REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 13, 2000 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that companies such as Alibre Inc., Commerce One Inc., Data Return Corp., Dell Computer Corp., Getronics NV, Prologic Corp., PublicHost Corp. and Trilogy Corp. are using the Microsoft® Windows® 2000 operating system as the cornerstone of their Business Internet solution, which provides customers with scalable, reliable and highly manageable solutions. These companies are experiencing phenomenal benefits in a wide range of scenarios, because of the Internet-enabling capabilities of Windows 2000.
“Every day, companies are building solutions and creating new business models that take advantage of the powerful capabilities of the Internet using Windows 2000,”
said Deborah Willingham, vice president of Windows Marketing at Microsoft.
“These customers are proof that Windows 2000 has the power and flexibility to be used in any Internet-based scenario, whether services for business-to-business or business-to-consumer e-commerce or for application service providers.”
The Business Internet is today’s Internet made practical, flexible and more useful. The Business Internet makes the Internet a part of everyday operations through a combination of software, services and industry partners so that companies of all sizes can move processes online, better understand and respond to their customers, empower their employees with the quick delivery of critical business information, and connect to suppliers and industry partners.
Windows 2000 is at the heart of the Business Internet. It empowers companies to take advantage of the Business Internet with a fully integrated Web applications server for building reliable, highly scalable distributed Web applications. Windows 2000 provides a comprehensive and integrated set of capabilities for customers, including a high-performance Web server that features Active Server Pages, COM+ component services, transactions and message queue support, database access, Internet security and end-to-end support for XML.
Commerce One
Commerce One is a global leader in business-to-business electronic-commerce solutions. The company built its solution on Windows 2000 and plans to use the upcoming enterprise network operating platform to turn its customers into real-time trading communities by connecting buying and supplying organizations. In addition to supplying customers with solutions to Internet-enable their business, Commerce One will run their organization on the Windows 2000 platform.
“Our customers require a reliable and scalable solution that won’t break the bank,”
said Kevin Schick, vice president of Product Marketing, Commerce One.
“Windows 2000 provides the bulletproof enterprise network operating platform for the Commerce One solution, and, at the same time, offers our customers superior cost-effectiveness and value.”
Alibre and Data Return
As the first company to offer a mechanical design system marketed, completely sold and supported over the Internet, Alibre was looking for a hosting company that could provide reliable and highly available Web hosting services. Alibre went to Data Return for a solution.
“We needed a platform that provided advanced reliability and scalability for our mechanical design subscription service, and Windows 2000 provided us with a great Internet- ready platform that delivered on those key areas,”
said Alibre President and CEO, Paul Grayson.
“Our solutions partner, Data Return, had the expertise to install and manage our Windows 2000 servers, ensuring that our customers are working in a secure, dependable environment that scales to their needs.”
Data Return delivers high-availability Internet, intranet and extranet hosting services using Microsoft solutions on more than 500 Compaq ProLiant servers. Founded in 1996, the Dallas-based company serves customers all over the world, ranging from the Web 1,000 to the Fortune 1,000.
“Windows 2000 provides our customers with a very powerful platform on which to build their next-generation Internet applications,”
said Jason Lochhead, chief technology officer at Data Return.
“Windows 2000 has already demonstrated superior scalability and reliability in our hosting environment to meet the demanding needs of customers like Alibre. Overall, this helps our collective support costs, so we can deliver better value to our customers.”
Getronics and Dell
Getronics is among the world’s leaders in information and communications technology services and solutions. Getronics solutions help companies with traditional business models make the leap from
“bricks to clicks”
by providing end-to-end solutions. Built on the Windows 2000 platform, Getronics solutions and services enable customers to achieve their business goals while enhancing strategic and operational dexterity.
“Business-to-business solutions require customer-focused intimacy that goes far beyond simple Web access,”
said Cormac O’Reilly, worldwide CIO at Getronics.
“We feel that Windows 2000 is a fundamental building block at the heart of our new Internet site. This site is built on Dell PowerEdge servers and PowerVault storage with Windows 2000 clustering technology. Windows 2000 offers us the tools to achieve 99.999 percent availability through load balancing and improved server management tools, such as Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI). The advanced security model offers our customers a high degree of protection.”
“As a world leader in Internet commerce, Dell is focused on making it easier for our customers to do business online, and Windows 2000 helps them achieve that goal,”
said Patrick Vogt, director of Dell’s Relationship Online group.
“We’re delighted to be working with Microsoft and Getronics to provide this opportunity for their customers.”
Prologic
Prologic Corp. is the leading provider of advanced core banking and e-commerce solutions for the financial industry worldwide. Prologic’s customers are financial services leaders that understand the benefits of customer-centric, e-banking solutions.
“We have more than 300 customers worldwide, including seven of the world’s top 25 largest banks, that share our strong commitment to Microsoft technology. Windows 2000 is unquestionably the new standard platform for financial services technology,”
said Mike Cardiff, president and CEO at Prologic.
“Windows 2000 allows us to provide our global customers with extraordinary software so they can increase their customer acquisition, retention and profitability within their organization.”
PublicHost
PublicHost, a California-based provider of business-to-business hosting solutions, has based its e-commerce platform on Windows 2000. By capitalizing on Windows 2000 features such as the Active Directory TM service and Internet Information Services (IIS), PublicHost has been able to offer scalable e-commerce features to brick-and-mortar customers requiring rapid deployment of an online solution.
”
When we were selecting a platform to standardize our e-commerce solutions on, Windows 2000 made our choice easy. PublicHost’s SiteStream TM technology fully utilizes Active Directory and the new remote administration features,”
said PublicHost Chief Executive Officer Dave Williams.
“Windows 2000 allows us to offer high-availability clustered storefronts for a wide range of industries. We’ve been very impressed thus far by the positive response from customers wanting to migrate to the Windows 2000 platform.”
Trilogy Software
Trilogy Software is helping traditional brick and mortar companies succeed in today’s Internet economy by delivering MultiChannel Commerce 2.0, a suite of products and services, built on top of Windows 2000 that helps customers build robust e-commerce business solutions.
“We’ve been able to assist Global 2000 customers in building powerful e-business solutions built on Windows 2000 that provide a competitive advantage for traditional companies looking to leverage the Internet for new customers, partners and channels,”
said Rob Lilleness, vice president of Product Marketing at Trilogy Software.
“Windows 2000 is a powerful platform for creating e-commerce solutions that just work — 24×7.”
About Windows 2000
Windows 2000 is an ideal platform for the next generation of business computing and addresses the full range of customers’ computing needs, from laptops and desktops to high-end, clustered servers. The operating system helps organizations Internet-enable their business with a reliable, manageable infrastructure that is optimized for existing and emerging hardware. More information about Windows 2000 is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/ .
General availability of Windows 2000 Professional, Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2000 Advanced Server is scheduled for Feb. 17, 2000. Windows 2000 Datacenter Server is expected to be available approximately 90 to 120 days later.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.
Microsoft, Windows and Active Directory are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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