Business Objects Ranked as a Top Vendor for Performance Management; Independent Industry Analyst Research Ranks Business Objects Ahead of Cognos and Hyperion for Performance Management

Business Wire, July 12, 2005

SAN JOSE, Calif. & PARIS -- Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 -- BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that research by Ventana Research has identified Business Objects as a top vendor for performance management. The 2005 Performance Management Vendor and Product Scorecard ranks Business Objects as a top vendor based on the requirements and capabilities for enabling performance management. Business Objects was ranked ahead of other BI vendors, including Cognos and Hyperion.

The Ventana Research Scorecard identifies the maturity of software vendors and products for the methodology and process of performance management. The report covers over thirty vendors and seventy products, and ranks each vendor on the capabilities of their solutions to meet organizational performance demands.

Mark Smith, CEO and SVP Research at Ventana Research and author of the report stated, "This is the first industry report to assess vendors and software packages designed specifically for enabling performance management. Our research identifies Business Objects having high ranking for compliance to the PerformanceCycle methodology of Align, Optimize, and Understand to enable performance management. Only through leveraging leading technology, such as the BusinessObjects(TM) XI platform, can organizations efficiently connect the people and processes to successfully manage performance."

The Ventana Research Scorecard is a tool that every organization can use to accelerate their knowledge and understanding of associated products and each vendor's rank in meeting the business and IT requirements for performance management. Organizations will then able to build a 'blueprint' for assessing new IT investments and processes for performance management. Using one framework that links business and technology projects together will ensure an effective plan and program will be built for performance management.

"Business Objects continues to set the standard in business intelligence around the globe," said Bernard Liautaud, chairman and CEO of Business Objects. "BusinessObjects XI is the most advanced and complete platform in BI and is the clear choice for organizations looking to achieve excellence in performance management. The results from Ventana Research support this position by ranking Business Objects ahead of both Cognos and Hyperion for performance management."

Performance management products from Business Objects help organizations track and analyze key business metrics and goals via management dashboards, scorecards, and alerting. Business Objects performance management applications are designed to align people and actions with strategy by enabling assignment of company goals to users or groups of users. BusinessObjects XI is the first and only BI platform that delivers a complete set of market leading BI capabilities: best in class reporting, query and analysis, performance management, and data integration.

Ventana Research published the 2005 Performance Management Vendor and Product Scorecard in April 2005. Ventana Research collected the information, validated the results independently and worked directly with the technology suppliers to ensure the highest level of accuracy and quality. The research for the report was conducted from September 2004 through January 2005.

About Ventana Research.

Ventana Research is the leading Performance Management research and advisory services firm. Ventana Research experienced analysts and consultants have proven success aligning business requirements with technology solutions to help companies save time and money and improve performance. What makes Ventana Research different from other analyst firms is a focus on Performance Management for the CFO, CIO and COO, ongoing research and delivery of tangible, objective services. To learn more about Ventana Research Performance Management workshops, assessments and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. With more than 30,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helps organizations gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company's business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects(TM) XI, offers the BI industry's most advanced and complete platform for reporting, query and analysis, performance management, and data integration. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports(R), the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and also offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.

Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris, France. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 -- BOB) stock exchanges. More information about Business Objects can be found at www.businessobjects.com.