Business Objects and Sane Solutions Offer Treatment for Lunacy Caused by Web Site Traffic Analysis

Business Wire, April 18, 2000

Business Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 18, 2000

Partnership will enable companies to integrate web site traffic data with other enterprise customer information for e-business intelligence

Business Objects (NASDAQ:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions, today announced that it has signed a global alliances agreement with Sane Solutions, LLC, a leading provider of web-based internet web site traffic analysis tools.

As part of this alliances agreement, Business Objects plans to create a Rapid Deployment Template (RDT) for NetTracker 4.5 eBusiness Edition, the Sane Solutions tool for analyzing very large log files and measuring web site traffic data in conjunction with other data sources.

Business Objects RDTs give customers the ability to quickly deploy e-business intelligence solutions on top of third-party software products. BusinessObjects and WebIntelligence customers can use the RDT 's pre-built templates and sample reports to easily access, analyze, and share information from NetTracker and other enterprise data sources.

With a standalone system for web site traffic analysis, an e-business retailer could learn that its site received 1000 visitors each from two competing search engines. This same company could get much more valuable information by bringing additional data sources-such as sales order databases-into its analysis. The retailer could then learn that while each search engine referred 1000 visitors, the customers coming from one search engine spent 10 times the amount of money as did the customers from the competing search engine.

This e-business intelligence gained from using NetTracker eBusiness Edition in conjunction with BusinessObjects (full client) or WebIntelligence (thin client) would allow the online retailer to intelligently tailor its marketing efforts. The company could create special promotions, such as banner advertising and volume pricing discounts, for the customers coming from the more profitable site. The retailer could also determine how it should change its marketing efforts toward its less profitable customers, either by looking to gain more "wallet share" from these types of customers or scaling back efforts to acquire them.

"Once a company is able to understand its web site visitors and their buying patterns, it can base its web site design and promotions on facts, not guesses," said Jim Rose, CEO of Sane Solutions. "This partnership between Sane Solutions and Business Objects brings together technology leaders for the most advanced web site traffic analysis solution available."

"Today many web site analysis companies are offering expensive products that lock customers into using their proprietary business intelligence front-end," said Mark Tice, vice president of global alliances at Business Objects. "We believe that a better alternative is to give business users complete access to all their enterprise data, including that generated by NetTracker, as part of an easy-to-use, best-of-breed solution. This way our customers continue working with the best e-business intelligence front-end in the industry, and they don't need to pay for analysis software they won't use."

About Sane Solutions

Sane Solutions, LLC is a privately held limited liability company located in North Kingstown, Rhode Island. Founded in 1996, Sane Solutions specializes in developing Internet software, including the NetTracker line of web-based internet usage tracking tools. NetTracker is widely used by internet service providers (ISPs), Fortune 1000 corporations, government agencies, and educational institutions and is available through a worldwide network of resellers, distributors, and ISPs.

For more information please contact Sane Solutions LLC, 35 Belver Ave., Suite 230, North Kingstown, RI 02852; tel. 800-407-3570 or 401-295-4809; http://www.sane.com.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions. The company coined the term e-business intelligence in 1998 to describe the intersection of business intelligence and the internet. 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 1,683,000 licenses to 9,700 organizations in more than 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Paris Bourse: SICOVAM 12074. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.