Business Objects and Integration Alliance announce distribution agreement; leading value-added distributor to resell Business Objects products in North America.

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 23, 1997--Business Objects (NASDAQ:BOBJY), the world's leading provider of integrated enterprise decision support tools, and Integration Alliance Corporation (IAC), a major distributor of Hewlett-Packard commercial systems, today announced an agreement that names IAC as the official Value-Added Distributor for Business Objects products throughout North America.

This agreement supports IAC's value-added approach to two-tier commercial systems distribution and enhances Business Objects indirect channel sales program.

Under the distribution agreement IAC's authorized Business Objects resellers will be able to sell Business Objects products for data warehouses, data marts, and internet-based decision support applications. The Business Objects products include: -0-

-- BusinessObjects, the world's leading integrated query, reporting, and OLAP (online analytical processing) tool;

-- BusinessMiner, the first data mining tool aimed at, and accessible to, the mainstream business user;

-- BusinessQuery, an add-in for Microsoft Excel that allows users to populate their spreadsheets with corporate data; and

-- Rapid Deployment Templates (RDTS), starter kits for deploying BusinessObjects on top of packaged applications such as Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, and SAP. Integration Alliance is the only Hewlett-Packard distributor authorized to sell Business Objects' RDTs. -0-

"We are very excited about our partnership with IAC and believe it will greatly enhance our channel sales program," said Barry Fischel, director of channels at Business Objects Americas.

"There are several key benefits to this relationship. First, it allows our Business Objects partners to receive even greater support and market leverage through IAC's unique value-add distribution model. Second, Business Objects partners may grow their reseller business through IAC's value-added services. Third, Business Objects resellers can leverage IAC's partner and channel alliances, such as HP and Oracle, for their end user DSS solutions."

IAC has recently enhanced its operational support for delivering a complete solution with the opening of its new 32,000 sq ft. Integration Center, one of the largest of its kind in the computer industry. The center stocks, configures, and tests HP commercial computer systems along with vertical application software for its Business Objects, Oracle, and HP resellers. IAC is the only Hewlett-Packard distributor offering its full line of Windows NT, HP-UX, and MPE/iX based products.

"Business Objects is the leader in end user decision support tools, and adding their products to the solutions our resellers can provide is a big win for everyone," said John Palley, vice president of IAC. "Specifically, the BusinessObjects integrated query, reporting, and OLAP tool, and BusinessMiner data mining tool sold by IAC channel partners will complement ISV and VAR vertical market applications."

About Integration Alliance

Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., Integration Alliance Corporation assembles, supports, and distributes open system solutions to its network of value-added resellers (VARs), independent software vendors (ISVs) and systems integrators. Founded in 1994, IAC is one of the Hewlett-Packard Company's fastest growing distributors targeting the commercial computing environment. IAC is also one of Oracle Corporation's five North American distributors.

With sales offices throughout the United States and Canada, IAC offers a comprehensive set of marketing, lead-generation, and business development programs for its value-added resellers and software vendors. Additional information is available by dialing 800/797-5779, or via the Internet at http://www.iacorp.com .

About Business Objects

Business Objects (NASDAQ:BOBJY) is the world's leading provider of integrated enterprise decision support tools. Business Objects products provide non-technical business users with access to information stored in corporate data warehouses, data marts, and packaged business applications. The company pioneered the modern decision support market in 1990 by introducing the "semantic layer," a patented technology that maps complex databases to a business representation understandable by non-technical end users.

The company's award-winning products include BusinessObjects, the first integrated query, reporting, and online analytical processing (OLAP) tool; BusinessQuery, the first Microsoft Excel add-in to provide a business representation of data; and BusinessMiner, the first data mining tool positioned for the mainstream business user. Oracle users recently voted BusinessObjects the best DSS/OLAP tool in the Oracle Technical Journal's annual best product awards.

Business Objects has sold more than 475,000 licenses to over 4,000 organizations in more than 60 countries. The company maintains business partnerships with more than 450 organizations around the world. The company's web site is http://www.businessobjects.com . -0-

Note to Editors: BusinessObjects is a trademark of Business Objects SA. 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 "one". The announcement may also be downloaded from the Web; access "http://www.businesswire.com/cnn" and search on "Business Objects".

CONTACT: BUSINESS OBJECTS

Tracy Eiler, 408/953-6031

or

INTEGRATION ALLIANCE

Taylor Allis, 303/770-5980