One of my followers on the @BObjExpert Twitter handle recently mentioned Randy “Macho Man” Savage in a tweet to me. Savage was a former famous wrestler for the WWE who died suddenly in an auto wreck in May, possibly after having a heart attack while driving.

So what does this have to do with BusinessObjects? Quite a bit, actually.

Savage was one of those wrestlers who people never forgot, even though his main employer during his career, the WWE, seemed content to keep any memories about him low-key. But even if WWE rarely mentioned him, his fans always brought his name up because to them, Savage represented the best days of the product they watched.

BusinessObjects is the “Macho Man” of the SAP world, because SAP seems to wish that people would not utter the name BusinessObjects any more. In fact, there was hardly a mention of that brand at the Sapphire Now conference a few weeks back.

And blogger Dallas Marks noted earlier this week, based on his personal observations, “It would seem that BusinessObjects will soon be in the brand graveyard with other proud brands like Pontiac and Northwest Airlines.”

Yet just about every day, I hear or read about a consultant or user who mentions Xcelsius. Although that product name has been replaced by SAP, the fans of Xcelsius won’t shake loose of the moniker because they have memories of it. I suspect BusinessObjects will remain on people’s lips for a long time, too.

The bigger morale of the story is that Savage is really gone now. And BusinessObjects as a name may follow a similar route in the software world. We can try as we want to resurrect the past, but the decision-makers in SAP, WWE, and other corporations are the ones who can rewrite history.

Follow Scott on Twitter @BObjExpert or email him at scott.wallask@wispubs.com

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