University of Michigan Standardizes on Business Objects; BusinessObjects XI Release 2 to Help...

SAN JOSE, Calif. & PARIS -- Business Objects (Nasdaq:BOBJ)(Euronext Paris ISIN code:FR0004026250 - BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that the University of Michigan has standardized on Business Objects. The University of Michigan,

a Business Objects customer since 1998, plans to expand its existing deployment and migrate to BusinessObjects(TM) XI Release 2. By using the industry's most advanced and complete BI platform, administrators and faculty hope to be able to predict course demand, forecast future state and federal aid, and improve decision making. The University also selected BusinessObjects Dashboard Manager to help executives and other non-technical users analyze data and manage performance.

"For the past eight years, Business Objects has been the backbone of our BI solution and we hope that upgrading to BusinessObjects XI Release 2 will help us gain greater visibility and control over key performance indicators," said Laura Patterson, associate vice president for Administrative Information Services at the University of Michigan. "We believe that a planned approach for the entire University is in our collective best interest. Business Objects enables us to measure critical data, communicate our findings, and manage more strategically. We plan to use Business Objects as a core business process as we build a more agile institution. Ultimately, we hope this will enable us to better serve our students, staff, and faculty."

At the forefront of higher education, the University of Michigan is aligning their technology infrastructure with business goals. To further that strategy the University created the Advisors on Information Management Strategy (AIMS) board, a federation of BI user groups from across the campus. AIMS helps the University to centrally steer its BI deployment while developing standards and best practices for BI. As part of its university-wide BI strategy, AIMS will help the University of Michigan migrate to BusinessObjects XI Release 2. The group will also identify other areas where the University could fully leverage Business Objects.

Currently, the University of Michigan relies on Business Objects to access and analyze information from across the university, including student recruiting and admission, financial aid, human resources, procurement, and facilities management. This information comes from a variety of sources, including Peoplesoft(R) and legacy systems. There are approximately 2,500 Business Objects users within the University of Michigan today, and the university expects this number to increase as the deployment expands.

"Like many public institutions, the University of Michigan is developing a BI center of excellence to help them achieve their fiscal and academic goals," said Jay Johnson, Vice President of the Government Business Unit at Business Objects. "Limited funding, new reporting requirements, and increased competition mean universities must function more like businesses. Since our collaboration began, Michigan recognized a tremendous business performance improvement across all departments and schools in terms of reporting, forecasting and tracking finances."

About The University of Michigan

The University of Michigan, with its size, complexity, and academic strength, the breadth of its scholarly resources and the quality of its faculty and students, is one of America's great public universities and one of the world's premiere research institutions. The University is a community of outstanding faculty, talented students, and committed staff who learn and work in a stimulating intellectual environment enriched by diverse cultural and social opportunities. The University was founded in 1817 and has campuses in Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint.

Enrollment on the Ann Arbor campus totals nearly 39,000.

About Business Objects

Business Objects is the world's leading business intelligence (BI) software company, with more than 35,000 customers worldwide, including over 80 percent of the Fortune 500. Business Objects helps organizations of all sizes create a trusted foundation for decision making, gain better insight into their business, and optimize performance. The company's innovative business intelligence suite, BusinessObjects(TM) XI, offers the BI industry's most advanced and complete solution for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and enterprise information management. BusinessObjects XI includes the award-winning Crystal line of reporting and data visualization software. Business Objects has also built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and offers consulting and education services to help customers effectively deploy their business intelligence projects.

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, 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.