based on available information and customer requirements. By combining these Business Objects capabilities with innovative ways to automatically verify loan application information, MILA expects to achieve a remarkable four-hour mortgage loan approval time. Enterprise 6 will also enable MILA to dramatically improve the reporting capabilities of its AccessPoint extranet portal, which currently receives 70,000 log-ins per month. AccessPoint, a custom application created by MILA, currently enables MILA's lending partners to obtain loan status information. With Business Objects, MILA will be able to provide its lending partners with far more granular and useful information, such as the exact closing dates for loans in process. "We are integrating Business Objects into the very fabric of our organization from top to bottom," said Mark Hikel, executive vice president of sales at MILA. "To increase the efficiency of our workflow, a lot of things must happen simultaneously, such as an appraisal, employment verification, title verification, status notifications, and more. The only way to accomplish this is to make the data available to every department simultaneously, prioritize what needs to get done first, and make critical information immediately available to our lending partners. Business Objects is the most flexible solution for making this happen." MILA was looking for a solution that offered a high level of report granularity, faster access to information, flexibility to add and change reports, sophisticated analysis capabilities, and the ability to distribute information via the web. Following a review of business intelligence solutions, including Cognos, MILA chose Business Objects because it satisfied all of the company's requirements. The ability to map complex data terminology into familiar business terms enables MILA to offer a unified, consolidated view of the data to both employees and lending partners. "MILA has shown tremendous insight into how business intelligence applications can be used to improve the mortgage lending business," said Dave Kellogg, senior group vice president of worldwide marketing at Business Objects. "We see that more and more companies in various industries recognize that business intelligence solutions play a direct role in improving customer satisfaction and overall company performance." About MILA, Inc. MILA, Inc., one of fastest growing companies in Washington State, offers a broad range of alternative mortgage-lending products in 27 states. The company's commitment to borrowers has enabled MILA to rank among the top wholesale lenders in the country for more than 15 years. Stability, financial strength and the successful implementation of business strategies give MILA the ability to meet the challenges of the ever-changing mortgage lending markets and to anticipate market trends. With substantial investments in evolving technology, MILA maintains solid, strategic relationships through services and support that our business partners can rely on. Using MILA's AccessPoint, approved brokers and correspondents are able to quickly and easily track the movement of loans 24-hours a day. MILA can be reached at 800-332-6452 and www.mila.com. About Business Objects v Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business Objects enables organizations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company's solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Popular uses of BI include enterprise reporting, management dashboards and scorecards, customer intelligence applications, financial reporting, and both customer and partner extranets. These solutions enable companies to gain visibility into their business, acquire and retain profitable customers, reduce costs, optimize the supply chain, increase productivity, and improve financial performance. In December 2003, Business Objects completed the acquisition of Crystal Decisions, the leader in enterprise reporting. The combined product line includes software for reporting, query and analysis, performance management, analytic applications, and data integration. In addition, Business Objects offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects. Business Objects has more than 24,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB). It is included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com. BusinessObjects is a trademark of Business Objects S.A. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated. Contacts Business Objects Peter Olson, 408/953-6320 peter.olson@businessobjects.com or Eastwick Communications Erin McCabe, 650/480-4016 erin@eastwick.com At A Glance Business Objects Headquarters: San Jose, CA Website: http://www.businessobjects.com CEO: Bernard Liautaud Employees: 2000+ Ticker : BOBJ (NASDAQ); 12074 (EURONEXT) Revenues : $454.8M (2002) Net Income : $40.6M (2002) |