Crystal Decisions and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Form Strategic Alliance to Deliver Market Leading Business Intelligence Solutions

PALO ALTO, Calif.-September 24, 2003-Crystal Decisions, a leading provider of business intelligence software and services, announced today an alliance agreement with Cap Gemini Ernst & Young US LLC (CGE&Y), a member firm of one of the world's largest independent management and IT consulting organizations. The strategic partnership is based on a collective 20 years of business intelligence (BI) experience and will encompass joint product development, co-marketing, and reseller capabilities. As part of the agreement, CGE&Y will maintain a core team of consultants certified in Crystal Decisions products, and proactively market joint solutions to its customers.

"We are excited to form this important new alliance with Crystal Decisions," said Brian J. Queenin, Vice President and Global Leader of the CGE&Y Business Intelligence practice. "We have had great success in our previous BI engagements with Crystal Decisions and we are looking forward to greatly expanding the relationship. By teaming with Crystal Decisions, we can provide our customers with the top-notch BI solutions they need to improve their performance and race ahead of the competition."

The new alliance will help expose a broader range of organizations to the power of Crystal Decisions' enterprise reporting solutions. Together, Crystal Decisions and CGE&Y are rolling out the BI Index to customers globally. The BI Index is a jointly developed solution that shows organizations where they stand in terms of their BI readiness and integration. Customers are taken through a 6-step process to help them define, predict and measure the value of a proposed BI initiative. Additionally, they learn how to effectively leverage analytical, reporting and predictive capabilities across their organizations and monitor their return on investment through a built-in ROI calculator.

"We are excited about this alliance agreement with CGE&Y, especially as it is based on a series of successful customer wins and the creation of a common go-to-market strategy around the BI Index," said Miles Mahoney, Vice President of Worldwide System Integration Alliances, Crystal Decisions. "The combination of CGE&Y's domain expertise with Crystal Decisions' technology will provide companies with a solid foundation to maximize their return on data investments as they use enterprise business intelligence to deliver cost savings and improve the accuracy of business decisions."

About Cap Gemini Ernst & Young

The Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Group is one of the world's largest providers of Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing services. The company helps businesses implement growth strategies and leverage technology. The organization employs approximately 52,700 people worldwide and reported 2002 global revenues of more than 7,04 billion euros. More information about individual service lines, offices and research is available at www.cgey.com.

ABOUT CRYSTAL DECISIONS

Crystal Decisions is a leading global provider of business intelligence software and services with more than 15 million licenses shipped. Since 1984, Crystal Decisions has powered winning organizations with one of the fastest ways for employees, partners and customers to access the information they need to make the best decisions and ultimately reduce costs and increase productivity. The Crystal brand is among the most trusted names in enterprise reporting and more than 360 Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have standardized on Crystal Decisions' solutions. Headquartered in Palo Alto, Calif., Crystal Decisions has more than 25 offices worldwide and can be found on the Internet at www.crystaldecisions.com.

Contact:

Tim O'Keeffe
Ruder Finn/Switzer
415.249.6763
okeefft@ruderfinnswitzer.com