Studies Conclude Business Efficiency Benefits and Cost Reductions With Windows 2000

REDMOND, Wash. Feb 14, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the results of independently audited studies that quantify the business impact of technology investments for customers adopting Microsoft® Windows® 2000. Marks & Spencer, MicronPC.com, Panasonic, United Defense and WFofR worked with Microsoft Certified Solution Providers (MCSP) such as Alpha Technologies, Entex Information Services and Halifax Corp. to measure the business value and reductions in cost experienced by deploying the Windows 2000 platform. United Defense expects a 52 percent reduction in downtime; WFofR anticipates a 280 percent return on investment over three years; MicronPC forecasts a 14 percent reduction in direct IT costs; Marks & Spencer projects saving millions of dollars in inventory efficiencies; and Panasonic expects a 22 percent decrease in desktop total cost of ownership (TCO).

“Organizations are using technology as a strategic tool for business success. Our customers require a platform that reduces overall costs and allows them to add real value to their business,”
said Keith White, director of Windows Marketing, Microsoft.
“These studies are evidence that Windows 2000 will deliver on our customers’ needs by providing a platform that meets their critical business requirements, saves money and provides a solid return on their investment.”

Microsoft and MCSPs worked with the following five customers to analyze the business impact of Windows 2000 using an open, industry framework called Rapid Economic Justification (REJ) as well as the Gartner Group’s TCO methodology. In each study, either Giga Information Systems or the Gartner Group validated the final results by verifying assumptions, qualifying the claimed benefits and reviewing the methodology.

United Defense

Computing environments found at companies within the defense industry are often very complicated. The defense industry requires scalable solutions to accommodate the wide range of end-users, including knowledge workers who use desktops and laptops to engineers who operate high-end technical workstations.

The TCO analysis conducted at the Armament Systems division within United Defense, a technology solution provider and systems integrator in the defense industry, concludes that the company will reduce annual downtime costs by 52 percent over their existing environment if they upgrade all 1,275 Windows 95 machines to Windows 2000 Professional and take advantage of the operating system’s reliability features such as Windows File Protection. As a result of this reduced downtime, the study, which was validated by Gartner, shows that the Armament Systems division will experience a 14 percent reduction in service desk costs and a 32 percent reduction in end-user operations costs.

“The TCO study has validated our strategy of rapidly deploying Windows 2000 Professional as a standard desktop for our PC users. Even in our Novell and UNIX server environment, the TCO study estimates a significant reduction in desktop downtime and service desk costs,”
said Minette Anderson, director, Strategic Services at United Defense, Armament Services Division.
“With Windows 2000 Professional, we are aiming to improve our users’ productivity and at the same time reduce our overall IT costs.”

For more information please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/
guide/professional/profiles/unitedwin95.asp/
.

MicronPC.com

As the third largest direct channel provider of personal computers in the United States, MicronPC.com constantly looks for ways to increase its competitive edge. Direct cost reduction and greater employee productivity are two elements that allow MicronPC.com to achieve its business goals.

Entex Information Services conducted a TCO analysis of MicronPC.com’s environment and discovered that the company could lower costs for software development, deployment and overall management costs with the Windows 2000 IntelliMirror TM management technologies and Remote OS Installation. Additionally, the Gartner Group validated study found that the Windows 2000 Active Directory TM service and enhanced networking functionality increases user efficiency and productivity, which will reduce end-user costs by 48 percent.

“The TCO analysis showed us a 26 percent cost savings potential and that’s a highly compelling business case for us,”
says Jim Stewart, chief financial officer for MicronPC.com.
“The ability of Windows 2000 Server to support best practices and to drive operational efficiencies within our organization directly affects our bottom line. The flexibility of Windows 2000 gives us competitive advantage to react quickly to changing market demands.”

For more information please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/
guide/server/profiles/micronpc.asp/
.

