Business Objects Positioned as a Leader in Business Intelligence by Gartner and META Group

Business Wire, April 23, 2004

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 2004

Business Objects, (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250-BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that two analyst firms have named Business Objects as a leader in business intelligence. Business Objects is positioned in the leaders quadrant of Gartner's Enterprise Business Intelligence Magic Quadrant, and is also ranked a leader in META Group's METAspectrum market summary.

Gartner classifies leaders as 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. META Group also ranked Business Objects as a leader. Vendors in this category are noted for having powerful channel relationships with small value-added resellers, all the way through global systems integrators, as well as exceptionally large market share relative to other players in the space.

Business Objects is the clear leader in the enterprise business intelligence market. With its acquisition of Crystal Decisions, Business Objects has the industry's strongest product line with leading offerings in enterprise reporting, ad hoc query and analysis, enterprise performance management, data integration, and analytic applications. Business Objects also has a strong partnership organization that includes more than 1500 industry leading system integrators, OEMs, VARs, and distributors.

"We are gratified that two top analyst firms see what we have known all along -- that Business Objects is the largest and most innovative business intelligence company in the market today," said Bernard Liautaud, CEO of Business Objects. "Our positioning as a leader by both Gartner and META Group validates Business Objects mission to enable customers to unlock the power of information to improve business performance. Our recent acquisition of Crystal Decisions was smooth, our product roadmap is clear, and we are executing on our vision to bring business intelligence to the masses. As the leader, we serve customers better with a larger R&D department, more experts in maintenance and support, the broadest and best products, as well as stronger and more valuable partner relationships. We are the clear, number one choice in business intelligence."

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business intelligence enables organizations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company's solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

Popular uses of BI include enterprise reporting, management dashboards and scorecards, customer intelligence applications, financial reporting, and both customer and partner extranets. These solutions enable companies to gain visibility into their business, acquire and retain profitable customers, reduce costs, optimize the supply chain, increase productivity, and improve financial performance.

In December 2003, Business Objects completed the acquisition of Crystal Decisions, the leader in enterprise reporting. The combined product line includes software for reporting, query and analysis, performance management, analytic applications, and data integration. In addition, Business Objects offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.

Business Objects has more than 24,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB). It is included in the SBF 120 and IT CAC 50 French stock market indexes. Business Objects can be reached at 1 408 953 6000 and http://www.businessobjects.com.

Magic Quadrant Disclaimer

The Magic Quadrant is copyrighted April 2004 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Magic Quadrant is a graphical representation of a marketplace at and for a specific time period. It depicts Gartner's analysis of how certain vendors measure against criteria for that marketplace, as defined by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Magic Quadrant, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors placed in the "Leaders" quadrant. The Magic Quadrant is intended solely as a research tool, and is not meant to be a specific guide to action. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports, and Crystal Enterprise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the United States and other countries.