Microsoft Announces Winners, Awards Prizes In Microsoft Project 2002 Business Value Solution Challenge

LOS ANGELES, July 16, 2002 — During Fusion 2002, Microsoft Corp.’s worldwide partner symposium (July 12–15), the company announced the winners of the Microsoft®
Project 2002 Business Value Solution Challenge (BVC). The challenge recognizes solution providers, independent software vendors and other Microsoft industry partners for building compelling enterprise-class customer solutions on Microsoft Project, the world’s top-selling project management software.

The BVC drew more than 35 entries, reflecting a strong show of support for Microsoft’s recent move into the enterprise project management arena. With Microsoft Project 2002, released in June, Microsoft is moving up from the desktop to the enterprise server space and providing a robust, scalable and extensible platform on which industry partners can build customer-centric solutions.

“We were thrilled to see so many innovative solutions submitted for the BVC,”
said Chris Capossela, general manager of the Microsoft Project Business Unit at Microsoft.
“Clearly, we’ve stirred up excitement in the partner community for customized enterprise project management solutions built on Microsoft Project 2002. In our minds, all the BVC solutions are winners — for the providers who built them and for the customers who stand to gain tangible, measurable business benefits from them.”

Prize-Winning Microsoft Project 2002 BVC Solutions

The four winners honored in the Overall Solutions Category earned the right to showcase their solutions in the Microsoft Project 2002 BVC Solutions Partner Pavilion this week at Fusion 2002 (a $7,000 value) and a crystal trophy. Microsoft also awarded the following prizes:

  • Grand Prize: Immedient Corp. won a Weekend package valued at $7,500 for an enterprise project management and collaboration solution that capitalizes on the Microsoft .NET Server family and focuses on integrating key business information to help organizations realize the benefits of corporate investments.

  • Second Place: BST Software won an Airfare Anywhere in the World package valued at $5,000 for a solution that addresses the project management life cycle from project creation through invoicing by integrating Microsoft Project 2002 with the project accounting and financial management capabilities of BST Enterprise. Features of the solution include integrated project creation, streamlined time entry and approval, invoice creation, and comprehensive project tracking.

  • Third Place: Capstone Planning & Control Inc. won a Local City Weekend package valued at $2,500 for a Pre-Production Process Management System (PPMS) that provides a holistic approach to new product launch management. The PPMS, enabled by Microsoft Project Server, is designed to enable users to plan, manage and coordinate the details of a new product program from initiation to production readiness across internal and external organizations.

  • Fourth Place: Business Engine Software Corp. won a Local Sports Team Box Seats package valued at $1,500 (or cash equivalent) for the Business Engine Network, which embeds Microsoft Project 2002 to offer global IT and R & D organizations a single solution for portfolio, financial, resource and project management. The joint solution helps customers maximize their return on project-based investments by continuously driving business strategy across the enterprise and aligning operational execution against that strategy.

The four winners in the Vertical Solutions Category earned the right to participate in a cooperative solution demonstration in the Microsoft Project 2002 BVC Solutions Partner Pavilion during Fusion 2002 (a $7,000 value). They also were awarded a crystal trophy for Best Vertical Solution in their industry:

  • Grand Prize, Energy: Hewlett-Packard Co., for creating a customized distribution scheduling solution for Xcel Energy. Microsoft Project 2002 is integrated with Indus PassPort, a leading energy application, to provide effective and timely scheduling of design and construction work.

  • Grand Prize, Financial: Business Engine Software for the Business Engine Network, described above.

  • Grand Prize, Manufacturing: Capstone Planning & Control for its PPMS solution, described above.

  • Grand Prize, Professional Services: Pcubed (Program Planning Professionals Inc.) for a Professional Services Automation Solution. The Business Management System demonstrates how the features that make Microsoft Project 2002 the world’s leading project management tool also make Pcubed’s solution a serious platform for managing a robust spectrum of business operations, including sales, resources and finances.

About Microsoft Project 2002

The Microsoft Project 2002 product family is designed to address a variety of customers’ project management needs. The flagship offering is the Microsoft Solution for Enterprise Project Management (EPM), a .NET Enterprise Server solution that features increased collaboration functionality, portfolio and resource management capabilities, and enterprise-scale performance and security. The Microsoft EPM solution comprises Microsoft Project Professional, Microsoft Project Server and Microsoft Project Web Access, a Web-based portal that provides browser-based access to project information.

The Microsoft Project 2002 family also includes Microsoft Project Standard, an individual project management solution that helps business managers dynamically plan, track and manage schedules and resources to keep projects on track and within budget.

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 is a registered trademark 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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