Microsoft, Tandem Form Alliance to Develop “Nonstop” Business-Critical Capabilities on Windows NT Server

SAN FRANCISCO —
, May 7, 1996 — Microsoft Corp. and Tandem Computers Inc. today announced a strategic alliance that will further accelerate the adoption of the Microsoft® Windows NT®
Server network operating system by customers of business-critical servers.

Under terms of the agreement, Tandem will extend its proven middleware products, called the NonStop ServerWare Solutions, to the Microsoft Windows NT Server platform and will participate in the Designed for Microsoft BackOffice program. Tandem’s middleware products support applications that companies need to compete in a business world that runs 24 hours a day.

The agreement, which calls for cross-licensing of technology, provides Microsoft and Tandem customers with best-of-breed business-critical solutions, coupled with the cost-effective, scalable, client-server technology of Windows NT Server.

Tandem’s cluster-enabled solutions manage more than 90 percent of the world’s securities transactions, 66 percent of the credit-card transactions and 80 percent of all automated teller machine transactions and are used by all of the 35 largest telecommunications companies.

Tandem will continue to develop and support its open, parallel Himalaya servers, which deliver the highest levels of availability and scalability. The NonStop ServerWare Solutions will also be supported on Himalaya servers.

As part of the agreement, Tandem will extend its entire business-critical infrastructure to the Windows NT Server environment, including access to its global network of partners and independent software vendors (ISVs), and full services and support.

“With more than 22 years of experience, Tandem is the widely regarded leader in business-critical computing,”
said Steve Ballmer, executive vice president of Microsoft.
“The largest companies in the world rely on Tandem’s NonStop solutions for true seven-day-a-week, 24-hour-a-day availability and scalability. By extending its technology and expertise to Microsoft Windows NT Server, enterprise customers can now enjoy the value of business-critical capabilities combined with the cost-effectiveness of Windows® -based PCs .”

“Microsoft and Tandem are taking ‘expensive’ and ‘proprietary’ out of the enterprise customer equation,”
said Roel Pieper, CEO of Tandem.
“Windows NT Server has gained tremendous demand as a powerful, cost-effective platform that links seamlessly with millions of PCs and tens of thousands of Windows-based applications. More and more businesses are realizing they need to be able to scale up efficiently to higher levels of fast, reliable data access. Windows NT Server and Tandem’s fault-tolerant NonStop technology are giving customers that kind of cost-effective, scalable business-critical capability.”

Joint Clustering Technology Development Included

Tandem, one of the core clustering partners, will work with Microsoft as a leading contributor to Microsoft’s development of a clustering product code-named
“Wolfpack.”
When the first phase of Wolfpack
“is delivered, scheduled for early 1997, customers will be able to use a variety of hardware platforms to build high-availability Windows NT Server-based clusters that allow a paired server to fail over to another server or application. Tandem NonStop ServerWare Solutions for Windows NT Server will provide business-critical capabilities on top of the”
Wolfpack

platform.

This agreement establishes Tandem’s ongoing work and continuing participation with Microsoft and other Windows NT Server-based clustering leaders to establish a common specification for high-availability, high-performance clustered Windows NT Server-based computing.

The agreement includes support for Tandem’s ServerNet
™
drivers. The ServerNet technology provides a high-performance interconnect for the Windows NT Server-based clustering environment.

NonStop ServerWare Solutions to Enable Business-Critical Applications

Tandem’s NonStop ServerWare Family for Windows NT Server will include Tandem’s parallel, scalable SQL database; Tandem’s clustered transaction-processing environment supporting the TUXEDO®
and CICS
™
transactional APIs; and Tandem’s distributed-messaging and object-management environment.

Tandem’s NonStop ServerWare technology will enable users of Windows NT Server on any hardware platform to take advantage of Tandem’s ISV portfolio of more than 1,000 business-critical solutions. Such applications include online transaction processing, electronic commerce, Internet and World Wide Web, data warehousing, decision support, online analytic processing and customer solutions within the finance, telecommunications, retail, health-care and transport markets.

Tandem continues to work with its partners and ISVs to expand their opportunities for Windows NT Server. Also, Tandem and Microsoft will cooperate to create Windows NT Server-based developer programs targeted for ISVs. Further, to help provide customers with investment protection and support, Tandem will train 25 percent of its technical sales staff to become Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers by September 1996.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.

Founded in 1974, Tandem Computers Inc. (NYSE: TDM) designs and delivers technology solutions that companies rely on to compete in a business world that runs 24 hours a day. A US$2.2 billion company headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Tandem has offices, strategic partners, and providers in more than 50 countries.

Microsoft, Windows NT, BackOffice and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

Tandem, NonStop, ServerNet and the Tandem logo are trademarks of Tandem Computers Inc.

TUXEDO is a registered trademark of Novell Inc.

CICS is a trademark of International Business Machines Corp.

If you are interested in viewing information about Tandem, please visit the Tandem home page at http://www.tandem.com/. To receive information via fax, call (800) 863-6329 in the United States and Canada or +1 (408) 285-8611 in other countries. To request information via e-mail,send a message to [email protected].

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