LONDON, REDMOND, Wash., and SANTA CLARA, Calif., Oct. 23, 2000 — Guinness World Records Ltd. today announced the launch of its new GuinnessWorldRecords.com Web site, built on the e-business solution from Microsoft Corp. and Intel Corp. Microsoft and Intel were selected as the primary technology providers, replacing a Sun Microsystems strategy, with only 90 days to meet the launch deadline. With the cost and flexibility advantages of the Microsoft and Intel solution, that deadline has been met and the site is live today.
“The Guinness World Records brand presents infinite opportunities,”
said Stephen Nelson, CEO of GuinnessWorldRecords.com.
“To launch our site we needed a platform that could meet our needs for personalized content, dynamic publishing, database management, reliability and scalability. At the same time, we wanted a platform flexible enough to ensure that our future growth would not be limited, regardless of the direction we go and the path we take. The switch to the Microsoft and Intel solution not only guaranteed our launch date, but has given us the flexibility that we want.”
GuinnessWorldRecords.com is the online extension of Guinness World Records, a globally recognized brand that includes the
“Guinness Book of World Records”
and
“The Guinness World Records”
television shows, syndicated worldwide to an audience of 100 million viewers. The site creates a world-class entertainment presence on the Web and offers users a truly interactive experience for fans of Guinness World Records, including videos, streaming media, games, e-cards, flash movies and an extensive presentation of Guinness World Records themselves.
GuinnessWorldRecords.com relies on Intel Online Services for hosting and support of its solution. For Guinness, the choice to host its site with Intel Online Services resulted in a quick time to market and the assurance of knowing that as demand for the site grows, the solution can easily scale up through the addition of industry-standard hardware and software components recommended and deployed by Intel. The site operates on five Intel-based four-way Dell PowerEdge 6350 servers featuring the Pentium III® Xeon™ processor and two clustered Dell PowerEdge 6350 four-way servers, featuring Pentium III Xeon-based processors as database servers in the back end. The site runs on Microsoft® software including the Microsoft Windows® 2000 Advanced Server operating system, which includes Microsoft Internet Information Services 5.0 and Microsoft SQL Server™ 7.0. The demanding 90-day time-to-market deadline was met through the use of the Microsoft Visual Studio® 6.0 development system and delivered through the help of Conchango, a back-end development company with significant experience on the Microsoft platform, and Oasis Communications, a front-end development team.
“Companies building online solutions demand technology that will not only get them to market fast, but also offers the assurance that their infrastructure will grow with their needs,”
said Peter Boit, vice president of e-commerce solutions for Microsoft.
“GuinnessWorldRecords.com and other industry-leading companies are selecting the Intel and Microsoft solution to deliver the most agile e-business solutions on the market, giving them the competitive advantage they need for success today and ensuring their ability to compete in the markets of tomorrow.”
“The collaboration between Intel and Microsoft offers customers a flexible e-business architecture to accelerate their time-to-market deployment with new Internet services,”
said Mike Fister, vice president and general manager of the Enterprise Platforms Group at Intel.
“GuinnessWorldRecords.com continues the list of companies that have benefited from the modular ‘scale-out’ methodology that makes Intel-based servers ideal for today’s fast-growing Internet economy.”
With GuinnessWorldRecords.com, Guinness World Records Ltd. is the latest customer to adopt the Intel and Microsoft e-business solution under a recently announced e-business alliance between the two companies. Microsoft and Intel are working together to deliver joint customers best-of-class, end-to-end e-business solutions as well as offering integration and service to e-businesses such as GMAC, FreeMarkets Inc., Lycos.com and many others.
About Intel
Intel, the world’s largest chip maker, is also a leading manufacturer of computer, networking and communications products. Additional information is available at http://www.intel.com/pressroom/ .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies 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 and Visual Studio 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.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.
For complete benchmark information on Intel Pentium III Xeon processors, visit the Intel Web site at http://www.intel.com/ebusiness/products/server/index.htm .
