Crystal Ball Past, Present & Future
Crystal Ball was originally introduced in 1986 by Decisioneering Inc. to integrate Monte Carlo techniques into spreadsheets and systems to more accurately forecast risk and variance.
1998 - Decisioneering introduced Crystal Ball Professional Edition, the first desktop software suite to combine the technologies of Monte Carlo simulation and global optimization. Crystal Ball Pro was hailed as a breakthrough product and received several awards and nominations.
June 2004 - Decisioneering launched Crystal Ball Premium Edition, combining time-series forecasting, Monte Carlo simulation, optimization and real options analysis. March 2007 - Decisioneering was acquired by Hyperion to add predictive capabilities to its business intelligence suite that uses Microsoft Excel as its primary interface.
July 2007 - Oracle Corporation acquired Hyperion including Decisioneering, in order to offer a best-of-breed business intelligence product family that will work with heterogeneous information from both Oracle and non-Oracle sources.
June 2008 - Oracle Crystal Ball EPM edition is launched. This edition is fully integrated with Hyperion Strategic Finance, Planning, Essbase and Oracle BIEE through the Oracle SmartView Add-In in Excel.
April 2010- Oracle introduces versions 11.1.2 that incorporates a host of new features including forecasting integration with Oracle EssBase.
January 2011 - Oracle Crystal Ball 11.1.2.1 is released which gives users 64bit power along with better integration with EPM.
May 2012 -Oracle Crystal Ball 11.1.2.2 is released, providing better forecating speed and enhanced data modeling and fitting capabilities.