Report from Leading Industry Analyst Identifies Business Objects as the Leading Business Intelligence Vendor in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan)

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 17, 2004-- Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250-BOB), today announced that it has been identified as the leading business intelligence (BI) vendor in Asia Pacific (excluding Japan), according to the 2003 market analysis report issued by IDC.

The IDC report, "Asia Pacific (Excluding Japan) Business Intelligence Software 2004-2008 Forecast and 2003 Vendor Shares," combines software license and maintenance revenue data from query, reporting, and analysis tools; data mining software; and packaged data mart and data warehouse products. In the report, IDC notes that in 2003, the BI market in Asia Pacific grew to $182.9 million. Business Objects is the leader in Asia Pacific with revenues of $26 million in 2003.

Daphne Chung, senior analyst, application tools software, IDC Asia Pacific said, "Business intelligence market performance is expected to experience a healthy growth in Asia Pacific over the next five years, reaching a CAGR of 16% by 2008. We expect Business Objects to play a key role in fulfilling the market demands with its strong portfolio of tools."

The IDC report identifies Business Objects as the overall leader in revenue in the key countries such as Australia, and People's Republic of China. Business Objects also holds top spot in smaller countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, and New Zealand.

"Business Objects continues to set the standard in business intelligence around the globe," said John Olsen, chief operating officer at Business Objects. "Our continued growth throughout Asia Pacific is a reflection of the positive customer response to our world-class, proven products in query, reporting and analysis, performance management, and data integration. Today, Business Objects is the clear choice in the BI market, particularly for organizations making enterprise BI standardization decisions."

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 www.businessobjects.com.