If you are a Small or Medium size business and want to put your Crystal Reports on the Internet or your Intranet, then you should take a look at RippleStone. Ripplestone is web application that includes many of the features of Crystal Reports Server or BO Enterprise but at a much lower cost. You get:

* Report viewing
* Report scheduling
* Report security by user
* Row-level security within reports
* Automated report distribution via e-mail
* Dynamic pick-lists for parameters

RippleStone is an update of ICB Reports, now rebuilt as a .NET application. (I wrote about ICB in my newsletter a few years back.) RippleStone can now be used with Crystal Reports versions 8.5 through XI. It normally costs $3,000 but if you purchase it between now and the end of the year you can get a $400 discount. Just ask for discount code CRU06. If you want to try it first you can download a 30-day trial copy from the RippleStone website.

The price above allows unlimited use on one server. You also need one copy of Crystal Reports Developer Edition installed to provide your server a valid engine license. Note that the Crystal engine is a single threaded engine so there are some limits on processing throughput. For $5,000 you get a 2-server license for RippleStone. And for $8,000 you get a site license that allows you to put it on as many servers as you want.