Information Builders' Skybox Provides Low-Risk Cloud Environment to Test and Develop Business Intelligence Projects

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Jan 23, 2014) - Information Builders, a leader in business intelligence (BI) and analytics, information integrity, and integration solutions, today announced the availability of Skybox, a new cloud hosting service that allows companies to test and develop applications for BI projects without spending time and resources creating an application test and development infrastructure.

Skybox provides a pre-configured environment of the latest version of WebFOCUS, Information Builders' BI platform that helps organizations transform data into business value. The solution's cloud-hosted environment can help WebFOCUS users become familiar with new features and functionality and test applications without impacting critical business systems. The latest functionality in WebFOCUS is always available in Skybox, meaning users can begin immediately developing and testing their BI applications, and moving them to production, much faster without a large IT infrastructure investment.

WebFOCUS is designed to help organizations gain competitive advantage by empowering more people with the right information at the right time while providing self-service capabilities for all user groups. Moreover, WebFOCUS ensures data quality and consistency even when accessing complex, disparate systems with its integrated Data Quality and Integration Suites. All the standard features of WebFOCUS are accessible with Skybox.

While managed hosting providers typically require a two-year agreement, Skybox permits commitments for a minimum of 60 days, enabling businesses to deploy BI projects more efficiently and cost-effectively. In addition, the entire environment is managed by Information Builders, allowing users to focus solely on administering their WebFOCUS environment and developing or maintaining their BI applications -- not on the IT infrastructure itself.

Additional benefits of Skybox include:

• Providing an agile development platform - Companies accelerate time-to-market for BI projects by using Skybox for testing existing runtime environments and applications, without the need to create and manage a new development infrastructure. Businesses can convert short-term testing to longer-term managed hosting or move the cloud-hosted environment on-premise
• Creating demonstrations in a self-contained environment - Skybox is designed to assist IT with demonstrating the latest functionality of WebFOCUS, including upgrades, to internal stakeholders without impacting ongoing business operations
• Powerful configuration on Microsoft Windows Server - Skybox's cloud runs on the 64-bit Standard Edition of Microsoft Windows Server, minimizing the need for IT to acclimate to an unfamiliar operating system

"Given the pressure on business leaders to achieve greater results without increasing IT department budgets, a managed cloud environment with the complete WebFOCUS platform is an ideal solution for businesses seeking flexibility in their BI deployments," said Gerald Cohen, president and CEO of Information Builders. "Skybox is a unique managed service offering that brings businesses the most innovative, highest performing BI solution available in a cost-effective, agile and fully supported cloud environment."

About Information Builders
Information Builders helps organizations transform data into business value. Our software solutions for business intelligence and analytics, integration, and data integrity empower people to make smarter decisions, strengthen customer relationships, and drive growth. Our dedication to customer success is unmatched in the industry. That's why tens of thousands of leading organizations rely on Information Builders to be their trusted partner. Founded in 1975, Information Builders is headquartered in New York, NY, with offices around the world, and remains one of the largest independent, privately held companies in the industry. Visit us at informationbuilders.com, follow us on Twitter at @infobldrs, like us on Facebook, and visit our LinkedIn page.