NuEdge Systems Joins Business Objects CRM Partner Initiative:.

Business/Technology Editors

MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 10, 2001

Partnership to Deliver New Solutions for Integrating Customer

Intelligence with Marketing Automation to Increase Profitability

NuEdge Systems, one of the largest providers of marketing automation-based customer relationship management (CRM) solutions announced today it has joined the Business Objects CRM Partner Initiative. The relationship will bring together powerful analytical capabilities with advanced marketing automation solutions to provide unprecedented ability to transform customer-related information into actionable data that increases profitability.

By combining the fastest dialoging speed in the industry with the ability to create complex scoring and analytical models, NuEdge Systems will deliver end-users unrivaled power and speed. Through this partnership, NuEdge Systems and Business Objects will work to offer customers more efficient segmentation techniques, allowing more effective refinements in campaign strategies. This ability, to make offers to customers that reflect their own preferences and needs, is a critical element in building marketing programs that increase response rates, customer lifetime value and share of wallet.

"Our customers realize the value that customer communication, based on knowledge of the individual, plays in keeping them ahead of the competition," said Donald W. Layden, Jr., chief operating officer of NuEdge Systems. "Our participation in the Business Objects CRM Partner Initiative will enhance our ability to help our customers meet the increasing complexity of developing the most complete view of the customer for an even greater ROI on marketing dollars."

NuEdge Systems works with more than 150 retailers, cataloguers and financial services companies, providing patented technology and deep vertical market expertise to help these companies design, implement and evaluate marketing programs. Its participation in the Business Objects CRM Partnership Initiative enhances its ability to help these companies extract more value from customer information and leverage new insight to drive continued customer communication and profitability.

"A successful CRM strategy requires two critical activities - keen understanding of the customer and the ability to act upon it," said Mark Tice, group vice president at Business Objects. "Our partnership with NuEdge Systems gives companies the most comprehensive solution for managing both sides of the equation, and realizing the benefits of a truly integrated approach to CRM."

Business Objects CRM Partner Initiative is designed to allow application providers, consulting companies and software vendors to work with Business Objects to provide their mutual clients with complete customer analysis capabilities for the enterprise. The program brings together leaders in customer analytic and operational software, service and support to help companies capitalize on their most important asset - customers.

About the Companies

NuEdge Systems is a leading provider of fully integrated customer relationship management solutions for marketing automation. The company provides software, value-added consulting services and production management systems to customer-oriented businesses of all kinds that need to rapidly launch, measure and refine customized marketing initiatives to maintain market leadership. The solution, NuEdge Suite, lets these businesses build individualized relationships with customers to drive satisfaction, loyalty and ultimately increase the bottom line.

Its NuEdge Campaign Manager is used by major companies to increase customer share of wallet with individualized marketing campaigns based on past transactions, while the NuEdge Customer Miner helps business analysts parse customer information in thousands of ways to facilitate business-critical decisions, such as product, service and channel development and pricing strategies. Clients include AmSouth Bank, Compaq, Sears Canada and Whirlpool. The company, founded in 1989, has more than 130 employees and is based in Milwaukee, Wis. with an office in Denver, Colo. It can be reached at www.nuedgesystems.com.

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 BusinessObjects 2000, the industry's leading integrated business intelligence toolset and platform; and BusinessObjects Analytics, an integrated suite of enterprise analytic applications.

Business Objects pioneered the modern BI industry in 1990 by inventing a patented "semantic layer" that insulates users from the complexity of databases. In 1995, the company was first to focus on enterprise-scale BI deployments and today supports customers with more than 20,000 users. The company moved aggressively to the internet in 1997 by pioneering the market for BI extranets, a market that it continues to lead today. In 2000, the company delivered the industry's first interactive mobile BI solution. Today, Business Objects continues to innovate, creating and delivering a unique vision for enterprise analytic applications.

Business Objects has more than 13,000 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (Sicovam 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.