Hyperion launches Next-Generation Performance Management Tool

From: Hyperion
Published: Tue Oct 11 2005


Dubai, United Arab Emirates, October 11, 2005 â€" Hyperion (Nasdaq: HYSL), the global leader in Business Performance Management (BPM) software, today unveiled Hyperion System 9, the most comprehensive performance management solution ever and the first to integrate financial management applications with a BI platform into a modular system that will adapt to any business need. This comprehensive, integrated solution delivers consistent visibility of past, present and future business operations, enabling sustained improvement in business performance.

“Hyperion System 9 delivers on our vision of a Business Performance Management system� said Godfrey Sullivan, president and CEO of Hyperion. “It’s the first to break down the barrier between business and IT; it’s the first to make it possible for everyone within the enterprise to learn and use Business Intelligence; and it’s the first to integrate a Business Intelligence platform with financial management applications. Hyperion System 9 was built on proven technology and leverages our more than 20 years of experience improving the performance of global companies,� Mr. Sullivan added.

Innovation Focused on Superior User Experience, Higher Productivity
Hyperion System 9 is the result of a three-year initiative to dramatically transform and simplify the way users interact with BI and performance management software. This transformation has been accomplished through technical innovations within a Foundation Services layer and the development of Hyperion System 9 Workspace, the first personalized workspace for Business Performance Management.

“Having seen Hyperion System 9, I am more confident than ever that we have the right technology for Pfizer Canada’s performance management needs,� said Michael O’Shaughnessy, senior manager, Information Architecture, Pfizer Canada. “As an IT decision-maker, I welcome the ability to continue to offer value to our business users, especially in these changing and uncertain times. Of the competitive solutions I’ve seen, Hyperion System 9 delivers the most functionality and integration.�

The Foundation of Business Performance Management
Hyperion leverages the technology in its Foundation Services to integrate BI technologies and financial management applications into a single, cohesive system. And, for the first time, formerly disparate activities including management and production reporting, advanced analytics, financial reporting and consolidation, enterprise planning, scorecarding and strategic modeling are all accessible through the single, unified Workspace. As a result, users are no longer forced to shuffle between applications or sign in and out of separate tools to get answers to their business questions. With Hyperion System 9, users can address all of their performance management and query and reporting needs within a single thin client environment that is personalized and optimized for their unique needs.

Hyperion System 9 Foundation Services is a scalable, shared services foundation that simplifies systems management, integration and administration across the enterprise. This foundation also offers master data management (MDM) capabilities that empower business users to directly manage complex, rapidly changing master dataâ€"technology that is unique to Hyperion within the performance management industry.

“Master data management is a discipline that goes hand in hand with information governance. Forward-thinking organizations are instituting processes to gain agreement on roles, responsibilities, policies, and procedures surrounding the maintenance of a single view of the entities needed for conducting business and measuring its performance,� said Henry Morris, group vice president and general manager, Integration, Development and Application Strategies for IDC. “An innovative and noteworthy feature of Hyperion System 9 is integrated master data management.�

The unified system enables users to link strategies with plans and continuously monitor their execution against goals to improve business agility. Because the system provides a common view into all enterprise data sources and across all management processes, users are able to make better, faster decisions based on a single reliable perspective over information that spans all areas of the operation.

Work the Way Customers Work
Hyperion worked closely with Frog Design, a leading industrial design firm, in a study to analyze how users work with reports, dynamic forecasts, financial consolidation and advanced analytical software. The study, which closely tracked 70 customers and their use of software over a period of months, directly resulted in the creation of Hyperion System 9’s unique Workspace. The Workspace, which fundamentally changes the way users interact with their performance management software, is at the heart of the innovations Hyperion is introducing with Hyperion System 9.

“Hyperion System 9 delivers a remarkable front-end interface to all of the Hyperion applications,â€? said Kevin Macke, vice president and director of financial planning and analysis, UMB Financial Corporation. “We’ve been using multiple Hyperion business intelligence and financial management applications for years and have had to switch between products to get the information needed. After seeing the Hyperion System 9 interface, I was blown away with its consistency. I didn’t have to worry about which application was delivering the dataâ€"it was truly transparent.

