SAN DIEGO, Sept. 23, 1997 — Today at the Microsoft® Professional Developers Conference, Hewlett-Packard Co. and Microsoft Corp. jointly announced plans to work together to develop solutions that are intended to enable customers to collaborate securely across the Internet. Microsoft and HP intend that HP’s collaborative enterprise technologies will work with the Microsoft Active Directory feature of the Windows NT® Server network operating system version 5.0 to provide easy, cost-effective and secure access to critical enterprise resources from remote locations via the Internet.
“Our enterprise customers want to leverage the cost-effectiveness of Internet-based connectivity while maintaining a high degree of security,” said Dr. Ira Goldstein, HP’s Internet technology officer. “The combination of HP’s collaborative enterprise technologies with Active Directory provides a complete, flexible and scalable end-to-end solution.”
HP and Microsoft plan to cooperate to make HP’s collaborative enterprise technologies work seamlessly with Windows NT Server 5.0 through the use of Active Directory. The plan addresses the need of remote users to access corporate resources securely over the Internet. The plan also addresses the issue of internal data security, enabling organizations to provide securely partitioned logical environments within corporate networks. In addition, the plan addresses facilitation of business-to-business collaboration for enterprises that need to establish secure connections with other enterprises for supply-chain management, to support design partnerships or to create virtual corporations for specific projects.
“Active Directory provides a unified store for enterprisewide security credentials, giving developers the foundation upon which they can build customized solutions,” said Jim Allchin, senior vice president of the personal and business systems group at Microsoft. “We are pleased to work with HP to enable the collaborative enterprise to work seamlessly with Windows NT Server.”
In the past, directory services could not simultaneously meet all the security needs of Internet and enterprise customers. With the planned combination of collaborative enterprise technologies and Active Directory, customers will have a unified way to store credentials. Active Directory offers the best of Internet standards, such as LDAP, DNS, HTTP and X.500, and can be used to provide uniform network services for companies of all sizes as well as to tailor network services on a group or individual basis. Active Directory can also streamline the administrative processes of all networked resources, thus lowering the total cost of ownership.
Plans for HP’s collaborative enterprise technologies include that users will be able to log in to the enterprise with one action through local Internet service providers and be connected directly to business applications and systems. Furthermore, HP’s products will allow system administrators to manage users, access control and component products across a heterogeneous enterprise. The collaborative enterprise technologies reflect HP’s ongoing commitment to provide system security technology and products such as Virtual Vault, part of HP’s Praesidium security framework. The first of these technologies is scheduled to be available when Windows NT 5.0 is released.
Responding to customers’ needs for Windows NT-based enterprise solutions, HP and
Microsoft have indicated their intent to collaborate on a number of products, services and programs. Specifically, the companies said they intend to promote Active Directory as the strategic directory for collaborative enterprise computing. The companies also intend to promote the collaborative enterprise products as the strategic technology set for secure enterprise access. HP plans to develop its collaborative enterprise technologies around the Active Directory infrastructure.
Hewlett-Packard Co. is a leading global provider of computing, Internet and intranet solutions, services, communications products and measurement solutions, all of which are recognized for excellence in quality and support. HP has 120,500 employees and had revenue of $38.4 billion in its 1996 fiscal year. HP is the official information-technology hardware and maintenance supplier to the 1998 World Cup soccer tournament.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
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) 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 and Windows NT 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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