Business Objects Named as One of the Most Influential Companies in Information Technology by Intelligent Enterprise Magazine.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 16, 2003

2004 Ranking Marks 8th Consecutive Year Business Objects

Selected to Prestigious List

Consistency is a trait of champions. Whether it is sports or software, the ability to perform at an extraordinary level day in and day out is the mark of a great leader. Business Objects, (Nasdaq:BOBJ) (Euronext Paris ISIN code FR0004026250-BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, is pleased to be recognized for an eighth consecutive year by Intelligent Enterprise magazine as one of the most influential companies in information technology. Today, Intelligent Enterprise named Business Objects to its "Intelligent Enterprise Dozen" list. The Dozen highlights companies doing the most to enable the development of "intelligent" enterprises that use technology to improve business performance. For the third straight year, Business Objects placed in the top five.

"Business Objects has a focused commitment to lead customers into the next phase of enterprise performance management," said David Stodder, editorial director of Intelligent Enterprise. "We honor Business Objects for an eighth consecutive year as a technology leader, and influencer in areas key to the development of data-rich, value generating IT solutions. We are pleased to recognize Business Objects as a member of the 2004 Dozen."

Business Objects has earned this recognition from Intelligent Enterprise by helping customers unlock the power of information to improve revenue and profits, reduce costs, automate compliance, and improve customer loyalty. With the release of BusinessObjects(TM) Enterprise 6 earlier this year, Business Objects brought to market an integrated business intelligence (BI) suite encompassing data integration products, BI platform, and enterprise analytic applications. In addition, the recent acquisition of Crystal Decisions further enhances Business Objects by joining two of the strongest-performing companies in enterprise software with highly complementary products, distribution channels, and talent pools.

"Our recent acquisition of Crystal Decisions proves once again that Business Objects is committed to offering our customers the most complete product line," said Bernard Liautaud, CEO of Business Objects. "The close of the deal brings together the leaders in ad-hoc query, reporting and analysis tools and enterprise reporting. Our customers will benefit from working with a single vendor who can address their full spectrum of BI needs at the lowest total cost of ownership. Together, we can serve our customers better and help them gain more value from their business intelligence deployments. We thank Intelligent Enterprise for recognizing Business Objects for eight straight years for our commitment to helping organization make the most of their information."

An in-depth feature about The Dozen will appear in the January 2004 edition of Intelligent Enterprise, as well as at www.intelligententerprise.com.

About Intelligent Enterprise

Published 18 times annually, Intelligent Enterprise is the only magazine dedicated to the strategic business applications that turn information into intelligence. It serves an exclusive audience of 80,000 business and IT professionals who plan and deploy the strategic applications their companies depend on to improve decision making, enhance business performance, and maximize the value of customer relationships. It provides both the context and the technical detail needed to take strategic business applications from concept to deployment, covering such interlocking technology categories as: application development, business intelligence and data warehousing, data management, enterprise application integration, enterprise/e-business applications, CRM and customer analytics, knowledge management, scalable server hardware, enterprise storage, and systems and applications management. For more information, contact Tara Gibb at 415-947-6242 or [e-mail]. Access free subscriptions from the Web site at www.IntelligentEnterprise.com.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business Objects enables organizations to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance. The company's solutions leverage the information that is stored in an array of corporate databases, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

Popular uses of BI include enterprise reporting, management dashboards and scorecards, customer intelligence applications, financial reporting, and both customer and partner extranets. These solutions enable companies to gain visibility into their business, acquire and retain profitable customers, reduce costs, optimize the supply chain, increase productivity, and improve financial performance.

In December 2003, Business Objects completed the acquisition of Crystal Decisions, the leader in enterprise reporting with more than 16 million licenses of Crystal Reports shipped worldwide. The combined product line includes software for reporting, query and analysis, performance management, analytic applications, and data integration. In addition, Business Objects offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.

Business Objects has more than 24,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is traded under the ticker symbols (Nasdaq:BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN:FR0004026250-BOB). It is 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.

BusinessObjects is a registered trademark of Business Objects S.A. in the United States and/or other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks of the respective companies with which they are associated.