Line of Business
Crystal Reports trainers cry foul over licensing
Business Objects demands a $20,000 licensing fee from trainers. Some consider it a cash grab and are thinking about exiting the market
8/24/2005 12:11:14 PM By: Dave Webb
In an April letter, Dan Klein, vice-president of worldwide education services for Business Objects, told Crystal Reports training providers
“You are not authorized or certified but, upon execution of the Classroom Licence Agreement, you will be compliant with your Crystal Reports software licence,” the letter says. “You are not authorized to offer any other software training other than Crystal Reports I and II (beginner and advanced).”
Nicole Parsons, Crystal Reports designer for specialty printer Canada Ticket in Langley, B.C., doubts Business Objects’ assertion that the program is about improving training quality.
“Business Objects claims that the steep increase in CLA costs (is) due to a sudden desire to improve the quality of training,” she wrote in an e-mail interview.
“You would think that an organization wishing to truly ensure quality education would have a modest annual fee and a process for ongoing review and certification, wouldn’t you?” Parsons says.
Business Objects also lists only two approved vendors for Crystal Reports courseware — those that have agreed to pay royalties to Business Objects for the use of screen shots, says trainer and consultant Ken Hamady. He estimates that adds $30 to $40 to the cost of each package.
Queries to Beth Christopher, Business Objects’ education alliances manager for the Americas, were referred to the corporate communications department.
In a prepared statement, the company’s public relations manager Robin Meyerhoff wrote that the program is aimed at raising the bar for user training.
“We estimated that more than 80 per cent of Crystal Reports training classes in North America were unsanctioned or unapproved by Business Objects — meaning that many trainers had out-of-date software and course material” Meyerhoff said. “With this new classroom licence model, all trainers will be licence-compliant, and more importantly, have access to the most current and approved training material.”
Compliant training outfits will get vouchers for free e-learning courses and certification exams, increasing the number of certified trainers and improving training quality, Meyerhoff said.
Not so, says David Hopaluk, systems analyst with Here2Help Solutions in Abbotsford, B.C. He thinks the end result will likely be service providers leaving the market.
“If independent service providers are forced by BO to comply and pass on higher costs attributed to compliance, then effectively we will either exit because it is no longer profitable, or work with clients to find other alternatives,” says Hopaluk.
“I am currently exploring the latter for a number of customers.” << Back
