Nucleus Research Announces ROI Scorecard Reports for Business Intelligence and Hosted CRM Markets

Business Wire, Sept 7, 2004

WELLESLEY, Mass. -- RightNow Grabs Top Spot in CRM while Cognos, Business Objects Dominate BI

Nucleus Research, a global provider of Return on Investment (ROI)-focused research and advisory services, today announced the availability of its newest report series: the Nucleus ROI Scorecard. The first available ROI Scorecards measure the strength of the business intelligence and hosted CRM markets. Within the business intelligence market, Cognos, Business Objects Microsoft, and Hyperion rate in the top tier category for potential ROI while the overall market average receives a score of 3.8 out of five. RightNow squeezed past Salesforce.com to receive the highest marks in the hosted CRM space, which is rated 3.5 for overall ROI delivery.

Scorecards are based on Nucleus analysts' independent assessment of a given vendor's ability to deliver positive ROI to customers. Based on Nucleus's extensive library of ROI case studies and customer interviews, Vendor ROI Scorecards rate solutions on a scale from one to five, with five being the best and one being the worst.

For access to the business intelligence and hosted CRM market ROI scorecards along with individual scorecards for each of the companies and products, please visit www.NucleusResearch.com.

In addition to individual detailed Vendor ROI Scorecards, the Nucleus Market ROI Scorecards compare competing vendors' ROI scores and provide insights on key themes impacting ROI in a particular market segment. The first of an ongoing series, the ROI Scorecards announced today include rankings for the business intelligence and hosted CRM markets and cover vendors including ACCPAC, Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ), Cognos (NASDAQ: COGN), Siebel (NASDAQ: SEBL), Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), RightNow Technologies (NASDAQ: RNOW), NetSuite, SAVO Group, Entellium, Hyperion (NASDAQ: HYSL), Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT), MicroStrategy (NASDAQ: MSTR), QlikTech, and SAP (NYSE: SAP).

Ratings are determined by Nucleus's assessment of five key factors contributing to the ability of a solution to deliver a positive return on investment:

--Deployment - based on how easily and quickly a solution can be deployed

--Adoption - based on usability and the potential scalability of adoption

--Support - based on the ability of the solution to function with limited internal support costs

--Business Impact - based on the potential of the solution to deliver returns through clear and repeatable benefits

--Vendor - based on a vendor's track record and ability to help a customer maximize ROI

"Nucleus Research has always provided, and will continue to provide, in-depth case-based research on the value vendors' solutions produce in the real world," said Rebecca Wettemann, vice president of research at Nucleus. "ROI Scorecards give users a solid, quantifiable way to accurately compare the value competing solutions actually deliver."

About Nucleus Research

Nucleus Research is a global consulting and advisory company that provides CFOs, CIOs and their staffs with the real-world information they need to maximize the business returns from their technology investments. Its analysts blend financial analysis and case-based investigations with comprehensive technology expertise to deliver factual return-on-investment (ROI) data to organizations worldwide. The company uses an uncompromising set of processes and tools to evaluate the financial return on IT assets and is the only firm to gain certification by the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy. Nucleus Research has analyst experts across the entire enterprise software and hardware space and provides clients with ongoing advice to help with both short-term technology decisions and long-term strategic plans. For more information, visit www.nucleusresearch.com.