Business Objects Named to the Intelligent Enterprise Dozen List of Most Influential Companies in Information Technology.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 20, 2000

Business Objects is the Only Business Intelligence Vendor on the List

Business Objects, (Nasdaq:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of e-business intelligence (e-BI) solutions, today announced that Intelligent Enterprise Magazine has named Business Objects to its 2001 "Intelligent Enterprise Dozen" list, an annual ranking that recognizes the twelve most influential companies in information technology.

Business Objects is the only business intelligence vendor to have been named to this prestigious list. It joins the ranks of some major industry leaders -- i2 Technologies, EMC Corporation, IBM Corporation, and Microsoft Corporation. This year's ranking marks the fifth consecutive year that Business Objects has been recognized by Intelligent Enterprise's editors as one of the leaders in shaping how companies use technology to transform their business.

"Over the years Business Objects has consistently demonstrated a keen understanding of the market and a clear vision for the future," said Bob Moran of the Aberdeen Group. "It's not surprising to see that Intelligent Enterprise Magazine has honored them for this award."

"Business Objects, from its earliest days, has been about pushing information access and analysis out to where it can really make a difference in productivity, efficiency, and customer intimacy," said David Stodder, editorial director of Intelligent Enterprise. "If there's a unifying thread among Business Objects reference customers, it is that they use BI investments to seize opportunities to create information-rich products that change what employees, customers, and partners can accomplish."

According to Intelligent Enterprise, Business Objects has demonstrated vision and leadership in delivering e-BI solutions that enable true B2B information sharing, and cites two innovative Business Objects customers as proof points. "Ingram Micro, for example, enables B2B customers to have access to their sales data and history so that they can better control operations and expenses. Owens & Minor, a huge distributor of medical and surgical supplies, created an e-BI extranet that lets its B2B customers analyze purchasing and inventory data. In both cases, it took courage to bring `transparency' to the information flow (while addressing obvious security concerns)." (http://www.iemagazine.com/010101/dozen/dozen7.shtml)

Intelligent Enterprise editors also highlighted the establishment of the Open Portal Initiative, the launch of BW Connect interface to SAP(TM) BW data, and new supporting products as some of the "major moves" for Business Objects in 2000.

"Intelligent Enterprise is a highly respected industry authority, and has been using its IE Dozen list for years to show the market the most influential companies," said Bernard Liautaud, president and CEO of Business Objects. "We are extremely proud to be on this list for the past five years, and to be in the dozen list for the past two. Clearly our strategy of e-BI for the intranet, extranet, e-business, and CRM is working in the marketplace. We certainly see tremendous response from our more than 11,500 customers around the world."

About "Intelligent Enterprise" and CMP Media's Business

Intelligence Group

"Intelligent Enterprise" is an essential IT information resource specializing in enterprise solutions that make companies smarter, faster, and more profitable. Published 18 times per year, "Intelligent Enterprise" features influential authors and experts who cover e-business intelligence, infrastructure, integration, and collaborative commerce technologies that provide competitive advantage. More than 100,000 readers, including CIOs, CTOs, and strategic IT and business leaders from major corporations and public sector organizations, depend on "Intelligent Enterprise" for real-world insights to help them achieve success with customer relationship management (CRM), e-business, ERP, supply chain management, and other intelligent business objectives. For more information, contact "Intelligent Enterprise" at 650/808-3934. Subscriptions are available from the Web site at http://www.iemagazine.com/subs.shtml.

CMP Media's Business Intelligence Group provides publications, Web sites, and events that help organizations unlock the value of collected information for business advantage. Headed by group publisher David M. Kalman, the Business Intelligence Group produces the RealWare Awards and publishes "Intelligent Enterprise," "Imaging & Document Solutions," and "IntelligentB2B," along with a suite of integrated print/Web communities dedicated to specific technology areas: IntelligentEAI, IntelligentKM, and IntelligentCRM. For more information about the group, contact David M. Kalman at 650/513-4251.

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 Euronext Paris: 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: Intelligent Enterprise and RealWare Awards are registered trademarks of CMP Media, Inc. All CMP Media product, service and program names are trademarks of CMP Media.

BUSINESSOBJECTS is a trademark of Business Objects SA. SAP R/3, SAP Business Information Warehouse, SAP BW, and all SAP product and service names herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG. 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.