SAN JOSE, Calif. – October 14, 2004 – Business Objects, the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that the beta version of BusinessObjects 11 is available and began shipping to beta program customers in early October, 2004. BusinessObjects 11 is the next major release of the Business Objects business intelligence product line, including reporting, query and analysis, performance management, analytics, and data integration.

"In addition to delivering complete platform integration across the entire product line, BusinessObjects 11 will provide exciting new innovations that will make business intelligence available to a much broader set of people," said Bernard Liautaud, chairman and chief executive officer of Business Objects. "This is a significant milestone that demonstrates that Business Objects continues to execute on its product roadmap."

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 26,000 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

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

Rachel Levine 
Eastwick Communications 
1991 Broadway St., Ste. 330 
Redwood City, CA 94063 
Phone: 650-480-4017 
Fax: 650-480-4045 
Email: rachel@eastwick.com 

Randy Cairns                
BUSINESS OBJECTS                
408/953-6036                
randy.cairns@businessobjects.com

Erin McCabe
EASTWICK COMMUNICATIONS                
650/480-4016
erin@eastwick.com