Business Objects Joins Microsoft's Data Warehousing Alliance 2000.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 1999--

Business Objects Products Raise the Standard

for Integration with Microsoft Data Warehousing Framework

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Paris Bourse:BOB), a leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions, today announced its support of the technologies in the Microsoft(R) Data Warehouse Framework.

As a member of Microsoft's Data Warehouse Alliance 2000 (DWA 2000) program, Business Objects integrates the technologies found in SQL Server(TM), Windows NT(R), and Microsoft Office in its current release of its integrated query, reporting, and analysis products.

BusinessObjects(TM) and WebIntelligence(TM) are the company's full- and thin-client e-BI solutions that enable customers to access, analyze and share information stored in data warehouses using non-technical business terms. Microsoft's DWA 2000 consists of top application vendors that have a common goal of broadly delivering valuable business intelligence and analysis securely over the web.

Members of the alliance are companies whose products provide customers at all levels of the enterprise with the knowledge to make informed business decisions.

"We are pleased to have Business Objects as a member of the DWA 2000 program," said Andrew Hoover, group industry manager for Business Intelligence at Microsoft. "We look forward to working with Business Objects to offer joint customers e-business intelligence solutions that are based on open standards and an integrated services platform."

"Our longstanding support of Microsoft standards is apparent in the foundation of our products, which support Microsoft initiatives involving Windows NT, Visual Basic(R), and SQL Server OLAP Services," said Mark Tice, vice president of Global Alliances at Business Objects. "Tight integration with Microsoft technology ensures that our solutions will fit well with customers' information technology strategy now and into the future."

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions. 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 sold more than 1,442,000 licenses to 9,100 organizations in more than 80 countries.

The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols (Nasdaq:BOBJ) and (Paris Bourse:BOB). Business Objects can be reached at 408/953-6000 and www.businessobjects.com.

Note to Editors: Microsoft, Visual Basic, Windows, and Windows NT are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. BusinessObjects and WebIntelligence are trademarks 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.