Business Objects Again Named the Worldwide Market Share Leader in Business Intelligence by Leading Industry Analyst Firm

Report Says Business Intelligence Continues to be an Area of High Priority and Increased Spending for Organizations

SAN JOSE, Calif. and PARIS - Oct. 2, 2006 - Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that it has once again been named the business intelligence (BI) market share leader, according to the 2005 BI platform market share report issued this week by Gartner. With software revenues of $813.8 million, Business Objects owns a 20 percent share of the business intelligence market. Gartner defines total BI software revenue as revenue generated from new licenses, updates, subscriptions and hosting, technical support, and maintenance.

In the September 2006 report, "Market Share: Business Intelligence Platforms, Worldwide, 2005," Gartner found that Business Objects BI platform revenue grew to a total of $813.8 million. Gartner also reported the market for business intelligence platforms increased 15.5 percent, which was nearly $4.0 billion in 2005. The market was driven by larger parts of IT budgets being freed up for data management initiatives.

"BI continues to be an area of high priority and increasing spending for organizations that are looking to improve decision making on the data collected from processes, people, and applications," said Dan Sommer, Senior Research Analyst at Gartner. "Two recent surveys underline the strong demand that has resulted in market growth: In a Gartner Dataquest study examining the top priorities of CIOs for 2006, BI was identified as having the largest increase in priority for CIOs in the next fiscal year. BI initiatives are extending beyond power users, analysts and executives into users and processes previously unfamiliar with these solutions. The need from organizations to adhere to external drivers such as transparency of reporting and compliance, together with internal needs for 'one version of the truth,' has led to a push by vendors to consolidate and standardize their product platforms to enable enterprise wide deployments."

"Our customers continue to choose Business Objects over other BI vendors because we are commited to a complete solution that meets the entire spectrum of business intelligence requirements. Our attention to quality, innovation, and ease of use has made us the clear leader in the overall BI market for the past ten years," said John Schwarz, chief executive officer at Business Objects. "We continue to deliver groundbreaking new products, like BusinessObjects™ XI Release 2, the industry's most productive BI platform. We understand our customers' industry-specific challenges and their need to extend BI to all users - for large enterprises and small organizations alike."

About Business Objects, an SAP company

Business Objects has been a pioneer in business intelligence (BI) since the dawn of the category. Today, as the world's leading BI software company, Business Objects transforms the way the world works through intelligent information. The company helps illuminate understanding and decision-making at more than 46,000 organizations around the globe. Through a combination of innovative technology, global consulting and education services, and the industry's strongest and most diverse partner network, Business Objects enables companies of all sizes to make transformative business decisions based on intelligent, accurate, and timely information.

Business Objects has dual headquarters in San Jose, Calif., and Paris, France. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq (BOBJ) and Euronext Paris (ISIN: FR0004026250 - BOB) stock exchanges. More information about Business Objects can be found at www.businessobjects.com.

Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects and Crystal Reports are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects in the United States and/or other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Note that Business Objects had no ability to influence Gartner's results and does not endorse or adopt projections made by Gartner.

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The Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Intelligent Question, and Xcelsius are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects in the United States and/or other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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