SAN JOSE, Calif., Dec. 28, 2004 -- Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250-BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that Edward Hospital & Health Services has selected Business Objects as its enterprise business intelligence standard. Edward, an innovative healthcare provider recently named one of the nation's "Most Wired" by the journal of the American Hospital Association, selected Business Objects solutions over Cognos ReportNet, citing faster report development, more flexible drill-down capabilities, and ease of use as the main factors in its decision. Edward uses Business Objects solutions to analyze financial, human resources, and patient data in order to track, understand, and manage enterprise performance.

Serving the western suburbs of Chicago, Edward operates out of 24 locations, handles approximately 434,000 patient visits each year, and manages the services of 800 physicians. Edward has deployed a customized business intelligence dashboard powered by BusinessObjects(TM) Dashboard Manager to improve billing and better manage patient accounts. Edward uses BusinessObjects Data Integrator to move patient billing information into a datamart. Then, the patient accounts group at Edward can manage accounts more efficiently by receiving alerts when problems occur in the collections process and drilling down into reports to pursue late payments. This helps Edward improve cash flow within the hospital. Using Business Objects solutions, reports that previously took two hours to create, are now available in less than 20 minutes. This has eliminated employee's reliance on the IT department to generate reports, as users are able to directly query data and build their own reports. PIOCON Technologies, a Business Objects partner, worked with Edward to implement this solution and insure its success.

The human resources team at Edward is using Business Objects to perform ad-hoc query and reporting on personnel data. In addition, customization was made to the data warehouse to allow human resources access to historical data for tracking transfers and terminations. Another project improved Edward's Balanced Scorecard to include a database with a Business Objects report, delivering the metrics in an electronic format. Future development includes a management dashboard with planned delivery of a monthly financial packet to over 120 managers in the organization.

As part of the business intelligence strategy at Edward, the organization has created a Business Intelligence Steering Committee that has instituted a series of best practices for implementing BI where and when it is most needed. The committee reviews all proposed BI development for value and feasibility. Making sure the selected projects support the goals of the corporations' strategic plan allows Edward to remain focused on areas which serve their current needs.

"We required a business intelligence solution that would satisfy the needs of our most demanding power users while still remaining accessible to everyone," said Mary Schulte, manager of IT programming Services at Edward Hospital & Health Services. "Business Objects offers depth and flexibility along with a clear vision on how the company's products will meet all our future business intelligence needs."

"Most health services organizations today recognize that improving patient care and controlling costs depend on efficient access to information," said Chris Caren, vice president of corporate marketing at Business Objects. "Tech-savvy organizations such Edward Hospital and Health Services know that Business Objects offers the most complete, most flexible business intelligence solution on the market -- and that is the key to unlocking access to valuable corporate information."

About Edward Hospital

Edward Hospital & Health Services is a full service, regional healthcare provider with more than 3,900 employees serving residents of the western suburbs of Chicago including Naperville, Bolingbrook, Plainfield, Lisle, Woodridge, Aurora/Fox Valley, Romeoville and Warrenville. Edward has earned a reputation as a leader in complex medical specialties and innovative programming including revolutionary imaging technology; care for the most critically ill newborns, minimally invasive surgery, the latest mind and body classes, beating heart surgery, in vitro fertilization, and access to the latest clinical trials for cancer and heart disease. Caring for patients at Edward are more than 800 physicians, which include independent members of the medical staff, employed physicians and independent contractors. For more information, visit www.edward.org.

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 29,000 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.

Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects and Crystal Enterprise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. or its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries.

Sherry Lowe, 408-953-6038 
sherry.lowe@businessobjects.com 
or
Eastwick Communications
Erin McCabe, 650-480-4016 
erin@eastwick.com