Business Objects and IBM Expand Strategic Alliance in Asia Pacific

Business Objects and IBM Expand Strategic Alliance in Asia Pacific

Mumbai, May 31, 2007 ? Business Objects (Nasdaq: BOBJ; Euronext Paris ISIN code: FR0004026250 – BOB) today announced a significant expansion of their strategic alliance with IBM (NYSE: IBM) to co-develop, sell and implement joint Information on Demand solutions, to customers in more than 15 countries across Asia Pacific.

As part of the agreement, Business Objects is leading with IBM hardware and software for all new joint sales opportunities and the two companies intend to provide localized support for new and existing mid-market and enterprise customers throughout the region. IBM and Business Objects will also increase their sales, marketing and technical support in an effort to expand their joint customer base. IBM and Business Objects have more than 1000 joint customers currently in Asia Pacific. Business opportunities in the region that the two companies are jointly working on in this quarter have increased five times over the previous quarter alone.

The two companies aim to capture the growing market share in more than 15 countries throughout Asia Pacific, including: Australia, New Zealand, China, India, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea and Japan.

Research firm IDC estimated information-technology spending by small and medium to large-sized businesses in the Asia Pacific region, excluding Japan, will reach US $66 billion in 2010 from US$43 billion in 2005.

Together, IBM and Business Objects will focus on capturing this growing market opportunity by bringing innovative solutions targeted at customers in industries such as manufacturing, financial services, government, healthcare and life sciences. This expanded relationship is also focused on helping customers embrace Information On Demand in an effort to unlock and extract value from information to globalize and integrate their business processes.

With today’s announcement, the two companies are increasing investment in the areas of joint solution development, tighter product integration and global industry support. Building upon their twelve-year relationship with more than 8000 joint customers worldwide, this agreement is comprised of several key initiatives in the Asia Pacific market, including:

? IBM intends to provide increased sales and technical coverage for Business Objects solutions in Asia Pacific.

? Business Objects will work closely with IBM to train IBM technical experts on Business Objects technology solutions.

? Joint commitment to expand activities addressing the Asia Pacific mid-market, including joint channel initiatives focused on these customers.

? Expansion of end-to-end joint marketing, sales, and solution delivery activities to address the Asia Pacific enterprise-market.

? Joint investment in the development of industry specific solutions for Asia Pacific, including credit card analysis for the retail banking business.

? Joint development by IBM and Business Objects in Shanghai and Bangalore to provide localized products for Asia Pacific markets.

? Business Objects is leading with IBM hardware and software, including IBM Information Management products, for all new sales opportunities.

The commitment to tighten product integration, and increase the sharing of knowledge, training, and engineering resources will now enable the two companies to increase their focus on delivering an enhanced experience to their joint customers.

“This alliance is a significant step forward in our relationship with IBM, allowing us to deliver innovative solutions throughout Asia Pacific,” said Keith Budge, senior vice president & general manager, Asia Pacific Japan, Business Objects. “This is one of the world’s fastest growing regions to do business in and this alliance will help us work closely with IBM to tap the tremendous opportunity available. Our customers will also undoubtedly see better integration of their solutions and, consequently, increased return on their investments.”

Momentum between the two companies continues to accelerate, including new initiatives for mid-sized businesses and organizations. Recently, IBM launched IBM Balanced Warehouse? C1000, an information integration, content delivery, and reporting solution for the mid-market. This is a pre-integrated, pre-tested solution with an easy, single-install format, and will be available across Asia Pacific from IBM and Business Objects channel partners.

“Our strategic alliance with Business Objects allows companies to leverage Information on Demand across their entire enterprise, giving them that extra competitive edge in this fast growing Asia Pacific market”, said Terry Hopkins, vice president, Solutions, IBM Asia Pacific. “Together, Business Objects and IBM provide robust end-to-end business intelligence solutions for SMBs, also meeting the needs of large companies by scaling across the enterprise for successful business intelligence deployments.”

For additional information on Business Objects solutions for IBM, please visit: www.businessobjects.com/ibm.

About IBM

For more information about IBM, please visit www.ibm.com/informationondemand.

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 43,000 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. www.businessobjects.com.

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