NICE, France, Oct. 24, 2000 — At the European Microsoft Exchange and Collaboration Solutions Conference, Microsoft Corp. today announced the Exchange consumer services program that extends the strength of Microsoft® Exchange 2000 Server for enterprise application service providers into the carrier, Internet service provider (ISP) and portal marketplaces. By providing one platform that offers a range of services — from simple e-mail functionality with Exchange consumer services to
“business-class”
productivity and collaboration — Exchange 2000 represents new and significant business opportunities for providers of Internet services.
The Exchange consumer services program includes the following components:
-
Commercial licensing optimized for consumers and small businesses
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Extensions to provisioning features in the Exchange 2000 Server Hosting Pack through companies such as Xevo Corp. and Portal Software Inc.
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Microsoft Commercial Internet System (MCIS) migration and Exchange deployment services for ISPs and carriers from Compaq Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) and eQuest Technologies Inc.
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MCIS Migration Kit for existing MCIS 2.5 customers migrating to Exchange 2000
Unprecedented Scalability for Exchange 2000
In addition, Microsoft and Compaq announced new levels of scalability for consumer e-mail on Exchange 2000. Based on a typical e-mail workload for consumers, Exchange 2000 scaled to 2 million mailboxes managed on a single directory using the Active Directory™ service in Windows® 2000. Exchange 2000’s ability to distribute protocols, directories and mailbox storage across multiple servers allows carriers to support an even larger number of mailboxes. Microsoft will conduct additional scalability testing with other key companies.
“With Exchange 2000 consumer services, Microsoft demonstrates its ongoing commitment to the carrier and ISP industry by providing a highly functional platform,”
said Thomas Koll, vice president of the Network Solutions Group at Microsoft.
“Today, with Exchange 2000 consumer services, small businesses and consumers can benefit from basic e-mail to value add functionalities like calendaring, instant messaging and unified messaging.”
Microsoft Joins with Industry Leaders
Microsoft is dedicated to working with key industry partners including Compaq, Xevo, Portal Software Inc., Abatis Systems Corp., eQuest Technologies and HP to provide a complete, integrated solution to ISPs and carriers. Many of these companies are extending the provisioning features of the Exchange 2000 Hosting Pack for their customers. Through these alliances, Microsoft is playing a key role in creating a manageable and cost-efficient environment to carriers and ISPs, while giving them the opportunity to provide valuable services to small businesses and consumers.
Microsoft will also be working with customers on migration planning from the Microsoft Commercial Internet System 2.5 (MCIS) — a suite of applications including e-mail, news, chat, commerce and personal Web page hosting based on Internet standards. Microsoft has worked with customers and partners to develop migration tools and processes for customers planning to move to Exchange 2000. Compaq, HP and eQuest Technologies will each offer a series of planning and migration services for MCIS customers.
“We are ready today to help MCIS customers in their migration to Exchange 2000,”
said David Stubbs, general manager of Microsoft Services Operation at HP.
“HP provides an array of services including migration assessment, planning and implementation to help customers make a smooth transition to Exchange 2000.”
Several MCIS customers, including Bouygues Telecom in France and CANTV Servicios in Venezuela, have already begun their migration to Exchange 2000.
“We feel strongly that Exchange 2000 prepares us to service our customers today and will also grow with our company to provide value-added services in the future,”
said Yves Fran
Ç
ois, director of services at Bouygues Telecom.
“For these reasons, we are migrating from MCIS to Exchange 2000.”
Detailed information on the Exchange consumer services program can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/productinfo/consumerservices.htm . The Microsoft MCIS 2.5 Migration Kit will be available through industry partners and Microsoft Consulting Services by the end of 2000, and the Exchange Server 2000 Hosting Pack will be available in the first half of 2001. Evaluation versions of Exchange 2000 Server, Exchange 2000 Enterprise Server and Exchange 2000 Conferencing Server are currently available for download at http://microsoft.com/exchange/productinfo/eval.htm .
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies 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.
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