Business Objects Positioned as a Leader in Enterprise Business Intelligence Suites Magic Quadrant

Business Wire, August 16, 2002

Business Editors/High Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 16, 2002

Independent Analyst Firm Recognizes Business Objects For

Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute

Business Objects (NASDAQ: BOBJ), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that it has again been positioned in the Leader quadrant in Gartner's Enterprise Business Intelligence (EBIS) Magic Quadrant. According to Gartner, "leaders" are vendors who are performing well today, have a clear vision of market direction, and are actively building competencies to sustain their leadership position in the market.

In August, 2002, Gartner, Inc., an independent analyst firm, published a new report on the EBIS market, including an update of the renowned "Magic Quadrants," the diagram that evaluates vendors along two dimensions: vision and execution. In the new enterprise business intelligence suites quadrant, Business Objects has been listed in the leaders category, excelling in both execution and vision.

"We are very pleased to receive this recognition from Gartner, "said Bernard Liautaud, chief executive officer of Business Objects. "We continue to show strong momentum and execution, particularly in the very strategic and highly competitive market of North America. In the current economic climate, BI continues to be a high priority. Organizations are looking for opportunities for rapid cost reduction and increased visibility to all areas of their business, and BI is proving to be what it takes to make businesses more effective."

About the Magic Quadrant

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted August 2002 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission, which permission should not be deemed to be an endorsement of any company or product depicted in the quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is Gartner, Inc.'s opinion and is an analytical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It measures vendors against Gartner defined criteria for a marketplace. The positioning of vendors within a Magic Quadrant is based on the complex interplay of many factors. Gartner does not advise enterprises to select only those firms in the "Leaders" quadrant. In some situations, firms in the Visionary, Challenger, or Niche Player quadrants may be the right match for an enterprise's requirements. Well-informed vendor selection decisions should rely on more than a Magic Quadrant. Gartner research is intended to be one of many information sources including other published information and analyst interaction. Gartner, Inc. expressly disclaims all warranties, express or implied of fitness of this research for a particular purpose.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions. Business intelligence lets organizations access, analyze, and share information internally with employees and externally with customers, suppliers, and partners. It helps organizations improve operational efficiency, build profitable customer relationships, and develop differentiated product offerings.

The company's products include BusinessObjects 2000, the industry's leading integrated business intelligence toolset and platform; and BusinessObjects Analytics, an integrated suite of enterprise analytic applications.

Business Objects pioneered the modern BI industry in 1990 by inventing a patented "semantic layer" that insulates users from the complexity of databases. In 1995, the company was first to focus on enterprise-scale BI deployments and today supports customers with more than 20,000 users. The company moved aggressively to the internet in 1997 by pioneering the market for BI extranets, a market that it continues to lead today. In 2000, the company delivered the industry's first interactive mobile BI solution. Today, Business Objects continues to innovate, creating and delivering a unique vision for enterprise analytic applications.

Business Objects has more than 16,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (Sicovam code 12074). It is included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 408-953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.

Note to Editors: BusinessObjects is a trademark of Business Objects SA. All other company, product, or brand names mentioned herein, may be trademarks of their respective owners.