Hyperion Agrees To Buy Decisioneering

Hyperion Solutions has agreed to buy Decisioneering, a maker of predictive analytics software that the business intelligence vendor plans to integrate with its System 9 suite.

Santa Clara, Calif.-based, Hyperion announced the deal on Tuesday, the same day it reported a 20 percent increase in revenues, and a 39 percent jump in profits in the second quarter ended Dec. 31. Financial details of the Decisioneering deal were not disclosed. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the month.

Decisioneering software, called Crystal Ball, is used for capacity planning, new project evaluation, capital investment, Six Sigma, and other areas of operational analytics. Hyperion plans to integrate these risk-management capabilities with System 9.

"We want to add more predictive capabilities into our planning processes," Rich Clayton, vice president of marketing for Hyperion, said. "We want the output of (Decisioneering) models to be tightly integrated with our business performance management system."

Crystal Ball is a desktop application that includes simulation and modeling tools for "what if" scenarios businesspeople can create against data stored in Microsoft Excel spreadsheets on their hard drives. Results are delivered over Excel, eliminating the need to learn a new user interface, Clayton said.

Hyperion has embraced a strategy of leveraging Microsoft Office applications as the front end of its BI tools. In October, the company released an upgrade of System 9 that included the option of delivering analytics through Word and PowerPoint, and offered integration with Google's enterprise search appliance.

Besides new capabilities, Denver-based Decisioneering brings a successful Internet-based sales channel to Hyperion, Clayton said. Decisioneering sells its software over the Web and has 4,600 customers, including 85 percent of Fortune 500 companies, according to Hyperion.

In addition, Decisioneering software is used in the classroom of 700 business schools and universities worldwide, giving the application exposure to potential business leaders, Clayton said.

Hyperion plans to operate Decisioneering as a stand-alone business unit. Its software is expected to be available with hooks to System 9 in the second half of the year, Clayton said. Average pricing for Decisioneering's Crystal Ball is $2,000 per user.

Meanwhile, Hyperion reported revenues in the second quarter of $222.9 million, compared with $185.5 million for the same period a year ago. Software license revenue was up 14 percent, and maintenance and services revenues grew by 24 percent. Net income, based on generally accepted accounting principles, increased 39 percent to $21.5 million, or 36 cents a share, compared with $15.5 million, or 25 cents a share, a year ago. “We’re pleased to report the best second fiscal quarter in Hyperion’s history,” Godfrey R. Sullivan, Hyperion’s president and chief executive, said in a statement.

Sullivan said it was the third consecutive quarter of double-digit license revenue growth fueled by increasing demand for System 9.