Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership Standardizes on Business Objects
Non-Profit Agency Selects Crystal Reports XI and Crystal Reports Server XI Over Microsoft Reporting Services
SAN JOSE, Calif. and PARIS - March 15, 2006 -Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership (MBHP), the largest regional provider of federally-subsidized rental housing voucher assistance in Massachusetts, serves more than 11,500 homeless, elderly, disabled, and low-income individuals and families in Boston and 29 surrounding communities. To streamline operational reporting and manage compliance with extensive state and federal reporting requirements, the non-profit housing agency turned to Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions. By standardizing on Crystal Reports® XI and Crystal Reports Server XI for managing and delivering reports, MBHP will soon be automating its reporting processes and distributing reports electronically, as well as storing them online. This will enable the agency to save time and dramatically reduce labor and paper costs.
As a provider of subsidized housing assistance, MBHP is required to generate close to 50 reports each month for state and federal housing authorities on data such as leasing rates, unit vacancies, resident demographics, and much more. Prior to implementing Business Objects, the non-profit agency relied on an 8-page-per-minute printer that took two days to print nearly 50 standard reports each month. Today, the combination of Crystal Reports XI and Crystal Reports Server XI automatically generates the reports, which users access through a simple web-based interface. In addition to streamlining compliance with state and federal regulations, Business Objects allows the agency's senior staff to stay better informed on the status of the organization.
MBHP had initially hoped to use Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services to improve its reporting processes, but found Crystal Reports was a better fit for their organization.
"We are a Microsoft shop, but we found Reporting Services difficult to set up and not intuitive to use," said Howard Wright, director of technology at Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership. "Creating reports in Reporting Services required Visual Basic programming knowledge. Even though Reporting Services was free, the hidden costs associated with implementation and report creation made it too costly for us. Crystal Reports, with its easy setup, intuitive interface, and excellent report writer, was by far the most cost-effective option and will allow us to create dashboards that will provide managers with an instant snapshot of organizational performance."
"There is no such thing as a free lunch, and nowhere is that more true than when it comes to the 'free' reporting tools offered by some of our competitors," said Rene Bonvanie, chief marketing officer at Business Objects. "Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership recognized that while business intelligence could improve its efficiency and allow more dollars to be dedicated to help the citizens of Boston, the BI solution itself had to be easy to implement and use in order to be cost effective. Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports Server have a proven track record of providing organizations with an easy-to-use reporting solution that delivers a low total cost of ownership."
About MBHP
MBHP is the state's largest regional provider of rental housing voucher assistance, serving Boston and 29 surrounding communities. Our mission is to ensure that the region's low- and moderate-income individuals and families have choice and mobility in finding and retaining decent affordable housing; all of our programs and initiatives are designed to encourage housing stability, increased economic self-sufficiency, and the enhanced quality of the lives of those we serve. To achieve our mission and to promote efficient service delivery, we work collaboratively with a broad array of service providers and neighborhood-based organizations. More information can be found at www.mbhp.org.
About Business Objects
Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. With more than 42,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helps organizations gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company's business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects™ XI, offers the BI industry's most advanced and complete platform for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and enterprise information management. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports®, the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and also offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.
Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris, France. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB) stock exchanges. More information about Business Objects can be found at www.businessobjects.com.
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