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There were so many highlights at the IBIS 2025 BusinessObjects Conference this year, it’s hard to know where to begin.
I saw a Gila Monster at the resort on the first day after we arrived, and I had not seen one of these rare beauties in over 30 years! That was a good sign that this IBIS was going to be special, and it was.
The conference started with a wonderful opening ceremony by Tony Duncan, six times “World Hoop Dance Champion”, who gave a Native American blessing and played amazing Native American flute.
The theme of this year’s conference was “BusinessObjects Then and Now”. I delivered the opening keynote that included a brief history of the timeline of BusinessObjects comparing it to the timeline of Ancient Egypt.
While the Ancient Egyptian empire spanned over a period of almost 3,000 years, there were several rises and declines during this time. There were 3 distinct strong periods known as the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom and the New Kingdom and 3 weak or chaotic periods known as the first, second and third intermediate periods.
After demoing some of the latest and greatest features in the new BusinessObjects BI 2025 release, I showed a slide that put the timeline of BusinessObjects onto the timeline of Ancient Egypt.
I explained, that just like the Ancient Egyptian timeline, BusinessObjects had also been through strong periods and weak, chaotic intermediate ones.
But in the Summer of 2022 came an announcement from SAP along with a new Statement of Direction and a 10-year+ roadmap that brought BusinessObjects out of its second intermediate period and into the start of its New Kingdom period.
The New Kingdom is considered by many historians to be the Golden Age of Ancient Egypt.
This was when Egypt rose up to once again reunite the two lands of Upper and Lower Egypt and drive the occupying Hittites out of their country. They reconsolidated their empire very much like BusinessObjects has done around Web Intelligence and Crystal Reports and focused on their strengths.
Then came the mighty 18th dynasty of the New Kingdom where Ancient Egypt expanded its empire to the largest it had ever been. They did this not just by winning battles and conquering lands but through expanding trade and integration with lands and peoples way beyond their borders. This is what is happening with BusinessObjects as it is able to integrate with Power BI, Tableau and Cloud based applications and databases. The BusinessObjects empire is expanding by providing the backbone to BI co-existence and integration.
Next came the 19th dynasty, highlighted by the great builder Ramses II, as Ancient Egypt basked in a Golden Age. As BusinessObjects with BI 2025 has only just entered its New Kingdom, we are still at the dawn of its golden age and the best is still to come.
The keynote set the stage for the rest of the conference with presentations from SAP Labs on the BusinessObjects roadmap, BI 2025, and the new interactive offline WIDX format for Webi. The BusinessObjects technical sessions were complimented by compelling customer case studies by organizations large and small showing some amazing solutions and integrations with BusinessObjects.
And yes, there was plenty of AI on display with multiple vendors showing integration of AI with BusinessObjects.
On Tuesday evening, Tony Duncan who has performed at the White House, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, and Smithsonian Museum to name a few, graced our IBIS 2025 stage to put on a world class stunning hoop dance performance that left the attendees in awe.
There was a buzz and a feeling at the end of this IBIS that BusinessObjects is entering an exciting new phase in its existence.
The New Kingdom of BusinessObjects is just beginning – get ready!
IBIS 2026 has already been locked in at the same stunning location at the Ritz-Carlton, Dove Mountain for June 22-24, 2026 so save the date.
