World Travel Standardizes on BusinessObjects XI Release 2; Global Travel Company Selects Business Objects over Cognos to Help Corporate Clients Manage Travel Activities and Save Money with Point-and-Click Ease

Business Wire, Sept 18, 2006

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 World Travel Inc., the fifth largest travel agency in the U.S., has standardized on BusinessObjects(TM) XI Release 2 for all its business intelligence needs. With Business Objects solutions, World Travel provides its corporate clients with improved insight into the cost effectiveness of their Travel Management Program, including evaluating reservation trends, measuring travel activity, tracking adherence to corporate travel policy, and analyzing travel costs. This extranet solution helps World Travel offer industry-leading customer service and enhance their ability to add and retain clients in the highly competitive corporate travel market. Data Management Group, an end-to-end business intelligence consulting firm as well as a gold-level Value Added Reseller partner with Business Objects, will assist World Travel to develop and implement its future BI strategy.

Founded in 1983, World Travel is a $455 million company with a staff of 325 dedicated travel professionals. Some 90 percent of World Travel's business is based on high-volume corporate travel and clients including BMW North America, Major League Baseball, E*Trade, Cablevision, IEEE and Sungard. World Travel's speedy growth within the corporate travel arena is due to their top-notch customer service. BusinessObjects XI Release 2 helps World Travel to provide customers with self-service access to a large quantity of interactive reports -- a key differentiator in the competitive market for corporate travel services. By standardizing on Business Objects solutions, World Travel is able to respond more quickly to clients' specialized information needs and also make BI accessible to its employee base.

In addition to BusinessObjects XI Release 2, World Travel also selected Crystal Xcelsius, the leading data visualization solution from Business Objects. With Crystal Xcelsius, World Travel will create engaging, interactive dashboards that provide clients with instant insight into current travel activities and allow them to conduct what-if analysis. For example, Travel managers can use Crystal Xcelsius to demonstrate how transactional travel costs could be improved if employees used self-service, online booking tools, or purchased tickets further in advance.

Employees within World Travel are also using Crystal Xcelsius to help executives improve operational efficiency. For example, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) used Crystal Xcelsius to clearly illustrate the cost effectiveness of the company's relationships with multiple Global Distribution Systems (GDS) vendors. By moving sliders and gauges within the Crystal Xcelsius dashboard, the CFO demonstrated which relationship provided the best fit for World Travel's overall corporate business plan.

"Our clients are increasingly savvy about technology and they want the ability to access data themselves and use information that suits their particular business needs," said George Gadebusch, MIS director at World Travel. "We considered multiple vendors, but selected Business Objects above the others for its success and leadership in helping customers deliver extranet solutions to their clients. In addition, Crystal Xcelsius, allows us to add sophisticated, eye-catching dashboards that are easy to use -- and provide cutting-edge services that enable our clients to better manage their travel expenditures."

"In service industries such as travel planning and management, self-service extranets for customers are critical to standing out against the competition while also controlling costs," said Donald MacCormick, vice president of product marketing at Business Objects. "As World Travel has discovered, standardizing on Business Objects allows companies to create highly customizable, highly flexible portals that offer their clients all the richness of our business intelligence platform in an easily accessible, easy-to-use online application -- and also allowing their employees to use the same platform to run their business more effectively."

About World Travel, Inc.

Established in 1983, World Travel, Inc. is a national travel management firm specializing in mid-market volume accounts, World Travel was recently named the 5th largest travel management companies in the United States. For more information, please visit www.worldtravelinc.com.

About Data Management Group

Data Management Group is a business intelligence solutions provider delivering end-to-end data management solutions. Since 1995, Data Management Group has been providing quality consulting and training services to companies looking to maximize the efficiency and performance of their business. Data Management Group is a woman-owned, 8(a) and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) certified organization and holds a GSA Schedule. Data Management Group has offices in Hampton, Virginia, Washington D.C., Charlotte, North Carolina and Dallas, Texas. Recent awards include the Washington Technology Fast 50 (third consecutive year) and CRN Fast Growth 100. Visit us online at datamanagementgroup.com.