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Technology Stocks : Hyperion Solutions (HYSL) - An Analytical Gorilla? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (114)	8/26/1998 10:05:00 AM
From: Early Out	Respond to of 471

Okay, you covered the MSFT bases, but how about ORCL Financials (who desperately need revenue growth). If the HYSL market draws attention, it will draw capital from much more capitalized players, ex. SAP. Am I wrong? Totaly out of my bailiwick, hopefully others can respond. -jsc

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (114)	8/26/1998 10:16:00 AM
From: Bulldozer	Respond to of 471

Am I wrong? - No you're not wrong, just beating the same drum that everyone does in the enterprise software space. I think SAP will one day take over MSFT, ORCL and throw in DELL and CSCO as well! Look, HYSL's main competitor is ORCL. Before the merger, Essbase literally blew away Express in head to head competition. I've talked to customers who said the race wasn't even close. I also understand that in non-Oracle shops, Hyperion blew away Oracle financials. In Oracle shops, they had a tougher time but still won a significant amount of the time. I also understand the market is so big that many times neither company would even see Oracle in the bids - and alternatively, Oracle would win deals where the others weren't even involved. So the moral of the story, HYSL combined can now enter any competition and offer an engine for custom apps and proven completed solutions. Something only Oracle could do before. Its Oracle that should be shaking, not HYSL. BTW, this does not even include the incredible opportunities for Arbor and Hyperion to cross sell into their respective large installed bases. This enthusiasm is not without caveats. Of course there is competition and the big ERP players are always a threat to enter new markets. That doesn't mean though there aren't significant opportunities for other players (especially market leading gorillas)in a space that is exploding. Bulldozer

To: Reginald Middleton who wrote (114)	8/26/1998 10:21:00 AM
From: Trader Dave	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 471

Oracle was already Arbor's number one competitor and HYSL's number one competitor. Oracle has made a major commitment to this space. But both companies already had over 80% win rates against Oracle. Part of the impetus for the merger was to expand the footprint of the company to compete in the deals that oracle had no competition. Oracle used to go up against arsw and use it's only defense..."we have applications." Oracle competed against HYSL by saying "We have an engine." From the customers we've spoken to, many want both a completed application for standard business processes, but many also need an engine for applications that are specific to that company's operations. Now, HYSL wll be positioned to deliver complete solutions to its target customers, they've answered oracle's challenge pretty loudly. Take a look at the many internet resources comparing Oracle's express product to essbase and oracle's financial apps to HYSL's apps. Express is a 28 year old product and it's been a struggle to keep it current with Essbase. Take a look at the revenue growth for express versus essbase over the last several years. Enterprise class analytical applications aren't easy to do. I'm sure SAP has an interest in the space, but creating product in the analytical world is non trivial. HYSL is already quite a bit larger than Oracle in analytical applications and has far more R&D dollars to devote to the analytical world than Oracle, which has to spread its spending on catching up in transaction based applications and protecting its dbms core business. Applications of analytical technology is a massive market. There are many analysts that believe the space is as large as the back/office and ERP market. There's no doubt that there will be significant competition in the space. However, HYSL has a large footprint, market share, and pure focus on the space. I think that both company's recent results are a hint of the results to come. But execution will be the proof. Glad to be back to discussing HYSL specific issues. TD