Business Objects Designs the Future of Business Intelligence with Business Objects Labs

New Research Team Provides Customers, Partners, and Developers with Early Access to Next-Generation Business Objects Innovations

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif - Business Objects Insight 2006 – November 7, 2006 - Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the formation of Business Objects Labs, a new team dedicated to the innovation and creation of next-generation business intelligence solutions. The purpose of Business Objects Labs is to work collaboratively with customers, partners, and developers to explore new technologies that could be included in future software releases from Business Objects. The team, which consists of engineers at several sites around the world, is focused on leveraging emerging technologies to deliver innovations that continue to simplify and extend the value of BI to more people. As part of this collaborative, customer-centric approach, Business Objects invites customers, partners, and suppliers to visit the Labs website at http://labs.businessobjects.com to download software prototypes and provide feedback to the team.

"The worlds of technology, media, and global commerce are going through a massive transformation," said Bernard Liautaud, founder, chairman of the board, and chief strategy officer at Business Objects. "And nowhere is this more evident than in business intelligence, where a BI 2.0 revolution is taking place. At Business Objects, we are leading this revolution, which consists of five components – the user experience, the community, the network, the applications, and the platform. The Business Objects Labs are the vanguard in this revolution: by developing technologies along these five areas, we will continue to shape the future of business intelligence. By applying emerging technologies like mashups, search, and web-collaboration, we can dramatically simplify and increase the value of BI to more users, and in so doing allow people to use business intelligence to transform the way the world works. We encourage customers, partners, and developers to join us and participate in designing this future."

Following are some of the innovations that Business Objects Labs has delivered or is working on now. Bernard Liautaud highlighted several of these innovations and concepts during his keynote address today at Business Objects Insight 2006, in San Francisco.

Business Intelligence Search - One of the first innovations from the Business Objects Labs team to be added to the company's flagship platform BusinessObjects XI Release 2 Productivity Suite, Business Objects has delivered a business intelligence search solution that seamlessly integrates BI and search technologies. These solutions, integrated with technology from enterprise search and text analytics partners, enable people to easily find critical business information across structured and unstructured data. In addition, the Labs team is now working on new "data discovery" technologies which provided sophisticated guided exploration for people who want to browse information to find answers to business questions. (Read November 6 press release: "Business Objects Redefines Business Intelligence Search").
Instant Messenger Business Intelligence - This innovation leverages IM technology to make business intelligence more real-time, ubiquitous, and collaborative. By enabling collaboration on BI information, organizations can significantly increase the value of their BI systems. For instance, a sales team could have an IM discussion over a dashboard that shows sales performance below objectives, thereby speeding the process for establishing the next steps for addressing the situation.
Graphics Mashups and "Mashboards" - Business Objects Labs is applying the "mashup" concept to greatly extend and enhance the ways in which BI can be applied. For instance, a retailer could overlay inventory data onto third party mapping software, such as Google Maps. The user can then drill down on various stores on the maps, to understand inventory or demand levels at a particular location.
Ambient Business Intelligence - Business Objects Labs is also focused on making BI actionable and available anywhere, on any device. The team has developed a prototype for mobile BI, which allows users to interact and respond to data in real-time from a mobile device. The team is also creating a series of "widgets," which are stripped down versions of the BI infrastructure that can be accessed from wherever an information worker operates – the desktop, a spreadsheet, presentation, or email.

"While the Labs team is focused on creativity and innovation, it is also based on business value and market demand," said Herve Couturier, senior vice president, products at Business Objects. "We are taking an open, customer-centric approach to the work we do in Labs. We actively seek and include customer and partner participation in the Lab team's development process, and this in the end will yield more targeted, market-ready solutions. Our customers and partners will join us as change agents – by combining our market leading BI platform with a wide array of emerging technologies, we will deliver solutions that will continue to redefine business intelligence."

Technologies available on Business Objects Labs range from early prototypes of new product concepts to toolkits, individual components, and other interesting ideas from the Labs team or Business Objects customers, partners, and developers. Depending on customer feedback and market opportunity, some of the technologies on Labs may result in new products or become part of existing ones, while others will continue to be hosted on the Labs website mainly as a resource to the broader community.

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.

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Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, WebIntelligence, Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, Crystal Analysis, RapidMarts, and BusinessQuery are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. or its affiliated companies in the United States and/or other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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