Business Objects Strengthens Global Consulting Focus With Appointment of Joni Kahn, Group Vice President Worldwide Professional Services

Business Wire, Oct 14, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2002

New Role Will Help Customers Increase Strategic Value of Business

Intelligence Investment

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that it has appointed Joni Kahn to the position of group vice president, worldwide professional services. In this position, Joni will help Business Objects globalize the professional services organization, and work with customers to develop customized business intelligence solutions that provide competitive advantage and a high return on investment. Kahn will be based in San Jose, California, and will report to John Olsen, president and COO of Business Objects.

Today business intelligence is a cornerstone of any successful company or organization. As such, many corporations are interested in customizing their applications to extend the functionality and obtain fast return on investment. Kahn will focus on helping customers see quick and immediate results from their BI deployments, as well as partner with them for the long term to make their BI solution a sustainable competitive advantage.

Kahn comes to Business Objects with over twenty years of high tech and consulting experience. Her experience includes six years at KPMG Consulting, where as a member of the KPMG Consulting Executive Committee she grew the firm from $700M to $2.5B. Prior to KPMG, Kahn worked for Price Waterhouse, where she built a highly successful ERP practice.

"Joni Kahn is a great addition to the Business Objects management team and is great news for our customers," said John Olsen, president and COO of Business Objects. "Joni brings a wealth of experience in developing successful enterprise software implementations that deliver fast payback and competitive advantage to the customer, as well as creating profitable and growing consulting practices. We look forward to working with Joni as she builds a professional services organization that delights our customers and helps Business Objects achieve its long term goals."

"I am excited to join Business Objects, the industry leader in business intelligence," said Joni Kahn, group vice president, worldwide professional services at Business Objects. "In today's IT environment, customers are choosing a few key technology partners and are interested in forming strong long term partnerships. As Business Objects is consistently chosen as a key solution provider by our customers, we will partner with them to ensure they are obtaining the maximum return on investment and turning their BI deployments into a powerful competitive advantage."

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 data integration tools, the industry's leading integrated business intelligence platform, and a suite of enterprise analytic applications. Business Objects is the first to offer a complete BI solution that is composed of best-of-breed components, giving organizations the means to deploy end-to-end BI to the enterprise, from data extraction to 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 (Euroclear 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.