Bank of Ireland Selects Business Objects as Its Enterprise Business Intelligence Standard

BERLIN, May 20 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Bank ofIreland has selected Business Objects, an SAP company, as its business intelligence standard, following an extensive review of available business intelligence solutions. Bank ofIreland is a long-time SAP customer and the addition of BusinessObjects(TM) XI Release 3.0, the leading enterprise-scale business intelligence platform, will enable the bank to more easily access, analyze and distribute information throughout the company and more quickly respond to market events. New business intelligence solutions from Business Objects, combined with SAP's flagship enterprise resource planning (ERP) application, SAP(R) ERP, and SAP for Banking solutions, will provide executives and line of business managers with increased transparency into performance data from across the organization, giving them the insight needed to optimize business performance while minimizing risk. The announcement was made at SAPPHIRE(R) 2008, SAP's international customer conference, being held inBerlin, Germany, May 19 - 21.

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"As our bank continues to grow both inIreland and abroad, we need complete visibility into our business performance," said Vincent Lattimore, manager of IT Procurement Services, Bank ofIreland. "Our close working relationship with SAP has helped us streamline operations and better manage credit risks. With our rapid expansion, we needed to centralize all information related to operations and give our management a 360-degree view across our distributed business units. Selecting the business intelligence platform from Business Objects was the logical choice to help extend the value of our SAP deployment. The Business Objects business intelligence platform has the functionality to support both our current and future information needs -- and empowers our executives with the information they need to improve day-to-day decision making."

Bank ofIreland is a diversified financial services group with market-leading positions inIreland and niche markets internationally. The company has been successfully using the SAP(R) Business Suite family of business applications to help better manage business processes, including finance, human resources and procurement. In addition, the bank relies on the SAP(R) Bank Analyzer set of applications to support compliance with Basel II while enhancing finance and risk management. As the bank grew, it required a rapid, secure way to bring together SAP and non-SAP data in one place and increase the outflow of information to employees. Given the current financial climate, Bank ofIreland also wanted to ensure that it was maximizing all financial data and gaining a holistic view of operational and financial performance.

The bank selected the BusinessObjects XI Release 3.0 platform because it provided one solution to more quickly access information from across its enterprise and deliver relevant, trusted information to authorized employees where and how they work. For example, with Business Objects, the bank will be able to automatically distribute performance reports to managers in branches and trading desks on a daily or weekly basis. Deploying business intelligence solutions from Business Objects with existing SAP solutions will also empower risk and finance executives with regularly scheduled reports on real-time performance data, enabling them to increase efficiency, mitigate risk and react quickly to market changes.

"Combining Business Objects solutions with SAP solutions helps our joint customers, like Bank ofIreland, ensure that strategy and execution are intimately linked and enables customers to optimize their business performance in a closed-loop solution," said John Schwarz, CEO, Business Objects, an SAP company, and member of the Executive Board, SAP. "The business intelligence platform from Business Objects is a powerful tool that allows users to make their process and decision more intelligent. Bank ofIreland is a perfect example of how Business Objects adds value to SAP customers' existing IT investments and helps them take their business to the next level. We look forward to working with Bank ofIreland to create an enterprise-wide strategy that closes the gap between information and action."

Business Objects and SAP Provide Immediate Benefits to Banks

Immediately following the acquisition's close, SAP and Business Objects joined forces to help the banking industry address critical issues, including risk management and compliance, improved operational efficiency, and cross-selling to customers across banks' various lines of business. Bringing together Business Objects business intelligence solutions with analytic applications for banks from SAP provides banking companies with a suite of integrated, industry-specific solutions to address these challenges.

For example, the SAP Bank Analyzer helps banks address legal compliance challenges, as well as perform financial accounting, cost controlling, risk management, asset liability management and profitability analysis. Business Objects adds value to SAP Bank Analyzer by providing advanced analytic, reporting and dashboard capabilities, making actionable data easily accessible to a wide variety of users. The combination of deep banking expertise offered by both companies will help banks enact an integrated risk and finance approach, and provide them with accurate, immediate insight to help ensure that the execution of business process is aligned with corporate strategy.

"Having Bank ofIreland as one of our first joint customers further confirms the value our combined organizations offer to the banking industry," said Thomas Balgheim, senior vice president, Global Banking Line of Business, SAP AG. "Both SAP and Business Objects have a strong tradition of supporting our customers' need for solutions that are appropriate for their individual businesses. Uniting our complementary banking solutions adds instant value to our joint customers in the banking community."

SAPPHIRE(R) 2008Orlando and SAPPHIRE(R) 2008Berlin

More than 15,000 customers, partners and technical experts are convening at SAPPHIRE 2008 to discover how SAP and its thriving partner ecosystem are delivering IT solutions that create value beyond the four walls of the enterprise, to create "business beyond boundaries." SAP's premier educational and networking event, SAPPHIRE is the one occasion where senior executives, business managers, and decision-makers can come together every year to explore how innovative business solutions foster long-term, profitable growth. SAPPHIRE(R) 2008 was held inOrlando, Florida, May 4-7, and is being held in Berlin, Germany, May 19-21, 2008. For more information, please visit http://www.sap.com/sapphire.

About Business Objects

As an independent business unit within SAP, Business Objects transforms the way the world works by connecting people, information and businesses. Together with one of the industry's strongest and most diverse partner networks, the company delivers business performance optimization to customers worldwide across all major industries, including financial services, retail, consumer-packaged goods, healthcare and public sector. With open, heterogeneous applications in the areas of governance, risk and compliance; enterprise performance management; and business intelligence; and through global consulting and education services, Business Objects enables organizations of all sizes around the globe to close the loop between business strategy and execution.

For more information about Business Objects, visit: http://www.businessobjects.com.

For more information about SAP, visit: http://www.sap.com.

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.

Copyright (C) 2008 SAP AG. All rights reserved.

SAP, R/3, mySAP, mySAP.com, xApps, xApp, SAP NetWeaver and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG inGermany and in several other countries all over the world. Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Intelligent Question, and Xcelsius are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects inthe United States and/or other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serve informational purposes only. National product specifications may vary.

    For customers interested in learning more about Business Objects products:
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    United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

     For more information, press only:
     Philippe Laguerre, + (336) 08-64-46-55, philippe.laguerre@sap.com,CET
     SAP Press Office, +49 (6227) 7-46315, CET; +1 (610) 661-3200, EST;
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      PDT
     Evan Welsh, +49 (6227) 7-67514, evan.welsh@sap.com, CET

During SAPPHIRE (from May 19 to 21), to speak with press contacts on site, please dial the SAP press room at +49 +49 6227 7 74069.

SOURCE SAP AG

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