Centerpulse Selects Business Objects for End-to-end Business Intelligence Solution

Solution Helps Medical Device Provider Track, Understand, and Manage
Key Performance Metrics from Multiple Data Sources

SAN JOSE, Calif. – May 5, 2003 -- Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ), the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that Centerpulse
(NYSE: CEP) has selected Business Objects for its end-to-end business intelligence solution. Centerpulse, a worldwide provider of medical and dental implantable Products, will use Business Objects to track, understand, and manage key performance metrics from multiple data sources throughout the organization.

The solution combines the power of Business Objects query, reporting, and analysis Products – BusinessObjects™ and WebIntelligence® -- with its enterprise-class data integration Product, BusinessObjects™ Data Integrator. Centerpulse required a solution that could access and integrate data from multiple sources, including Oracle Applications, Manugistics, and a variety of externally purchased datasets including demographic and market share statistics.

End-to-end with One Vendor
“Business Objects is a more complete solution,” said Michael Porter, data warehouse project manager at Centerpulse. “It’s far superior in enabling us to integrate data from all the sources we use, apply the precise analysis we require, then produce the reports that are the most useful to our users. It’s a true end-to-end solution – a single way to deliver vital data from all sources to all users -- and we are seeing a greater return on investment in key parts of our information infrastructure.”

“Centerpulse is a great example of how we are delivering on our vision of end-to-end business intelligence,” said Dave Kellogg, senior group vice president of worldwide marketing at Business Objects. “More and more, companies are selecting Business Objects as their enterprise standard because they recognize there is only one vendor that can offer best-of-breed in both data integration and business intelligence Products. One vendor, one integrated suite of Products, and one support and maintenance path, to help them reach and exceed their enterprise performance goals.”

In the project’s first phase, Centerpulse is using the solution at its Orthopedic and Dental Divisions. A customer of Business Objects since the early 1990s, Centerpulse is working toward complete data integration, reporting on performance data – sales, demographics, and market share -- from a data warehouse and third-party sources.

About Centerpulse
Centerpulse is one of the world’s leading medical technology companies with more than 1 billion CHF (US$744 million) in sales. The company, which develops medical devices, instruments and biomaterials for the global health care market, became publicly traded in 1997 (NYSE: CEP / Zurich Stock Exchange: CEP). Centerpulse is headquartered in Zurich and has three business units: Orthopedics in Winterthur, Switzerland and Austin, Texas; Spine in Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Dental in Carlsbad, California. More information is located at www.centerpulse.com.

About Business Objects
Business Objects is the world's leading provider of enterprise business intelligence (BI) solutions. 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 management dashboards and scorecards, enterprise performance management applications, customer intelligence applications, enterprise reporting, 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.

Business Objects provides the industry's most integrated business intelligence suite, called BusinessObjects Enterprise 6. This suite includes the industry's best web query, reporting, and analysis; the most advanced and complete suite of analytic applications; and the best connectivity to packaged applications.

Business Objects has more than 17,500 customers in over 80 countries. The company's stock is publicly traded under the ticker symbols NASDAQ: BOBJ and Euronext Paris (Euroclear 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