PHILADELPHIA, Oct. 7, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that more than 350 of the retail industry’s leading companies worldwide are supporting the Microsoft® ActiveStore architectural initiative. The industrywide consortium, founded in January 1997, is dedicated to creating a plug-and-play environment for store-level applications and will host its second ActiveStore developers conference in Seattle on Oct. 14 and 15.
In addition, a steering committee composed of industry-leading technology providers has been formed to drive the direction of ActiveStore. The seven-member committee will facilitate the initiative’s overall direction and help advance the development of a plug-and-play retail environment. Members of the steering committee are Campbell Software Inc., Fujitsu, IBM Corp., ICL Retail Systems, Microsoft, NCR Corp. and Olsy-Olivetti Solutions. Each member is an industry leader in retail technology and solutions and represents specific segments of the industry.
“We are very pleased with the enormous support the initiative is receiving from major customers and industry-leading ISVs,” Judy Dulcich, retail marketing manager at Microsoft, said at the Retail Information Systems Conference (RISCON). “The unique combination of integrated ISV applications, plus the system management services in Microsoft Windows NT® , makes this platform the best overall value for retailers.”
The ActiveStore consortium is dedicated to working with retailers around the world to ensure that its technology framework meets the industry’s needs. Several industry-leading retailers are supporting ActiveStore and have committed to providing feedback and input into the process. They include Burger King Corp., Coles Meyer Ltd., DAKA International Inc., David Jones, Dayton Hudson Corp., London Drug Ltd., The Limited Inc., Marks & Spencer, Montgomery Ward, REI and Tricon Global Restaurants Inc.
“This is a great opportunity for us to help guide these new developments and ensure that the architecture meets retailers’ requirements,” said Rod McLeod, vice president, MIS at REI. “The industry’s feedback will help guarantee that the initiative delivers a framework that reduces development time and integration costs while protecting retailers’ current investments.”
The next steps for ActiveStore include a developers conference where contributors will receive training on the specification, on Oct. 14 and 15 in Seattle. The developers conference will offer a detailed status update on the ActiveStore initiative, as well as a comprehensive walk-through of how to develop applications for ActiveStore. The conference will include a presentation of key Microsoft products and guidelines for how to deploy them within the ActiveStore architecture. For more information on Microsoft retail solutions and ActiveStore, visit the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/industry/retail/ .
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