Home Interiors and Gifts Makes Business Objects Its Business Intelligence Standard

Leading Direct Seller of Gift Items Adopts Business Intelligence to Track Sales Performance of Hundreds of Products

SAN JOSE, Calif. - August 16, 2004 -- Business Objects, (Nasdaq: BOBJ Euronext Paris ISIN code FR0004026250-BOB), the world's leading provider of business intelligence (BI) solutions, today announced that Home Interiors and Gifts, one of the nation's largest suppliers of decorative accessories and gift items, has implemented Business Objects solutions as its enterprise business intelligence standard. Home Interiors has also implemented BusinessObjects Data Integrator, the industry's first real-time and batch data integration product designed to simplify and speed data movement and data sharing across the enterprise, to ensure its users are always working with the most credible and up-to-date information.

Home Interiors & Gifts helps consumers achieve perfect balance and a wonderful sense of unity in their homes with exclusive decorative elements. Founded in 1957 by Mary Crowley, a pioneer in her day, the company has grown to nearly 100,000 Decorating Consultants across the country, representing 11 different product categories. Business Objects solutions enable Home Interiors to monitor daily sales and product inventory levels, which ultimately translates into increased profitability.

In addition, with BusinessObjects Data Integrator, Home Interiors has created a data mart that pulls a wide array of information from its JD Edwards system and then makes the data accessible via web-based, highly customizable Business Objects reports.

“Our organization is very focused on key metrics. That's why implementing Business Objects is so important for us,” said Alan Boyer, vice president of information technology for Home Interiors and Gifts. “But we're also excited about the long-term possibilities presented by having BI in place. We feel Business Objects will help us do better business.”

“In every business it is insight that ultimately leads to profit, but for retailers and consumer goods firms this is especially true,” said Russ Hill, director, worldwide CPG and retail industry marketing at Business Objects. “That is why it is so exciting for us to see clients like Home Interiors embrace a whole platform BI approach that emphasizes both customizable reporting and data integration."

About Home Interiors and Gifts
Home Interiors & Gifts, Inc. is a member of the Direct Selling Association, and markets exclusive home decorative products through non-employee, independent decorating consultants in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Canada. Founded in 1957, the Dallas-based company reported sales of more than $617 million in 2003. Home Interiors & Gifts' premium brands include Thomas Kinkade, Boehm at Home(tm) and the Better Homes and Gardens(tm) Collection. For more information, please visit Home Interiors on the Web at www.homeinteriors.com.

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 gain better insight into their business, improve decision making, and optimize enterprise performance. The company's business intelligence platform, BusinessObjects™ XI, offers the BI industry's most complete and trusted platform for performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and data integration. BusinessObjects XI includes Crystal Reports®, the industry standard for enterprise reporting. Business Objects has built the industry's strongest and most diverse partner community, and also 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.

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Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports, and Crystal Enterprise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the United States and other countries.


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