WFofR

Technology cost control and platform reliability are critical considerations for small businesses. Technology provides WFofR, a 47-person media buying and planning service, with the ability to expand their organization by creating new business opportunities. WFofR participated in a Giga validated REJ study with the assistance of Halifax and discovered that the company could manage an additional $400,000 in annual billings by using Windows 2000 features such as IntelliMirror. In addition, WFofR anticipates a 280 percent return on their Windows 2000 investment over three years and the operating system will pay for itself in less than 12 months.

“We expect the migration to Windows 2000 to produce a significant savings in administrative time and an increase in productivity and the dramatic return on investment projected by the REJ study indicates that it effectively will pay for itself in the first year,”
said Roger Goad, WFofR vice president and CIO.
“The money and time we save with Windows 2000 will enable us to focus on taking advantage of the Web technologies to work with our partners and clients more efficiently.”

For more information please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/guide/
platform/profiles/wfofr.asp/
.

Marks & Spencer

The Windows 2000 platform offers benefits to large retailers looking to build stronger integration processes and supplier relationships. Marks & Spencer, a United Kingdom-based retailer with over 600 stores worldwide, developed an internal project to significantly change the way information and technology is used throughout the organization. The road map allows Marks & Spencer to be a more flexible, customer-oriented company by increasing operational efficiencies and developing a global supply chain to aggressively compete in the marketplace.

The REJ analysis, validated by Giga, concludes that the powerful combination of Windows 2000 Server running the Microsoft BizTalk TM Server will enable a global supply chain and allow Marks & Spencer to achieve their goal of creating a system that moves information better and more efficiently between customers, suppliers and the company in real-time. Marks & Spencer projects a 10 percent reduction in inventory-related operating costs and a four percent increase in sales yielding millions of dollars in savings.

“Consolidating our infrastructure using Windows 2000 and BizTalk began as a solution to a problem, but could turn into a fundamental shift for the company. It has come at the right time for ITSS, as it is not often that a revolutionary new product is launched when one needs to implement a strategic vision,”
said Mike Yorwerth, ITSS manager, Marks & Spencer.
“This is fundamental to our business going forward, so Marks & Spencer can be flexible in responding to customer’s needs. With this project under way, the future for Marks & Spencer looks very exciting.”

For more information please visit http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/
guide/server/profiles/marksspencer.asp/
.

Panasonic

Delivering customer satisfaction through an integrated, empowered and efficient sales force is critical to the success of a sales driven organization. The Windows 2000 platform offers advanced features such as support for Power Management and Offline Folders as well as enhanced networking functionality that enables the sales force at Panasonic to better serve its customers. From the REJ study conducted by Alpha Technologies and validated by Giga, Panasonic anticipates an increase in sales force productivity of 4.9 percent and a 44 percent downtime reduction due to the reliability of Windows 2000. In addition, the study concludes that the operating system will provide Panasonic up to 22 percent reduction in desktop TCO due to reduced helpdesk calls.

“The business case for Windows 2000 Professional was substantial and convincing,”
said Steve Adamo, general manager at Panasonic.
“Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional provides us with a common platform across our divisions and a more efficient application development tool. More importantly, arming our sales force with Windows 2000 Professional will help us with our strategic goal to deliver world-class customer service while decreasing expenses.”

For more information on Gartner Group’s TCO framework, the REJ methodology or to view the full case studies, please visit: http://www.gartner.com/itmanager or http://www.microsoft.com/enterprise/0200_it_value.html or http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/
guide/professional/profiles/panasonic.asp/
.

About Windows 2000

Windows 2000 is an ideal platform for the next generation of business computing and addresses the full range of customers’ computing needs, from laptops and desktops to high-end, clustered servers. The operating system helps organizations Internet-enable their business with a reliable, manageable infrastructure that is optimized for existing and emerging hardware. For more information about Windows 2000, please see http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/ or http://www.microsoft.com/technet .

Availability

General availability of Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server begins on Feb. 17. Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is expected to be available approximately 90 to 120 days later.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft, Windows, IntelliMirror, Active Directory and BizTalk are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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