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.

Business Objects History

From http://www.businessobjects.com/company/overview/history.asp

In 1990, Business Objects was founded in Paris.
In 1991, we signed our first customer, France Telecom, after they viewed a prototype of our first product. Today, France Telecom has deployed Business Objects across its enterprise to over 45,000 users.
By 1992, we were already profitable.
In 1994, we launched BusinessObjects v3.0 and went public on the NASDAQ - the first European company in history to do so.
In 1995, Business Objects was the first to focus on enterprise-scale business intelligence (BI) deployments.
In 1996, we entered the OLAP market and launched BusinessObjects v4.0. Bernard Liautaud was named one of Business Week's "Hottest Entrepreneurs of the Year."
In 1997, we crossed the $100M chasm, pioneered the BI extranet market, and introduced BusinessObjects Web Intelligence.
In 1999, our No. 1 customer today, General Electric (GE), started working with us. This year, we also went public in France on the Premier Marché.
In 2000, we delivered the industry's first interactive mobile BI solution.
In 2001, we opened our San Jose, Calif., office and SAP signed an OEM and reseller agreement to bundle Crystal Reports.
In 2002, we acquired Blue Edge Software and Acta Technologies. Bernard Liautaud was named to Business Week's "Stars of Europe," and the company was named one of the "100 Fastest Growing Tech Companies" by Business 2.0. Leading direct retailer Lands' End also deployed one of the first executive dashboards, which resulted in a one-third reduction in lost sales over the year.
In 2003, we acquired Crystal Decisions. We also released Dashboard Manager, BusinessObjects Enterprise 6, and BusinessObjects Performance Manager.
In 2004, we launched our new combined company with the slogan, "Our Future is Clear, Crystal Clear." We launched Crystal v10 and BusinessObjects v6.5 in 2004, too.
In 2005, we became a billion-dollar company and John Schwarz joined us as chief executive officer. We also launched BusinessObjects XI and Crystal Xcelsius, acquired SRC Software, Medience, and Infommersion, and celebrated 15 years of growth and success.
In 2006, we acquired Firstlogic, Inc., Armstrong Laing Limited (ALG), and nSite. We also released crystalreports.com and BusinessObjects Data Quality XI.
In the first half of 2007, we have so far: expanded our mid-market product line, completed the acquisition of Cartesis, launched a climate change initiative called Insight.businessobjects.com in partnership with not-for-profit Zerofootprint, and unveiled our new branding, 'Let There Be Light', with a 24 Hours of Light Web event about the power of collective intelligence in action.