Business Objects and Firstlogic Announce OEM Agreement; Data Quality Technology from Firstlogic Embedded into BusinessObjects Data Integrator 6.5.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif. and LA CROSSE, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 6, 2004

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, and Firstlogic, Inc., the recognized market leader in worldwide data quality solutions, today announced the signing of an OEM agreement. With this alliance, data quality technology from Firstlogic's Information Quality Suite has been embedded into BusinessObjects(TM) Data Integrator 6.5, the newest version of the Business Objects data integration platform launched today (Editor's note: see Business Objects Announces BusinessObjects Data Integrator 6.5). Through the addition of this OEM arrangement, Data Integrator 6.5 extends its existing data profiling and management capabilities to include name and address data cleansing within a single design environment.

Under the agreement, Business Objects has embedded tools from Firstlogic into Data Integrator 6.5 for specialized data cleansing activities. The new partnership will help provide customers with best-of-breed data cleansing technology to complement Data Integrator's proven real-time and batch extract, transform, and load (ETL) capabilities.

"Our research shows there is a palpable increase of interest in data quality at an enterprise level," said Doug Laney, vice president of META Group, a leading IT research firm. "Nonetheless, there is still a tendency for companies to sweep data quality issues under the rug, or hope that when systems are upgraded, data quality issues will just 'go away.' Partnerships between leading data integration and data quality vendors are a natural and welcome occurrence. We advise our clients to seek combined solutions in which data quality functionality is deeply embedded within the data integration development environment. This way, enterprises can achieve straight-through processing that eliminates repeated data staging and lag-times inconsistent with the increasingly common need for near real-time data integration."

"Companies are constantly looking for ways to bring the quality of their corporate data up to a level that can be trusted by the end users," said Eric Lieberman, president of Firstlogic. "By embedding data quality functionality from Firstlogic into Data Integrator, Business Objects provides customers with a streamlined process for improving the quality of the data feeding their business intelligence system. This enables users to be more confident that their data quality requirements are being met and that the decisions they make are based on the best data possible."

"Data credibility has become extremely important as companies try to manage overall enterprise performance," said Sachin Chawla, vice president of data integration at Business Objects. "Embedding powerful data quality functionality from Firstlogic into Data Integrator will help our customers ensure that the information they rely upon to make business decisions is timely, accurate, and consistent."

For additional information on data integration solutions from Business Objects, please visit http://www.businessobjects.com/dataintegration/.

About Firstlogic

Firstlogic specializes in enterprise-wide information quality solutions and services for e-business, data warehousing, and print and mail applications. Firstlogic provides information quality tools that enhance and match business-critical information anywhere it is touched, stored, or moved across the enterprise. In addition to developing commercial solutions, Firstlogic partners with many systems integrators, consultants, and original equipment manufacturers to provide its unique technology to their end-user customers. Founded in 1984, Firstlogic today serves thousands of customers worldwide, including Fortune 1000 companies in the e-business, financial, insurance, healthcare, direct marketing, higher education, and telecommunications markets. For more information, visit the company's Web site at www.firstlogic.com.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business intelligence 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. 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 http://www.businessobjects.com.

Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, and BusinessObjects are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the United States and other countries.