Business Objects Ranked as Highest Independent Business Intelligence Vendor by Readers of DM Review

Company Listed in The Top Five on The DM Review 100

San Jose, Calif. - November 3, 2003 -- Business Objects, the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that readers of DM Review have named Business Objects the highest ranked independent business intelligence vendor in the DM Review 100, the magazine’s annual ranking of the best business intelligence companies. Business Objects is among the top five on the list, and is joined by IBM Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, and Hewlett-Packard/Compaq.

“We are extremely pleased to once again be ranked among the top companies by readers of DM Review,” said Bernard Liautaud, CEO of Business Objects. “This ranking clearly reflects our company’s position as the leading provider of software for organizations that want to improve enterprise performance. As the use of Analytics becomes a critical success factor in the global economy, corporations and government organizations are turning to Business Objects for integrated, easy-to-deploy solutions.”

“We had a very strong field of BI competitors, and our readers obviously appreciate the comprehensive features, tight integration, and user accessibility of Business Objects products,” said Jean Schauer, editor in chief of DM Review. “Business Objects moved into the top five companies this year – an achievement indicative of their commitment to providing quality products for their customers.”

The DM Review 100 is based on the results of a product usage and vendor rating survey of DM Review readers conducted via the internet by The Gantry Group LLC., an independent strategic advisory firm. Survey respondents were presented with a questionnaire that examined more than 225 vendors for product quality, market share, and customer satisfaction. DM Review is the premier publication for business intelligence and analytic applications. The complete list of 2003 DM Review 100 award winners can be found at http://www.dmreview.com/awards/top100/2003

About DM Review and Thomson Media

DM Review is recognized as the premier business intelligence, business performance management and data warehousing publication. For more than a decade, DM Review has provided thought-provoking and informative editorial covering strategic solutions for business intelligence, Analytics, data warehousing and CRM across all major industries. DM Review's authors and columnists are internationally recognized experts in a variety of business intelligence fields. DM Review editorial provides both business and technology perspectives regarding issues, trends and solutions of interest to corporate executives and IT managers. DM Review is published by Thomson Media (www.thomsonmedia.com), a division of The Thomson Corporation and a leading provider of information, data and software tools for professionals in the financial services and related technologies markets.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world’s leading business intelligence (BI) software company. Business Objects 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 with more than 16 million licenses of Crystal Reports shipped worldwide. 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 or www.businessobjects.com