Business Objects Strengthens Employee Focus With Appointment of Jonathan Schoonmaker, Group Vice President, Human Resources.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 14, 2002

Schoonmaker Will Drive Employee Satisfaction Programs to Help

Business Objects Retain and Attract Top Talent

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that it has appointed Jonathan Schoonmaker to the position of group vice president, human resources. In this position, Schoonmaker will manage worldwide human resources operations, and drive employee satisfaction programs designed to retain and attract the top talent in the industry. Schoonmaker will be based in San Jose, California, and will report to Bernard Liautaud, chief executive officer of Business Objects.

Schoonmaker comes to Business Objects with a strong track record in human resources management. He has managed human resources teams and operations at many companies, including General Electric, Philips Electronics, and Cadence Design Systems. In his last position at Cadence Schoonmaker was corporate vice president of human resources, and he helped the company grow from a few hundred to over 5,000 employees.

"We are very pleased to have Jonathan join the Business Objects team," said Bernard Liautaud, chief executive officer of Business Objects. "One of our priorities has always been to foster a positive, exciting, and rewarding work environment, and Jonathan is a proven leader in building this type of workplace culture. We look forward to working with him as we continue to make Business Objects one of the best companies to work for in high technology."

"I am very excited to join Business Objects, the industry leader in business intelligence," said Jonathan Schoonmaker, group vice president, human resources, Business Objects. "I look forward to working the management team and all the employees at Business Objects to continue to build on the company's success, by creating programs and a culture that recognize, reward, and motivate all employees."

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 16,000 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.