Decisioneering Announces CB Turbo for Crystal Ball, Industry's First Distributed Spreadsheet Analysis Engine.NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 23, 1998-- New Corporate Decision-Making Software Brings The Power Of Parallel And Distributed Computing (1) The use of multiple computers networked throughout a wide geographical area, or the world via the Internet, in order to solve a single problem. See grid computing. (2) The use of multiple computers in an enterprise rather than one centralized system. To The Desktops Of Decision Makers Decisioneering Inc., makers of Crystal Ball(R) risk-analysis and modeling software used by 85% of all Fortune 500 companies, has introduced Crystal Ball Turbo(tm) (CB Turbo) to boost the performance of spreadsheet modeling for Crystal Ball users. CB Turbo incorporates the industry's first distributed computing environment See DCE. Distributed Computing Environment - (DCE) An architecture consisting of standard programming interfaces, conventions and server functionalities (e.g. naming, distributed file system, remote procedure call) for distributing applications transparently across networks for large, often complex spreadsheet "number crunching Refers to computers running mathematical, scientific or CAD applications, which perform large amounts of calculations. See number cruncher. (application, jargon) number crunching ," performing simulations in minutes that previously took hours or even days. CB Turbo is designed for use with Crystal Ball, a spreadsheet add-in that helps users to determine the true probability of reaching specific outcomes, and Crystal Ball Pro, a comprehensive risk-analysis and decision optimization tool that enables users to determine the best choice under uncertainty. Decisioneering teamed with Scientific Computing Associates (SCIENTIFIC), experts in parallel processing parallel processing, the concurrent or simultaneous execution of two or more parts of a single computer program, at speeds far exceeding those of a conventional computer. and high performance distributed computing, to develop CB Turbo. Crystal Ball is turbo-charged by incorporating Paradise(R) technology first developed by SCIENTIFIC for supercomputers and high-end UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). workstations and now available for distributed PCs. Previously implemented by clients such as Merrill Lynch Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MER TYO: 8675 ), through its subsidiaries and affiliates, provides capital markets services, investment banking and advisory services, wealth management, asset management, insurance, banking and related products and services on a global basis. and Smith Barney Smith Barney is a division of Citigroup Global Capital Markets Inc., a global, full-service financial firm, that provides brokerage, investment banking and asset management services to corporations, governments and individuals around the world. , the power of SCIENTIFIC's Paradise technology is now brought to the desktops of decision makers through CB Turbo. CB Turbo allows the computationally intensive tasks inherent in large spreadsheet simulations to be distributed to "workers" across LANs, WANs and the Internet. "CB Turbo is an ideal application for organizations faced with making critical business decisions based upon large spreadsheet models," said Eric Weissmann, president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of Decisioneering. "For decision makers, the more simulations they can run, the greater their confidence will be in making critical decisions. Until now, the number of what-if scenarios that a decision-maker could evaluate for a given decision was limited by the power of the desktop. CB Turbo redefines the level of analysis that decision-makers can perform, giving them greater confidence in a shorter period of time." Historically, running complex spreadsheet simulations on a single CPU CPU in full central processing unit Principal component of a digital computer, composed of a control unit, an instruction-decoding unit, and an arithmetic-logic unit. took several hours or even days. Since users often need to refine their model assumptions and inputs, it often takes several simulations to reach an acceptable conclusion. CB Turbo takes simulations and analysis that previously took hours or days, and delivers answers in minutes. With CB Turbo, companies now have the ability to make critical business decisions more rapidly and with greater reassurance. "For complex business scenarios like investment banking, valuation modeling and a variety of corporate finance applications, CB Turbo redefines the level of analysis that can be performed," said Richard George Richard George was president of Handy Andy Home Improvement Centers. He was at the helm at the time of Handy Andy's bankruptcy on October 17, 1995, and for the company's ultimate close in June 1996. Many blame him for not standing up to creditors' demands to liquidate the business. , CEO of Adverb adverb: see part of speech; adjective. Corp. "Previously hindered by the limited power of individual workstations, investment banking analysts and corporate finance groups can now leverage the distributed computing capabilities of CB Turbo to perform the sophisticated analysis necessary to make million dollar decisions with greater knowledge and confidence, and in a much more timely and competitive fashion. "With Crystal Ball Turbo, I was able to perform a spreadsheet simulation in 6.5 minutes that used to take over 48 minutes." CB Turbo can be configured to work with dedicated workstation clusters. "We have a growing number of customers within the financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. industry, as well as in organizations with large capital trading functions, who rely on large compute-intensive spreadsheet models for making critical and timely business decisions," said Les Crudele, vice president and general manager of Compaq's Workstation Division. "CB Turbo will deliver application performance on Windows NT-based workstations that has previously only been available through in-house applications running on expensive RISK/UNIX-based SMP (Symmetric MultiProcessing) A multiprocessing architecture in which multiple CPUs, residing in one cabinet, share the same memory. SMP systems provide scalability. As business increases, additional CPUs can be added to absorb the increased transaction volume. servers. CB Turbo capitalizes on the multiple processors in our Professional Workstations and workstation cluster configurations and is proving to be an invaluable solution for organizations looking to get a strategic advantage through their decision-making process." CB Turbo is compatible with Windows and Windows NT computing environments. It is priced at $1,000 per worker machine. Founded in 1986, Denver-based Decisioneering Inc. provides software tools that simplify risk analysis and improve decision-making. Further information on the company can be accessed on the Internet at http://www.decisioneering.com/.
CONTACT: Decisioneering Inc.
Michael K. Reagan, 303/626-0102
mreagan@decisioneering.com
or
Metzger Associates
James Clark, 303/786-7000
jclark@metzger.com
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