Business Objects to go on demand all the way

Responding to growing customer demand for hosted services, Business Objects plans to offer its entire range of products via on-demand subscriptions, according to a company executive.

In the coming months, the maker of business intelligence software plans to put its complete product line online, including its EPM (enterprise performance management) offering, said senior vice president and Chief Marketing Officer Marge Breya Tuesday. The company will continue selling its traditional on-premise license service as well.

SaaS (software as a service) products are becoming increasingly popular among customers who seek quick and easy deployments, cost savings, and greater flexibility to serve an increasingly mobile workforce, according to Breya.

At a user event in Berlin earlier on Tuesday, Business Objects announced the beta test of its new Information OnDemand offering, which makes external market information available to users of the company’s business analytics software.

“With this offering, you can get your information by the drink — or at a very small usage level,” Breya said.

In much the same way Apple’s iTunes Store allows users to purchase an individual song from a full album, Information OnDemand allows Business Objects customers to purchase individual reports and analytics with content from data providers, she said.

Since the middle of last year, Business Objects has been adding products to its list of SaaS offerings, including its Crystal reports service.

More than 45,000 customers are currently subscribing to its SaaS offerings, the company said.

Business Objects also announced Tuesday that it is buying Inxight Software, which makes software that analyzes unstructured data in text formats.