Business Objects Broadens Participation in IBM's ISV Advantage Initiative

Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code:FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of businessintelligence (BI) solutions, has expanded its participation in IBM'sISV Advantage Initiative, a program designed to provide independentsoftware vendors (ISVs) with technical and marketing support to helpmeet the specific information technology needs of small and mediumbusiness (SMB) companies. Business Objects, which joined the ISVAdvantage Initiative in 2003 to focus on the industrial vertical inNorth America, has agreed with IBM to extend the collaboration toseveral sectors in France, Germany, and the United Kingdom, as well asthe retail sector in North America.

BusinessObjects(TM) XI, the industry most advanced and completebusiness intelligence platform, includes everything companies need totrack, understand, and manage their enterprise performance --including data integration, reporting, query and analysis, andperformance management solutions. With BusinessObjects XI, small andmedium companies can gain extreme insight into their business tooptimize performance and improve decision making.

Small and medium businesses can utilize Business Objects solutionsto access information on-demand to improve enterprise performance. Thecombination of BusinessObjects XI with IBM DB2(R) Universal Databaseon Linux and WebSphere(R) Application Server provides customers in theSMB market with solutions that offer fast time to value. As part ofthe program, Business Objects will work closely with IBM to expand itsvisibility in the targeted vertical industries through a variety ofco-marketing and sales activities.

"Small and medium sized companies have made it clear they want tobenefit from the powerful insight provided by business intelligence,"said Jon Dorrington, vice president of alliances at Business Objects."By expanding our collaboration with IBM, we increase our ability toreach these companies with solutions that meet their business andbudget needs. Business Objects BI solutions are robust, reliable, andeasy to deploy. Using BusinessObjects XI, SMB organizations around theworld can enjoy the rapid return on investment that comes from usingBI to optimize performance."

"Business Objects and IBM have delivered powerful integratedsolutions to meet the business intelligence needs of enterprisecustomers," said Lesley Norris, Director of ISV & Developer Relations,IBM Europe, Middle East & Africa. "Together, we are making it easierfor more small and medium businesses to rapidly obtain the benefitsthat come from business intelligence solutions."

The IBM WebSphere and DB2 family includes products that aredesigned and priced specifically for small and medium businesses. Theyare easy to install and manage, scalable to grow with a business, richin functionality, and based on open standards to allow integrationwith existing software and hardware platforms.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI)software company. With more than 30,000 customers worldwide, includingover 80 percent of the Fortune 500, Business Objects helpsorganizations gain better insight into their business, improvedecision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company'sbusiness intelligence platform, BusinessObjects(TM) XI, offers the BIindustry's most advanced and complete platform for reporting, queryand analysis, performance management, and data integration.BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports(R), the industry standardfor enterprise reporting. Business Objects has built the industry'sstrongest and most diverse partner community, and also offersconsulting and education services to help customers effectively deploytheir business intelligence projects.

Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., andParis, France. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ)and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB) stock exchanges. Moreinformation about Business Objects can be found atwww.businessobjects.com.

Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects,WebIntelligence, Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, CrystalAnalysis, RapidMarts, and BusinessQuery are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of Business Objects S.A. or its affiliated companies in theUnited States and/or other countries. IBM, the IBM Business Partneremblem, DB2, DB2 Universal Database, PartnerWorld and WebSphere aretrademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation in the UnitedStates, other countries, or both. All other names mentioned herein maybe trademarks of their respective owners.