Business Objects Announces New Wireless Business Intelligence Initiative.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec, 18, 2000

Business Objects and Leading Wireless Technology Companies Extend

Reach of Business Intelligence Beyond the Enterprise

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions, today unveiled a new global alliance program, the Business Objects Wireless Business Intelligence Initiative. This initiative is a critical part of the Business Objects wireless business intelligence (BI) strategy and was created to forge strong alliances with leading technology companies to help customers easily deploy wireless BI applications on leading wireless devices worldwide.

The Business Objects wireless strategy also includes best-of-breed technology delivered through BusinessObjects(TM) InfoView Wireless Edition 2.0. Announced last week, this next version of the company's wireless BI portal enables companies to expand their business intelligence applications to reach their mobile workforce by offering easy and secure access to corporate information from anywhere, anytime. (Editor's note: Please see press release entitled "Business Objects Announces New Version of InfoView Wireless Edition," dated December 12, 2000.)

The Business Objects wireless BI initiative includes a variety of wireless companies which each have a distinct added value to customers. Under the umbrella of this alliance program, Business Objects will cooperate with wireless companies to identify and implement the best and easiest methods of deploying InfoView Wireless Edition. The new initiative brings additional value to Business Objects customers by giving them the possibility of extending their Business Objects deployment to an additional group of users -- those with wireless devices and mobile phones.

"In launching this wireless initiative, we increase our ability to deliver BI applications to our customers on any platform including mobile devices," said Mark Tice, group vice president of global alliances at Business Objects. "We look forward to working with these companies to offer an industry leading business application that will be delivered to their customers through their technology platforms or devices. With their help, we can lay the foundation needed to enable the broad deployment of BI through wireless devices globally. We are providing a key business application -- access to and analysis of corporate data -- for the wireless technology space and want to work with those companies who share our vision for the future of wireless technologies."

With the Wireless BI Initiative, Business Objects is co-operating with key wireless companies including leading device manufacturers, software vendors, and browser providers. The first companies to join the initiative are AvantGo, Neomar, Nokia, and Openwave. These vendors have joined forces with Business Objects to help deploy wireless BI solutions and will be involved in various joint marketing and strategic programs.

AvantGo, Inc.

AvantGo is a leading provider of infrastructure software and services that power the mobile economy. AvantGo Enterprise software enables businesses to increase the value of their corporate information systems by extending existing enterprise applications and critical information to employees, customers and business partners. The company also provides the AvantGo mobile Internet service, a hosted network that enables hundreds of businesses to deliver their content and applications to more than 1.2 million mobile consumers. AvantGo is a pioneer in delivering real-world solutions for both wireless and off-line use. Business Objects will deploy AvantGo's solution to customers using wireless and mobile devices to deliver enterprise applications and data to mobile professionals using Business Objects' e-BI solutions.

"We are committed to extending the AvantGo platform to all key areas of the enterprise, including wirelessly-enabling business intelligence information," said Stan Ratcliffe, general manager of AvantGo Enterprise. "By teaming up with leading vendors in business intelligence, like Business Objects, AvantGo continues to deliver practical applications that give workers wireless access to information that helps them conduct business more effectively and gives companies a competitive advantage."

Neomar

Neomar, Inc. provides a standards-based wireless platform to securely deliver corporate and customer data to enterprise professionals through wireless devices from Research In Motion Limited, Palm and Handspring, and soon PocketPC, over any wireless network. Business Objects will utilize Neomar's platform to deliver business intelligence information to customers using the Business Objects e-BI solutions. Business Objects will first deploy Neomar's solution to customers using wireless devices and then to others as they embrace wireless to deliver enterprise data to mobile professionals.

"Business Objects wireless business intelligence initiative along with Neomar's standards-based mobile infrastructure will speed the deployment of wireless systems that give mobile workers access to critical decision making information no matter where they are," said John Troyer, chief strategy officer at Neomar. "This will give companies that use Business Objects wireless solutions a tremendous competitive advantage over those that don't."

Nokia Internet Communications

Nokia Internet Communications, headquartered in Mountain View, California, provides world-class Network Security, Virtual Private Network and Wireless Software solution that assure the security, and reliability of corporate enterprise, and managed service provider networks. Nokia is committed to managing the end user experience by enabling personal trusted transactions within the Mobile Information Society. For more information, please visit http://www.nokia.com and click on IP Networking.

"The Nokia Activ Server will enable access to Business Objects application suite on the fly. This initiative enriches Nokia's ever-expanding portfolio of applications for mobile executives and is a further step forward in the Mobile Information Society," adds Gerhard Romen, vice president strategic software, Nokia Internet Communications.

Openwave

Openwave Systems Inc. (Nasdaq:OPWV), the combination of Phone.com and Software.com, is the worldwide leader of open Internet-based communication infrastructure software and applications. Openwave provides communication service providers, including wireless and wireline carriers, ISPs, portals, and broadband providers worldwide, with the software and services they need to build boundary-free, multi-network communications services for their subscribers-and rapidly enter the internet economy. For more information, please visit www.openwave.com.

As part of the wireless BI initiative, Business Objects will also be leveraging existing strategic partnerships with IBM and Microsoft Corp.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions. The company coined the term e-business intelligence in 1998 to describe the intersection of business intelligence and the internet. Using e-business intelligence, organizations can access, analyze, and share information in intranet, extranet, and e-business environments. In intranets, the company's products provide employees with information to make better business decisions, and are used in environments ranging from workgroups of 20 users to enterprise deployments exceeding 20,000. In the extranet environment, the company is pioneering the use of e-BI in applications that allow organizations to build stronger relationships by linking customers, partners, and suppliers via the internet. In addition, the company's products can improve the performance of an e-business by providing reporting and analysis against the ever-expanding amount of transaction and profile data that is collected each day throughout the world wide web.

Founded in 1990, Business Objects pioneered the modern business intelligence industry by inventing and patenting a "semantic layer" that insulates users from the technical complexity of database systems. Today, the company has over 11,500 customers in more than 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and PARIS BOURSE: code SICOVAM 12074, and 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.

Note to Editors: BusinessObjects is a trademark of Business Objects SA. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.

A full-text copy of this announcement may be obtained by calling the Company's fax retrieval line at 800-414-2114 and selecting option "two." The announcement may also be downloaded from the web; access http://www.businesswire.com/cnn and search on "Business Objects." Business Objects product inquiries should contact 800-527-0580.