Business Objects Polestar Guides the Way to Information Discovery

Business Objects (NASDAQ:BOBJ) (Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 - BOB), the world’s leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced the launch of BusinessObjects™ Polestar, the first solution that brings together the simplicity and speed of search with the trust and analytical power of business intelligence to provide immediate answers. Through easy search and exploration, more information workers will be empowered to quickly find relevant information sprawled across their enterprise data landscape, extending the power and insight of business intelligence. ”Internet search engines have simplified the discovery of information and documents scattered across scores of machines worldwide in mere seconds,” said Juliette Sultan, vice-president, Information Discovery and Delivery, Business Objects. "Yet, until now, business users have not had a self-service tool to similarly explore corporate data stored on the systems in their company data center. BusinessObjects Polestar will change that. Workers will be able to employ familiar keyword search to discover meaningful information hidden in data sources across their organization, increasing productivity and confidence in decision-making.” BusinessObjects Polestar represents the first milestone in an ongoing effort to dramatically transform the business intelligence experience. Polestar allows users to more intuitively navigate information outside the boundaries of existing business intelligence content and reports. Future planned projects, including Constellation and Galaxy, will continue to advance the user experience and help companies harness the power of BI to differentiate themselves and their products. Search and Analysis, Simplified BusinessObjects Polestar users will be able to simply enter a few search keywords to find the most relevant information instantly from across all of their applications and data sources – with no previous reports or metrics required. Like internet search, Polestar will index the data stored in organizational sources for rapid user search and exploration. Information workers will benefit from this self-service discovery without needing to understand the data, where it is located, or how it is structured. Polestar presents the most relevant requested information first, and complements it with additional contextually relevant details. The experience becomes as easy as browsing an online store. For example, a wine distributor would like to better understand purchasing behavior of wines over various regions. A search on ’wine sales region‘ returns a dynamically created chart which shows revenues of wine across organizational regions. Because it is contextually aware, Polestar can automatically display sales by year, and enable the distributor to switch her view from revenue to inventory, to iteratively browse through new characteristics like sweetness, and to spontaneously drill to more granular details like types of wine and sub-regions. As she navigates through new information, relevant choices are presented to her, providing immediate and meaningful answers. Secure, Trustworthy, and Deployable in Days BusinessObjects Polestar will build on top of BusinessObjects XI infrastructure, services, and capabilities. BI platform security is applied across all searches and exploration ensuring users will only have access to permitted data. User search results and exploration will leverage BusinessObjects universes and common business terms that have been standardized across the business and with which people are comfortable and familiar. This single view of the truth, along with trusted data quality, integration, and reliable platform services enables user trust and confidence in decision-making. By increasing self-service BI and maintaining IT control, Polestar can reduce IT backlog. Polestar leverages existing Business Objects investments – reusing existing security, metadata, and other BI platform services – which means it is easy to administer, and quick to deploy, often in a matter of days. "With Polestar, Business Objects combines the simplicity of search with the power of BI to offer an iTunes-like interface that will appeal to a currently underserved segment of BI users,” said Cindi Howson, founder of BI Scorecard. "This latest innovation is an exciting step towards pervasive BI.” "BusinessObjects Polestar represents the latest exciting milestone in our ongoing mission to radically enhance our customers’ experience of BI,” said Sultan. "We are on a journey to bring the future of business intelligence to the present -- through this innovative product, and many more to come – signaling a new frontier of intelligent information for everyone.” Availability BusinessObjects Polestar general availability is expected in December, 2007. To learn more about BusinessObjects Polestar, please visit: http://www.businessobjects.com/products/queryanalysis/polestar. Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements that are based on assumptions regarding product release dates and features which will be included. However, these statements are not guarantees of the date of availability, which may be delayed or cancelled, or of the availability of features mentioned which may be changed or removed prior to release. Statement such as "expected” denote a forward-looking statement, and the word "launch” refers to pre-release marketing activities and does not denote general availability. More information about potential factors that could affect Business Objects' business is included in Business Objects' Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2007, which is on file with the SEC and available at the SEC's website at www.sec.gov. Business Objects is not obligated to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date of this press release. About Business Objects 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 44,000 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. The Business Objects logo and BusinessObjects 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.