Oracle Integrates Crystal
OEM Agreement
Establishes Crystal Reports as Preferred Report Writer For (to be
included) Forthcoming Release
REDWOOD SHORES, Calif./VANCOUVER, BC, May
28, 1996-Oracle Corp. and Crystal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Seagate Technology, Inc., today announced a product bundling
agreement that will combine Oracle Power Objects, Oracle's
software development environment for the workgroup, with Crystal
Reports Professional, Crystal's industry-leading workgroup report
writer for databases.
This strategic alliance and licensing
agreement establishes Crystal as the sole third party reporting
tool to be included in the forthcoming Oracle Power Objects 2.0
release. As Oracle's Power Objects continues to gain marketshare,
users can now preserve and leverage existing skills and reports
when migrating from other visual programming tools.
As part of the agreement, Crystal will
port its report writer to the Macintosh PowerPC platform where
Oracle Power Objects is a leading workgroup solution. The two
tools will be bundled for Windows 3.x, Windows 95, Windows NT and
PowerMac, giving organizations cross-platform support on the
leading desktop environments. Crystal Reports for the Macintosh
will be available in the immediate future only as part of Power
Objects.
"This OEM agreement confirms
Oracle's position as the technical leader in all categories of
database centric development tools," said Sohaib Abbasi,
senior vice president for the Oracle Tools Division.
"Traditionally Oracle has set the standard for transaction
oriented tools, and our partnership with Crystal now confirms
both our open approach and commitment to provide the best
development tools for workgroup information systems. The
integrated offering provides an ideal solution to enhance
applications with user-friendly reports."
"This agreement is a natural fit for
Crystal," said Greg Kerfoot, president, Crystal. "It
officially acknowledges and leverages Oracle's and Crystal's
substantial mutual customer base. The combination of Crystal and
Oracle Power Objects technology provides a formidable drag and
drop environment for rapid client/server database application
development."
"Additionally, Crystal Reports now
includes new Web-enabling technology which allows Crystal report
files to be converted to HTML for distribution via the Internet
or corporate Intranet," Kerfoot added. "This adds a
whole new mechanism for Power Objects developers to distribute
database information throughout the enterprise at the click of a
button."
Both companies stressed that this
bundling agreement was inspired by user demands. PRC Aviation of
Tucson, Arizona, has already combined OPO with Crystal Reports to
develop an application for the computerized planning and control
of aircraft maintenance procedures. Sold to the Douglas Aircraft
Company, a division of McDonnell Douglas Corporation, PRC's
"Technical Engineering And Maintenance System" (TEAMS)
is expected to be rolled out by thirty airlines worldwide.
"With the combined strengths of
Oracle Power Objects and Crystal Reports, we were able to write
the TEAMS application in less than four months," said R.
Dixon Speas, president of PRC Aviation. "By bundling Power
Objects and Crystal Reports together, Oracle is giving us the
best of breed client/server and reporting tools in a single box,
allowing us to leverage all of our existing skills."
The integrated offering will be available
this fall when Oracle Power Objects 2.0 starts shipping. Pricing
has not been finalized yet, but the bundle is expected to be
significantly lower than the two products bought individually.
Oracle Power Objects is Oracle's visual
client/server development tool to enable Windows and Macintosh
developers to rapidly build robust workgroup information systems.
It combines strong database integration with established industry
standards such as BASIC and OLE, new techniques such as visual
object orientation, and a unique drag and drop metaphor for ease
of use.
Crystal Reports provides broad data
access, report and query capabilities for creating graphical,
presentation quality reports and distributing them to end-users
via popular communications infrastructures. Crystal Reports has
more than two million units shipped worldwide and is bundled in
more than 125 shrink-wrapped products from leading organizations,
now including Oracle Power Objects.
Established in 1984, Crystal shipped the
first report writer for the Windows operating system in 1992.
Crystal's product line includes Crystal Reports Standard and
Crystal Reports Professional (report writers), Crystal Info
(three-tier reporting system) and Crystal 101 Reports for
Microsoft BackOffice DC. Crystal has more than 125 strategic
partnerships with noted software companies including Oracle,
Microsoft, Borland, PeopleSoft, and Great Plains Software.
Crystal is located in Vancouver, B.C. Canada and operates as a
wholly-owned subsidiary of Seagate Technology, Inc. (NYSE: SEG).
Seagate is the largest independent disk drive and related
components company in the world. Crystal software is available
through Crystal's extensive network of resellers and
distributors. For more information contact Crystal directly at
1-800-877-2340 or (604) 681-3435, or visit Crystal's Web site at
www.seagate.com/software/crystal.
Oracle Corporation is the world's largest
supplier of software for information management, and the world's
second largest software company. With annual revenues of more
than $3.5 billion, the company offers its database, tools and
application products along with related consulting, education and
support services, in more than 90 countries around the world.
For more information about Oracle, please
contact Oracle's headquarters at (415) 506-7000. Oracle's World
Wide Web address is (URL) http://www.oracle.com/.
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trademark of Oracle Corporation. All other products or company
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