Business Objects (a.k.a. BO, BOBJ) is a French enterprise software company, specializing in business intelligence (BI). Since 2007 is part of SAP AG. The company claims more than 42,000 customers worldwide. Their flagship product is BusinessObjects XI, with components that provide performance management, planning, reporting, query and analysis, and enterprise information management. Like many enterprise software companies, Business Objects also offers consulting and education services to help customers deploy their business intelligence projects.

History

Bernard Liautaud, the chairman and chief strategy officer co-founded Business Objects in 1990 together with Denis Payre and was chief executive officer until September 2005. In 1991, the first customer, France Télécom, was signed. The company went public on NASDAQ in September 1994, making it the first French software company listed in the United States.fact: date=September 2008 In 2002, the company made Time Magazine Europe's Digital Top 25 of 2002 and were ''BusinessWeek Europe Stars of Europe.

On 7 October 2007, SAP AG announced that it will acquire Business Objects for $6.8B. As of 22 January 2008, the corporation is fully operated by SAP; this is seen as part of a growing consolidation trend in the business software industry, with Oracle acquiring Hyperion in 2007 and IBM acquiring Cognos in 2008.

Business Objects had two headquarters in San Jose, California, and Paris, France despite the fact that the biggest office was in Vancouver, BC. The company's stock is traded on both the Nasdaq and Euronext Paris (BOB) stock exchanges.

Timeline

• 1990, launched BusinessObjects Skipper SQL 2.0.x
• 1994, launched BusinessObjects v3.0 and went public on the NASDAQ — the first European company in history to do so.
• 1995, Business Objects was the first to focus on enterprise-scale BI deployments.
• 1996, entered the OLAP market and launched BusinessObjects v4.0. Bernard Liautaud was named one of Business Week's "Hottest Entrepreneurs of the Year."
• 1997, crossed the $100M chasm and pioneered the business intelligence (BI) extranet market. Introduced WebIntelligence.
• 1999, its #1 customer today, General Electric (GE), started working with the company. Also went public in France on the Premier Marché. Acquired Next Action Technologies.
• 2000, delivered the industry's first interactive mobile BI solution. Acquired OLAP@Work.
• 2001, opened San Jose, Calif., office; and SAP signed an OEM and reseller agreement to bundle Crystal Reports. Acquired Blue Edge Software.
• 2002, acquired 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.
• 2003, acquired Crystal Decisions. Also released Dashboard Manager, BusinessObjects Enterprise 6, and BusinessObjects Performance Manager.
• 2004, launched new combined company with the slogan, "Our Future is Clear, Crystal Clear." Launched Crystal v10 and BusinessObjects v6.5
• 2005, launched BusinessObjects XI, acquired SRC Software, Infommersion, and Medience. Launched BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2.
• 2006, on 8 February 2006 Business Objects acquired Firstlogic, Inc.
• 2006, acquired ALG Software (formerly Armstrong Laing Group).
• 2006, on 30 November 2006 Business Objects acquired Nsite Software, Inc.
• 2006, launched Crystal Xcelsius, which allows users to transform Microsoft Excel spreadsheet data into interactive Flash media files.
• 2007, on 23 April 2007 Business Objects announced their intention to buy Cartesis (a vendor of reporting and planning software) and Konak.
• 2007, on 22 May 2007 Business Objects announced their intention to acquire Inxight Software.
• 2007, on 1 Jun 2007 Business Objects announces close of Cartesis acquisition.
• 2007, on 5 July 2007 Business Objects announces close of Inxight acquisition.
• 2007, on 6 September 2007 Business Objects announces their intention to acquire FUZZY! Informatik AG.
• 2007, on 7 October SAP's Chief Executive Henning Kagermann announced a $6.8 billion deal to acquire Business Objects. The deal is expected to be closed in 2008.
• 2008, On 22 January SAP absorbed all of Business Objects offices eliminating the corporation's name. As of this point BOBJ is no more and the employees officially work for SAP.