“It will be much easier for users to access information from multiple applications and efficiently use that information to deliver results. It’s a great move to bring all Hyperion applications under one umbrella and deliver on the vision of a fully integrated Business Performance Management system. This is the foundation that unifies Hyperion.�

Hyperion System 9 â€" Start Anywhere
The architecture of Hyperion System 9 facilitates the Hyperion “Start Anywhere� approach, empowering customers to address immediate needs first, then add additional capabilities as business needs grow and as budget allows, regardless of where issues lie within the management cycle. Hyperion System 9 includes:
• Hyperion System 9 BI+ â€" A complete business intelligence platform that integrates management, financial and production reporting into a single architecture, all accessed through a thin-client interface, delivering the broadest BI functionality to the marketplace. Hyperion System 9 BI+ also includes advanced analytics, interactive dashboard creation, and seamless reporting against both relational and multidimensional data sources.
• Hyperion System 9 Applications+ â€" A suite of financial management applications that integrates the entire management cycle by linking strategies to plans, monitoring and optimizing execution and reporting results in a timely manner. Hyperion System 9 Applications+ combines market-leading solutions for planning, modeling, consolidation and development of customized applications. It also includes extensive scorecarding and dashboarding applications.
• Both Hyperion System 9 BI+ and Hyperion System 9 Applications+ are accessible to users through the industry’s first unified, personalized Workspace and are built upon the Foundation Services layer.

One System Increases Productivity, Reduces Operational Risk and TCO
With multiple reporting systems, IT teams frequently struggle to meet reporting demands that exceed their capacity to deliver. Inconsistent user interfaces increase training costs and the sheer volume of data available in today’s enterprises can swamp infrastructures not built for massive scalability. Line-of-business managers also feel the strain of working with disparate reporting systems, as they have limited visibility into the connection between financial and operating performance.

Hyperion System 9 eliminates the challenges of managing multiple, disparate systems. It reduces total cost of ownership by simplifying systems management, administration and support, and offers a scalable, standards-based, flexible foundation for easier integration into existing enterprise architectures. It provides a consistent source of information across the enterprise through master data management, and enables centralized license management for improved auditing and compliance.

Hyperion System 9 is backed by a global team of highly qualified consultants, who provide guidance and assistance with change management, implementation, support and education, enabling rapid time to value.

Hyperion System 9 is also supported by 34 worldwide partners, including IBM Software Group.

“IBM truly supports the move towards a powerful Business Performance Management system in the new Hyperion System 9,� said Karen Parrish, vice president of business intelligence solutions for IBM Software Group. “The comprehensive offering eliminates disparate reporting systems thus providing customers with an increase in productivity across the enterprise. When combined with IBM middleware such as DB2 DWE customers will be assured of high performance and a rock solid system.�

Availability
Hyperion System 9 began shipping on September 28, 2005, and is currently available.

About Hyperion
Hyperion Solutions Corporation is the global leader in Business Performance Management software. More than 10,000 customers rely on Hyperion software to provide visibility into how their businesses are performing and to help them plan and model to improve that performance. Using Hyperion software, customers collect data, organize and analyze it, then communicate it across the enterprise. Hyperion offers the industry's only Business Performance Management solution that integrates financial management applications with a business intelligence platform into a single system.

Named one of the FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For (2004), Hyperion serves global customers in 45 countries. A network of more than 600 partners provides the company’s innovative and specialized solutions and services. Hyperion generated revenues of $703 million for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2005 and is traded under the Nasdaq symbol HYSL. For more information, please visit www.hyperion.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Statements in this press release other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements concerning the potential success of anticipated product features, the anticipated product offerings and the potential market opportunities for business performance management software. Such statements constitute anticipated outcomes and do not assure results. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, but not limited to the company's ability to retain and attract key employees, the successful and timely development of new products, the impact of competitive products and pricing, customer demand, and technological shifts. For a more detailed discussion of factors that could affect the company's performance and cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements, interested parties should review the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Report on Form 10-K filed on August 31, 2005 and the report on Form 10-Q filed on May 10, 2005. The company does not undertake an obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

“Hyperion,� the Hyperion “H� logo and Hyperion’s product names are trademarks of Hyperion. References to other companies and their products use trademarks owned by the respective companies and are for reference purpose only.

Media Contact:

Hisham Malak
Hyperion Solutions Team- Sybase Products Middle East
Tel: (9712) 627 5911
hisham_malak@hyperion-me.com
Company: Hyperion
Contact Name: Nirmala D'souza
Contact Email: nimi@oakconsulting.biz
Contact Phone: 050 734 3840

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