Business Objects announced the availability of Information OnDemand, an online store where companies can access easy-to-analyze external market information to see the true picture of their organization's performance. Information OnDemand allows companies to gain a view beyond their internal data and quickly perform market research, sales planning, financial and competitive analysis, and industry benchmarking.

Business Objects Vice President Steve Lucas said the store allows companies to instantly access data to easily compare and integrate what's happening in the outside world with internal business information.

Business Objects announced the availability of eBay market data through a new partnership with Data Unison, master distributor of eBay market data. Sales and market numbers for top-selling brands and geographic and demographic data for purchases will be delivered pre-packaged and ready for analysis. For example, a retailer in the Bay Area could access the eBay sales patterns of the Nintendo Wii by state, from May to June, to instantly understand where market demand is high, or supply may be running low, in order to create a marketing promotion for that region or to analyze price sensitivity to new product releases.

"Integrating eBay data with Business Objects business intelligence software creates opportunities for businesses to access our data in an easy to use, ready to analyze format, offering a range of analysis on key retail and aggregate consumer behavior data," said Max Mancini, senior director of disruptive innovation at eBay. "This is a powerful combination for companies who want to easily gain insight into their market and take action to gain a competitive edge."

http://www.ondemand.com/information