Crystal Decisions Saves Graniterock An Estimated $300,000 Since Implementing Its Web-Based Enterprise Information System.

Business Editors

PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2001

xSP Partner World Technology Services Hosts and Manages Crystal

Decision's Solution for Graniterock

Crystal Decisions, an information infrastructure company that is a market leader in reporting, analysis and information delivery, today announced that Graniterock, a construction materials services company, has implemented its web-based enterprise information solution. Since providing finance and field personnel with on-demand, Web access to critical information, the company has improved productivity, increased job profitability and saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in specialized consulting fees. The Graniterock solution is hosted and managed by Crystal Decisions' xSP partner World Technology Services, the leading ASP for J.D. Edwards' solutions.

Graniterock is a 101-year old company headquartered in Watsonville, CA and employs 700 staff. "At Graniterock, information is our most valuable commodity as it allows us to produce products of the highest quality which is our mandate," said Steve Snodgrass, corporate controller for Graniterock. "By integrating the Crystal Decisions solution with our J.D. Edwards/OneWorld ERP system, users can now quickly and easily get to the gems of information that help them make better, more profitable business decisions. And, we've saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in consulting fees in the process."

"We paid a consultant thousands of dollars to create four simple reports with the J.D. Edwards tool," says Brad Stimson, software application's project manager at Graniterock. "J.D. Edwards is a great ERP system, but we had to find a more cost-effective, easy-to-use reporting solution with superior analytics. That's when we implemented Seagate Info. Now our users have web-based access to 300 reports-many of them with drill-down capabilities-the bulk of which were created by non-IT financial analysts."

Graniterock project managers have seen a 140% improvement in information access to job cost data. Continued Stimson: "Before Seagate Info, project managers would have to submit a job cost report request to a construction office and wait for a report to be mailed to them in the field office. Now managers can manage project profitability in just minutes via the Web, starting with summary data and drilling down into four different layers to actual individual transactions. As a result, we've drastically reduced job cost over-runs."

Says Snodgrass: "We were able to finally deliver on a 7 1/2 year request from the vice president of construction by producing a cash flow report. This allows us to look at every construction project we've got going by joining numerous disparate fields together. You can see at a glance which jobs are experiencing problems, if more cost has occurred than we've billed and how much is outstanding on each job. This has been crucial in allowing us to provide more proactive project management."

Business Benefits

-   Saved $300,000 in custom reporting costs
-   Improved access to information in the field by 140%
-   Improved safety report delivery time by 99 percent from 4 days to
    20 minutes
-   Improved customer relations through in-depth invoice summaries

For More Information

For additional information on Crystal Decisions technologies and services or to speak with an xSP Alliance representative, phone [phone] (North America) or 1-604-681-3435 (International), or visit the Crystal Decisions web site at www.crystaldecisions.com/partners/programs/xsp.asp

About Graniterock Company

Graniterock Company has been a regional company for more than 101-years, and presently has operations in Watsonville, Santa Cruz, Seaside, Salinas, Gilroy, Hollister, Aromas, Felton, San Jose, Redwood City and South San Francisco. Graniterock's Pavex Construction Division is a significant regional heavy engineering contractor building roadways, airports and private commercial and residential projects. Graniterock received the 1992 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and the 1994 Governor's Golden State Quality Award. The Company was also just named one of the 100 Best Places to Work in America by FORTUNE magazine. This is the fourth year in a row the company was so honored.

About Crystal Decisions

Crystal Decisions, formerly Seagate Software, is a privately held Seagate company owned by a group of investors that include Silver Lake Partners and Texas Pacific Group. Crystal Decisions is an information infrastructure company, which provides award-winning reporting, analysis, and information delivery solutions. The company's world-class products are used by millions of customers in thousands of companies worldwide and include, Crystal Analysis, Crystal Enterprise, Crystal Reports and Holos. Crystal Decisions can be found on the Web at www.crystaldecisions.net.

Crystal Decisions, Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, Seagate Holos and Seagate Info are either a registered trademark or trademark of Crystal Decisions, Inc. Seagate is a registered trademark of Seagate Technology, LLC. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.