J.D. Edwards' BI Measures Business Process Effectiveness

J.D. Edwards & Company, a leading provider of agile, collaborative solutions for the Internet economy, announced the general availability of J. D. Edwards Business Intelligence, a comprehensive monitoring and analytical reporting system designed to diagnose the effectiveness of software in improving a company's business processes. Business Intelligence is based on software from MicroStrategy Incorporated and works with J. D. Edwards' OneWorld Xe and WorldSoftware products.

Business Intelligence, built on the scalable MicroStrategy 7 platform, provides companies the ability to measure their financial and sales performance. Later this year, J.D. Edwards plans to enhance the existing interoperability of Business Intelligence by enabling the product with its XPI "any-to-any" broker technology.

Business Intelligence's flexibility allows companies to evaluate their products as it interacts with systems of partners and customers. Because of its open architecture, Business Intelligence can collect data from J.D. Edwards' OneWorld Xe and WorldSoftware, as well as other third-party and legacy applications. Using an intuitive, Web-based interface, users have the ability to ask questions, search for patterns and analyze results, giving an enterprise a clear idea of where its software is enhancing its operations.

"Our Business Intelligence product gives companies the ability to monitor their business processes and to measure the effectiveness of those processes against corporate objectives," said Hank Bonde, J.D. Edwards' chief operating officer. "This becomes even more important in collaborative commerce as business processes stretch across companies. With Business Intelligence, companies can "close the loop" by planning, executing, and measuring effectiveness, then make rapid adjustments to sustain competitive advantage."

"We are pleased to provide the platform for J.D. Edwards' Business Intelligence offering," said Sanju K. Bansal, chief operating officer of MicroStrategy Incorporated. "By providing access to detailed data through the MicroStrategy platform, J.D. Edwards helps companies optimize the decision-making process and drive business efficiency."

Generating Visible Savings for Customers

Ontario Store Fixtures (OSF) in Toronto, the foremost producer of upscale store fixtures in North America, has implemented J.D. Edwards' Business Intelligence to continuously evaluate the profitability of its businesses processes with key partners.

"The J.D. Edwards Business Intelligence product includes the kind of capabilities we need to look deep into our financial and accounting activities. It has enhanced the way we evaluate our business' success, and will help us see specifically where we can increase effectiveness," said Tony Souza, application solutions manager at OSF. "Unlike many of the BI products on the market, J.D. Edwards Business Intelligence can give us visibility into our business process performance at multiple levels, be it the executive, management, or operational level."

Baton Rouge, Louisiana-based Turner Industries, an industrial construction services company, is also running J.D. Edwards' Business Intelligence and will track its success based on key metrics.

"J.D. Edwards' Business Intelligence solution will provide us with the ability to focus on key performance indicators at the project level. This way, we can reduce costs and improve profitability on a project-by-project basis," said Turner vice president and CIO Patrick Thompson.

About MicroStrategy Incorporated

MicroStrategy is a leading provider of business intelligence software for Global 5000 organizations. Since 1990, the company has specialized in helping businesses transform their extensive operational data into actionable information. MicroStrategy's business intelligence platform gives organizations solutions to their query, reporting, and advanced analytical needs, and distributes insight to users via Web, wireless, and voice.

MicroStrategy 7, the company's scalable business intelligence platform, is built specifically for the Internet. Its pure-Web architecture provides the reporting, security, performance, and standards that are critical for deployment over the Web. Within intranets, the company's products provide employees with information to make better business decisions. In extranets, extended enterprises use MicroStrategy 7 to build stronger relationships by linking customers and suppliers via the Internet.

MicroStrategy has approximately 1,100 enterprise-class customers including Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse, AT&T Wireless Group, First Union Corporation and GlaxoSmithKline. MicroStrategy also has relationships with over 200 systems integrators, application development, and platform partners including IBM, PeopleSoft, Compaq, Informatica, and JD Edwards.

MicroStrategy is listed on Nasdaq under the symbol MSTR. For more information on the company, or to purchase or demo MicroStrategy's software, please visit MicroStrategy's Web site at www.microstrategy.com.

About Quest, J.D. Edwards User Group

The mission of Quest, J.D. Edwards Users Group, is to maximize value to the global J.D. Edwards community. As the independent, global user group serving the J.D. Edwards community, Quest provides a forum for members to exchange ideas and solutions and influence software development. Through special interest groups, Q&A magazine, local and regional user support, the FOCUS user conference and global outreach, Quest fosters collaboration and communication among the J.D. Edwards community. QuestDirect, Quest's electronic collaboration tool and website information source, allows the entire community to interact via a web-based interface. Users can select what information they want, and when and where they receive it.

For more information about Quest, call 1-800-225-0517 (U.S. and Canada) or 859-226-4307, or visit QuestDirect at www.questdirect.org.

About FOCUS 2001

FOCUS 2001 is Quest's premier annual event and J.D. Edwards' user group conference, where users and invited guests can interact with and learn from peers, J.D. Edwards product developers, business partners and third party vendors and service providers.

About J.D. Edwards & Company

J.D. Edwards is a leading provider of agile, collaborative solutions for the Internet economy. The Company's open solutions give organizations the freedom to choose how they assemble their internal applications and how they collaborate with partners and customers across the supply chain to increase competitive advantage. Founded in 1977, J.D. Edwards is headquartered in Denver, CO. Additional information can be obtained by contacting the Company via the Internet at www.jdedwards.com or at 1-800-727-5333.

Contact Bryce Allen of J.D. Edwards, 303-334-5887, bryce_allen@jdedwards.com or Alka Nayyar of MicroStrategy Incorporated, 703-848-8600, pr_info@microstrategy.com.