Business Objects revamps user interface

Business Objects on Tuesday is expected to announce release 2 of Business Object XI product suite, which introduces a simplified user interface.

The package, which includes reporting and analysis tools built on a common software foundation, is designed to greatly simplify the process of querying back-end databases and make Business Objects tools accessible to more people, company executives said. Users can also link from reports to the back-end applications that generated the report data. Release 2 of Business Objects XI will be available in the fourth quarter this year. Meanwhile, competitor Cognos last week introduced Cognos 8, a bundle of both reporting and data analysis tools. The Cognos update also is designed to be well integrated by using a common set of server components.