Microsoft and Wang Global Expand Enterprise Alliance To Deliver Infrastructure, 32-Bit Migration, Internet and E-Commerce, And Vertical Market Solutions for Customers Worldwide
REDMOND, Wash., March 23, 1998 — Microsoft Corp. and Wang Global today announced an expansion of their strategic alliance to deliver business solutions combining Microsoft’s enterprise platform and Wang Global’s consulting, support, integration and solutions portfolio. The alliance is designed to address the escalating customer demand for scalable, available and manageable business solutions based on Microsoft® enterprise technology and the professional services to design, implement and support these solutions.
Microsoft and Wang Global will focus on five primary areas: migration to the latest Microsoft 32-bit desktop technologies; networking, messaging and intranet infrastructure; strategic Internet and electronic-commerce applications; comprehensive networked technology services; and component-based vertical applications.
As part of the strategic alliance, Wang Global will significantly extend its service capacity by training and certifying 2,500 professionals as Microsoft Certified Systems Engineers and Microsoft Certified Solution Developers.
To help customers design and deploy Microsoft networked technology solutions, Wang Global will open two Centers of Excellence, one at its new worldwide headquarters in Billerica, Mass., and one in Italy. The centers will showcase enterprise solutions based on Microsoft technologies and Wang Global integrated services.
In addition, Wang Global will establish Technology Integration Labs to design and test customer solutions based on Microsoft technology and will lead with Microsoft’s enterprise products in customer accounts. Microsoft’s enterprise platform includes the Windows NT® Server operating system, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server
™, Microsoft Site Server Commerce Edition and other members of the BackOffice® family of server applications, as well as several Internet, development and desktop technologies including Microsoft
Windows NT Workstation and Microsoft Office.
“More and more large organizations around the world are standardizing their IT infrastructures to reduce costs, simplify administration, improve operations and increase collaboration,”
said Steve Ballmer, executive vice president of sales and support at Microsoft.
“Windows NT, BackOffice and Office are quickly emerging as the platform of choice for companies that need scalable, interoperable and reliable technology to run their business. Our alliance with Wang represents a major milestone in delivering the technology and comprehensive services and solutions that enterprise customers all over the world demand.”
Joe Tucci, chairman and CEO of Wang Global, added,
“The Wang Global-Microsoft relationship has been going strong since we first joined forces in 1995. Elevating our relationship to a more global status recognizes Wang Global as one of the top IT services organizations in the world and reinforces both companies’ commitment to meeting the network computing needs of enterprise customers wherever they do business.”
Global Office and Business Solutions for Banking and Retail
The enterprise alliance will introduce Global Office, a framework developed to help customers meet strategic goals by linking their business and technology objectives. Global Office is designed to provide customers with timely, efficient and predictable deployment of their network and desktop solutions by using a common operating environment based on Microsoft products. Using a standard set of Microsoft technologies, Wang Global will bring customers a simplified, highly available and secure infrastructure that can evolve with the needs of the business. The program offerings in Global Office include these:
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Managed desktop. A combination of Wang Global’s comprehensive networked technology services and Microsoft’s 32-bit technologies allows customers to create a managed desktop environment. Common characteristics, standardized user environments, policy enforcement and centralized distribution and management enable customers to reduce complexity on the desktop, lower their total cost of ownership and increase business value.
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Microsoft products include Microsoft Windows NT Workstation, the Microsoft Windows® 95 and Windows 98 operating systems, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Microsoft Office, the Microsoft Outlook
™
messaging and collaboration client, Microsoft Systems Management Server and Microsoft Windows Terminal Server.
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Secure intranet and trusted extranet. This alliance will enable customers to take advantage of the security expertise of Wang Global and its comprehensive service offerings to build an effective and secure connected environment. By implementing Microsoft Internet server and desktop technologies, customers will be able to provide managed access (access rights: firewall and proxies) to the Internet from inside or outside the organization.
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Microsoft products include Microsoft Site Server, Microsoft Internet Information Server, Microsoft Proxy Server and Microsoft Internet Explorer.
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Enterprise messaging foundation and migration. Companies can leverage employees’ and corporate knowledge by providing access to information that enables global teamwork. Microsoft products and Wang Global services provide the foundation for enterprise messaging and collaboration.
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Microsoft software includes Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Outlook.
As part of the primary technology focus of the alliance, Wang Global also will offer component-based vertical applications for the banking and retail industries built on Microsoft enterprise technologies and application frameworks, including Windows Distributed interNet Architecture (Windows DNA) for Financial Services for the banking industry, as well as ActiveStore
™
retail technology architecture and OLE Point of Sale (OPOS) for the retail industry.
Wang Global’s extensive Microsoft product knowledge and support capabilities will benefit enterprise customers by accelerating time to market, mitigating the risk of implementing new technologies and lowering the total cost of ownership. Wang Global is a Microsoft Certified Solution Provider, a Microsoft Large Account Reseller, a Microsoft Authorized Technical Education Center (ATEC) and has 12 Microsoft Authorized Support Centers around the world. The company is an early adopter of Microsoft technology and has standardized on Microsoft enterprise products for 20,000 desktops. Wang Global consultants will standardize on the Microsoft Solutions Framework as its standard project planning and deployment methodology. Microsoft consultants will collaborate with Wang Global professionals on a wide range of activities and services including enterprise planning, solution architectures, pilot systems, migration planning, training programs and knowledge-transfer activities.
In December 1997, Wang Global received the Microsoft Exchange 5.5 Visionary Award for its outstanding performance in designing and implementing new messaging systems. Earlier in 1997, Microsoft recognized Wang Global with an Excellence Award for superior customer support of the Microsoft BackOffice product family.
CitiPower attests to Wang Global’s expertise in helping customers implement Microsoft-based solutions.
“Because our customers demand consistent service, we had to minimize the impact of the upgrade,”
said Alex Kuzmicky, manager of information technology at CitiPower.
“A seamless transition to Windows NT 4.0 and Microsoft Exchange was integral to the success of the desktop rollout and the entire project, and Wang was able to make the transition virtually unnoticeable.”
About Wang Global
Headquartered in Billerica, Mass., Wang Global is a leading international network and desktop integration and services company providing a comprehensive range of information technology services for today’s network-centric business environments. With annualized revenues in excess of $3 billion, Wang Global designs, installs, operates and maintains global computing and telecommunications networks for some of the world’s largest multinational companies. Services include systems architecture design, installation, warranty, help desk, maintenance, software support, and management of enterprise networks to the desktop. Wang Global integration services provide business solutions primarily for the banking industry as well as defense and civilian government agencies. Wang Global employs more than 21,000 professionals and has subsidiaries and affiliates in over 40 countries. Information about Wang Global and its services can be found on the World Wide Web at (http://www.wang.com/) .
About Microsoft
Microsoft and its worldwide enterprise partners deliver a total solution: integrated platforms, powerful business applications and comprehensive global services that drive the success of its enterprise customers. Large organizations can work directly with Microsoft or choose among the many highly qualified Microsoft enterprise partners to implement solutions based on Microsoft enterprise products. More than 13,000 customers in 45 countries are realizing significant business value and competitive advantage from Microsoft worldwide enterprise solutions.
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, Windows NT, BackOffice, Windows, Outlook and ActiveStore 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.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Among the important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements are changes in the mix of the company’s services business, competitive pressures, general economic conditions and the risk factors detailed in the company’s periodic reports and registration statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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