REDMOND, Wash., and PARIS — Oct. 18, 2006 — Capgemini Group and Microsoft Corp. today announced they will extend their longtime alliance with a new agreement and enlist the services of the Sogeti Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of Capgemini and a premier IT services provider.
The companies have collaborated since 1997 to help organizations take advantage of the latest Microsoft® technologies to achieve competitive advantage, increase revenue and reduce costs. Microsoft provides enterprise businesses with an integrated, comprehensive software and applications platform for rapidly developing high-value business solutions, while Capgemini and Sogeti adopt the latest technology from Microsoft and deliver robust, innovative solutions and services that empower people to drive business forward and realize their full potential.
“We are excited to extend and enhance this alliance,” said Peter Boit, vice president of Enterprise Partners in the Enterprise & Partner Group at Microsoft. “Together, Capgemini and Sogeti are two of Microsoft’s top-tier alliance partners that have significant worldwide business and technical competency to deliver dynamic enterprise solutions to our mutual customers. Our combined approach to problem-solving and technology creates a people-ready business that is flexible, scalable and adaptable and will align IT with workers and ultimate business goals.”
Under the alliance agreement, Capgemini Group and Microsoft will invest in joint marketing, demand generation and partner solutions to improve their ability to meet the needs of clients in a wide range of industries worldwide. The investment is also focused on accelerating the development of differentiated offers through professional services from Capgemini and Sogeti.
“As the marketplace includes more and more customers focused on service-oriented architecture, it is important for Capgemini to meet the demands of emerging enterprise clients,” said Don Jones, vice president and global alliance executive at Capgemini. “New complementary solutions from Microsoft enhance our offering but cannot be implemented without collaboration between Microsoft and the enterprise. This new alliance agreement brings together the strengths of both organizations and builds upon the success of our previous experience. Our clients will see a number of new innovations coming from this relationship that will clearly demonstrate the benefit of engaging with Capgemini, Sogeti and Microsoft together.”
In addition, the alliance will focus on expanding its portfolio of cross-industry solutions in the areas of security, compliance, mobility, server consolidation, migration of infrastructure and applications to the Windows® platform, .NET Web services, enterprise application integration and outsourcing. Capgemini will build outsourcing solution offerings that will leverage Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Systems Management Server, Microsoft Operations Manager and Microsoft Office Live Communications Server.
The investment is also being used to provide technical and sales training on new Microsoft products to Capgemini and Sogeti architects, developers and consultants worldwide and to expand and improve their joint marketing and sales engagement.
In the past three years, the alliance has delivered major sales and delivery competence and achieved the following milestones:
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Raised Capgemini to a leading global systems integrator of Microsoft
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Developed greater competencies through technical education, focused architect summits, and increased awareness and adoption of Microsoft services and tools
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Expanded the portfolio of solution offerings available globally from providers such as Collaborative Compliance Management, Technology Refresh and Retail Solutions
“We know that many organizations are hindered from realizing their full business potential because of internal and external barriers to technology initiatives,” Boit said. “But for them to succeed they need a strong technology team, like this alliance, to help them ready their infrastructure, people and processes to respond to growing business needs and thrive in the competitive marketplace.”
About the Capgemini Group
Capgemini, one of the world’s foremost providers of Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing services, has a unique way of working with its clients, which it calls the Collaborative Business Experience. Through commitment to mutual success and the achievement of tangible value, the company helps businesses implement growth strategies, leverage technology, and thrive through the power of collaboration. Capgemini employs approximately 63,000 people (as of January 1, 2006) and reported 2005 global revenues of 6.953 billion euros. More information about individual service lines, offices and research is available at http://www.capgemini.com.
About the Sogeti Group
A wholly-owned subsidiary of Capgemini, Sogeti provides information technology services to businesses and public sector organizations.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
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