LOS ANGELES, Jan. 30, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the winners of the Microsoft® BackOffice
™
family Challenge for Middle Market Accounting at the SoftEx in Accounting & Finance trade show. Great Plains Software Inc. won the Best Functionality award for its Dynamics C/S+, and State of the Art Inc. was given the Best Technology Integration honor for Acuity Financials.
The Microsoft BackOffice Challenge for Middle Market Accounting gave accounting vendors that carry the Designed for Microsoft BackOffice logo a chance to show how their products meet the requirements of a real-world scenario. The participants were tested on a range of payables and receivables scenarios and asked to demonstrate that their Windows NT® operating system- and Microsoft SQL Server
™
-based solution was the best for a typical midsize organization. The judges, who included industry experts and analysts, looked for applications that were the easiest to use, provided the best integration between accounting functions, and had the most robust Internet capabilities.
State of the Art Wins Best Technology Integration Award
Acuity Financials by State of the Art Inc. is a native, 32-bit Microsoft Windows® 95-based accounting solution designed for Microsoft SQL Server and Windows NT. Developed with tools such as the Visual Basic® programming system 4.0 and Visual C++® development system, Acuity Financials’ object-oriented architecture is designed to facilitate complete integration with industry-standard workflow, imaging, and office productivity applications such as Office and Microsoft BackOffice. The flexibility provided by its open database enables users to implement their own choice from among best-of-breed workflow, human resources or decision support systems. Acuity is the only Internet-ready accounting software product built with 100 percent Microsoft SQL Server technology.
“The Microsoft BackOffice Challenge provided State of the Art with the opportunity to demonstrate how Acuity Financials provides medium-size companies with the most intuitive and flexible accounting solution available today,”
said Mark Richardson, SOTA’s director of product strategy for Acuity Financials.
“The superior Microsoft BackOffice technology available from Microsoft allows these companies to benefit from affordable and truly scalable client/server computing for the first time. Acuity Financials was designed and built from the ground up as a native 32-bit Microsoft Windows 95-based application to take advantage of the power offered by Microsoft SQL Server and Windows NT.”
Great Plains Software Wins Best Functionality Award
“Great Plains Software is committed to delivering 32-bit financial applications that tightly integrate with Windows NT, Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft BackOffice components, allowing customers to deploy their business-critical applications in a powerful, scalable, secure environment,”
said Ray August, chief technology officer and group vice president.
“Microsoft products, tools and technologies are at the core of Great Plains Software’s leading client/server financial management applications.”
Dynamics C/S+ for Microsoft SQL Server offers a complete suite of Internet-ready financial applications and tools on a flexible three-tier client/server architecture. A 32-bit application exclusively optimized for Microsoft BackOffice, Dynamics C/S+ for Microsoft SQL Server delivers an advanced object-based design and tight integration with industry-standard business tools.
Great Plains Software Inc. develops, markets and supports accounting and financial management software worldwide. The multinational company, with more than 3,500 VARs providing solutions in over 50 countries, offers solutions ranging from midrange client/server systems to small-business integrated accounting software.
Accounting Vendors Support the Microsoft BackOffice Platform
“Solomon Software’s decision to meet and support the Microsoft BackOffice requirements with Solomon IV for the Windows operating system is a strategic one that parallels our commitment to provide not only a quality accounting information system, but a financial foundation upon which to build a business,”
said Robert Deshaies, director of strategic relations and SQL Server product management.
“Solomon IV’s support of Microsoft BackOffice offers tremendous opportunities in both horizontal and vertical markets that already have or plan to standardize on Microsoft products. Supporting Microsoft BackOffice also allows us to offer a powerful alternative to those companies moving from UNIX to the Windows NT platform.”
“The response from vendors in the accounting industry that are adopting Windows NT and Microsoft SQL Server has been tremendous,”
said Holly Henson, accounting industry marketing manager at Microsoft.
“The Microsoft BackOffice Challenge provided a way for these companies to show off how well their products solve real-world problems, and the demonstrations at SoftEx clearly show the powerful capabilities of the Microsoft BackOffice family, including Microsoft SQL Server.”
Microsoft SQL Server is a scalable, high-performance database management system designed specifically for distributed client/server computing. Its built-in data replication, powerful management tools, Internet integration and open system architecture provide a superior platform for delivering cost-effective information solutions. Windows NT Server brings customers unmatched ease of use and management, higher network throughput and a complete set of tools for developing and managing intranets.
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.
Microsoft, BackOffice , Windows NT , Windows , Visual Basic and Visual C++ are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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