Softbank Commerce and Business Objects Sign Strategic Partnership Agreement

Business Wire, Dec 17, 1999

SAN JOSE, Calif. and TOKYO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 17, 1999--

Companies to Jointly Promote E-Business Intelligence

Solutions in the Japanese E-Commerce Market;

Form a Business Objects Solution Center

Softbank Commerce Ltd. (SBC), a 100% subsidiary of Softbank Corporation and headquartered in Chuo-ku, Tokyo; and Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions, announced today a strategic partnership to jointly market e-business intelligence solutions to the Japanese e-commerce marketplace.

As part of the agreement SBC will sell Business Objects e-business intelligence products through their network of systems integration partners, and form a Business Objects Solution Center in Tokyo.

The Business Objects Solution Center is a partnership effort between Business Objects Nihon BV and SBC. The Solution Center will promote the Business Objects e-business intelligence product line to Japanese companies interested in leveraging business intelligence and e-commerce. Business Objects and SBC will assign dedicated sales and technical consultants to the partnership, and jointly promote the Business Objects Solution Center and e-business intelligence solutions to SBC's integration partners.

SBC has been examining business intelligence solutions very carefully as the core technology for next generation information systems. SBC chose Business Objects as their business intelligence partner due to the company's strong internet product architecture and numerous customer successes in extranet applications in the U.S. and in Europe.

"We are very pleased with the alliance with SBC, as they lead in e-commerce business in Japan," said Bernard Liautaud, president and CEO of Business Objects. "The Japanese market is incredibly important to our company, and we believe our partnership with SBC will allow us to expand our reach even further in delivering e-business intelligence solutions to customers in Japan."

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions. Using e-business intelligence, organizations can access, analyze, and share information in intranet, extranet, and e-business environments.

In intranets, the company's products provide employees with information to make better business decisions, and are used in environments ranging from workgroups of 20 users to enterprise deployments exceeding 20,000.

In the extranet environment, the company is pioneering the use of e-BI in applications that allow organizations to build stronger relationships by linking customers, partners, and suppliers via the internet.

In addition, the company's products can improve the performance of an e-business by providing reporting and analysis against the ever-expanding amount of transaction and profile data that is collected each day throughout the World Wide Web.

Founded in 1990, Business Objects pioneered the modern business intelligence industry by inventing and patenting a "semantic layer" that insulates users from the technical complexity of database systems. Today, the company has sold more than 1,442,000 licenses to 9,100 organizations in more than 80 countries.

The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Paris Bourse: BOB. Business Objects can be reached at 408/953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.

Note to Editors: BusinessObjects is a trademark and WebIntelligence is a registered trademark of Business Objects SA. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.