Business intelligence (BI) software vendor Business Objects is seeking to reassure resellers about its support for the channel following its $820m acquisition of reporting tools vendor Crystal Decisions in July.

A formal announcement of plans for the new combined company is not due until the new year, but at the Business Objects user conference in London last week, chief executive Bernard Liautaud promised delegates a unified product line to keep customers' investments intact.

At a channel level, the firm had previously admitted that consolidation was inevitable, but it has now pledged to increase support for European channel partners.

It has already appointed new directors of alliances, systems integration and distribution.

Jacqueline de Rojas, sales director at Business Objects UK, told CRN: "We will exploit as much of that combined channel capability as we can.

"We have to find a way to maximise growth. I don't think there will be a lot of overlap.

"We have integration teams in place that are working on every element of successfully integrating the two companies, including partner strategy. After the deal closes we will be able to release more information."

The two companies target slightly different areas of the BI market. Business Objects provides business users with access to reporting tools, whereas Crystal Decisions provides IT departments with report authoring tools to distribute reports around the business.

A revised product roadmap is due out in the new year, at the earliest.

David Ince, managing director of Business Objects and Crystal Decisions reseller Acuma, said: "Companies want a single business intelligence roadmap and strategy.

"It means we can talk about both products. This is an opportunity for channel partners to broaden their base.

"There's a lot of detail we need to understand before we can embrace this fully. The issue will be mixing the channels. Not everyone will win, but as a Business Objects reseller we have more to gain than most."

rachel_fielding@vnu.co.uk