Business Objects OEM Partners Deliver Business Intelligence Value to Their Customers.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Business Objects Partner Summit

NEW ORLEANS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 3, 2003

Leading Business Intelligence Solutions Provider Expands OEM 

Partner Program with More Than 20 New OEM Partners Focused on Key

Vertical Markets

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the addition of more than 20 OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) partners to its industry leading partner program. These new partners represent a cross-section of companies delivering solutions to a variety of vertical markets, including automotive, financial services, government, heath care, pharmaceuticals, retail, and telecommunications among others. With nearly 50 percent of its sales revenue coming through indirect channels in 2002, Business Objects partners play a crucial role in providing customers with the most comprehensive business intelligence solution available.

Partners added to the Business Objects Partner Program in the last quarter included such companies as: 9ci, Appfluent Technology, Astea International (Nasdaq:ATEA), Dendrite, DST Systems, Dunn Solutions Group, ITM Software, Macgregor, MEDecision, MediaOcean, Optum, Presslogic Inc., RevX, Syncata, traq-wireless, Vetronix, and Yahoo! Resumix.

For traq-wireless, a leading provider of enterprise mobile communications management solutions, partnering with Business Objects was about enabling customers to improve their business performance. "Customer satisfaction through easy to use, eye-catching access to vital business information, such as mobile communications expenses, is crucial for our customers. The relationship between Business Objects and traq-wireless enables a platform for in-depth analysis of business information to improve cost savings and business efficiency," commented Greg Fitzgerald, vice president of marketing at traq-wireless.

Business Objects has built a strong channels program to meet the complete spectrum of partner needs to ensure channel partner success, as well as the success of joint customers. The OEM partner program is designed for companies of all sizes that are interested in incorporating key business intelligence functionality into their own applications. Business Objects partners are able to save money and increase their value proposition to customers by focusing on their core competencies, while delivering additional value to their customers by incorporating market-leading BI software from Business Objects into their solutions. Joint customers benefit from the use of an end-to-end business intelligence solution that is integrated with the applications they use to solve their key business issues.

Astea International, a leading global provider of integrated customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, selected WebIntelligence(R), a web-based query, reporting, and analysis solution from Business Objects, for its new Microsoft .NET-connected Alliance CRM Suite framework. Jacques Cormier, vice president of software applications at Astea International Inc., commented: "After evaluating all of the leading reporting tools on the market, we recognized that WebIntelligence best complements other differentiating features in our comprehensive customer lifecycle management solutions for equipment and service companies. Moving forward, we expect to leverage our partnership with Business Objects to continually increase Astea's value proposition to customers."

"Business Objects has built its partner program by establishing strong relationships with industry-leading companies and firms who know our products and services well, and are as committed to providing complete solutions as we are," said Mark Tice, group vice president of worldwide channel sales at Business Objects. "We recognize that our continued growth and ability to offer comprehensive solutions is strengthened by the breadth and depth of these key partnerships. To support the evolving business requirements of our customers, we continue to establish new strategic partnerships that add value to our solutions."

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions. Business intelligence lets organizations access, analyze, and share information internally with employees and externally with customers, suppliers, and partners. It helps organizations improve operational efficiency, build profitable customer relationships, and develop differentiated product offerings.

The company's products include data integration tools, the industry's leading integrated business intelligence platform, and a suite of enterprise analytic applications. Business Objects is the first to offer a complete BI solution that is composed of best-of-breed components, giving organizations the means to deploy end-to-end BI to the enterprise, from data extraction to analytic applications.

Business Objects has more than 17,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (Euroclear code 12074). 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.

WebIntelligence is a registered trademark of Business Objects SA 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.