Orange County Department of Education Standardizes on BusinessObjects XI; Crystal Reports XI Improves Operational Performance for District Payroll Departments and Timekeepers

Business Wire, Sept 6, 2005

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ) (Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) has chosen BusinessObjects(TM) XI as its business intelligence standard. OCDE is a public education organization with over 2,900 full and part-time employees that services 42 independent K-12 school districts, community college districts, Regional Occupational Programs, and charter schools. OCDE needed an efficient way to access and analyze all time attendance and payroll information. BusinessObjects XI, the industry's leading BI platform, provides OCDE with a secure, user-friendly, and scalable business intelligence solution. OCDE and District staff will use BusinessObjects XI to increase insight into their payroll departments, and improve operational efficiency.

OCDE partners with Orange County school districts to provide over 500,000 students a world-class education. OCDE employees offer students and teachers diverse programs and services aimed at improving educational standards and performance. In order to better manage time attendance and payroll for its large staff located across Orange County, OCDE needed broad access to this data. Now with Crystal Reports(R) XI, OCDE and District staff can analyze employees' attendance records, distribute reports over the web to business unit managers, and measure them against payroll to ensure accuracy. For example, timekeepers can run reports that track employees' utilization of all types of leave. These reports are sent to managers to ensure that leave is recorded accurately in payroll.

Since payroll deals with sensitive data, it was important for OCDE to ensure a range of security levels based on employees' job function and school district. With BusinessObjects XI, OCDE can safeguard data and make sure that staff only retrieve information that is relevant to them. OCDE is in the process of expanding the Business Objects deployment to support its financial and human resources applications.

Using Crystal Reports XI has substantially improved OCDE developer productivity. Previously developers wrote reporting applications in COBOL and creating reports took days or even weeks. Now Crystal Reports XI allows developers to write, test, and deploy reports within hours.

"We wanted to standardize on one business intelligence tool and Business Objects met our requirements," said Louis Mazzarini, Director of Information Technology at OCDE.

"State and local education agencies are facing decreased funding and need to keep a laser-sharp focus on improving operational performance," said Jay Johnson, vice president of government at Business Objects. "We are pleased that Orange County Department of Education has joined our roster of public schools that depend on Business Objects to meet these goals. Standardizing on Business Objects will give OCDE the BI foundation they need for increased visibility and better performance in all key areas."

About Orange County Department of Education

The Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) is a public education organization based on fundamental human values of honesty, commitment, responsibility, respect, integrity, and professional ethics. OCDE's priority is service to students, districts and the community who look to OCDE for support and educational leadership. OCDE partners with Orange County school districts to provide over 500,000 students with a world-class education that emphasizes standard-based skills in safe learning environments. OCDE serves as a connecting agency among Orange County school districts, community college districts, local, state and federal governmental agencies, and community organizations.

The Orange County Department of Education was honored with the American Payroll Association's Prism Award for Technology in August of 2004, for utilizing best practices in technology. This award recognizes innovation and excellence in technology.

Business Objects: Improving Performance in State & Local Government

Business Objects is a leading provider of business intelligence (BI) software to state and local governments across the United States. BI improves the ability of government agencies to manage budgets, cases, procurement, and human resources, as well as financial and operational performance. For more information about Business Objects business intelligence solutions for the government, please visit http://www.businessobjects.com/govt/.> 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(TM) XI includes Crystal Reports(R), the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has also built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and the company offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.