ORLANDO, Fla., Oct. 1, 2001 — In the opening MEC 2001 keynote speech to more than 5,000 Microsoft customers and industry partners, Paul Flessner, senior vice president of the Microsoft® .NET Enterprise Server Division at Microsoft Corp., introduced new tools and products that allow customers to extend access to Exchange from a wider variety of mobile devices, and enable easier integration of collaborative data into business solutions. Additionally, Flessner announced the next version of Mobile Information Server (MIS) 2002 Enterprise Edition, which will provide customers with over-the-air server synchronization from their mobile devices to their Exchange Server. Flessner also announced the Exchange 2000 Server Developer Enablement Kit, which will allow developers to easily design Exchange-based collaborative solutions and XML Web services.
“With over 94 million seats licensed, Exchange is now the leading solution for enterprises that demand mission-critical messaging systems,”
Flessner said.
“This momentum demonstrates that customers are responding to the benefits of unified directory and management, Outlook® Web Access, the integration between Exchange and the rest of the .NET Enterprise Server family, and the ability to build XML Web services today, allowing them to respond to business problems with greater speed and intelligence.”
Microsoft Announces Mobile Information Server 2002 Enterprise Edition
In response to the increasing importance of mobile access to Exchange, Microsoft announced the next version of its mobile server application. MIS 2002 Enterprise Edition provides carriers, enterprise customers and industry partners with an enhanced architecture for securely extending Exchange Server information, corporate intranet applications and services to mobile users. MIS 2002 Enterprise Edition contains key new features that improve mobile user productivity and simplify server administration, including over-the-air server synchronization with mobile devices such as Microsoft’s new Pocket PC 2002 Software (scheduled to be launched Oct. 4, 2001), enhanced security, additional phone support, new administration tools, updated deployment topologies, improved performance, an updated software development kit and new language support.
Microsoft And MobileSys
Flessner announced a strategic alliance between Microsoft and MobileSys Inc., aimed at providing enterprises with secure wireless access via MIS 2002 Enterprise Edition and the MobileSys global data network to mobile workers around the world.
“By supporting MIS 2002 Enterprise Edition, MobileSys is providing secure wireless transmissions and a single point of access to leading global carriers from multinational enterprises that depend on Exchange to do their jobs,”
said David Coelho, MobileSys founder and CEO.
“For MobileSys, this alliance offers us the opportunity to quickly achieve our vision of delivering global wireless infrastructure service to millions of users.”
New Business Opportunities With XML Web Services
All MEC attendees received the Exchange 2000 Server Developer Enablement Kit created to allow developers to jump-start the design and development of XML Web services using Exchange. The two-CD set includes the latest Exchange Software Development Kit, sample Exchange-based XML Web services, white papers on how to develop XML Web services and a code-centered training guide. Also in the kit is a free* 90-day evaluation version of the IT Factory Development Center for Microsoft, providing developers with a snap-in for the Visual Studio® 6, and soon Visual Studio .NET, which allows them to build XML Web services rapidly. The Developer Enablement Kit, combined with Exchange’s native XML, HTTP and WebDAV support, enables enterprise businesses to build XML Web services that solve integration problems and provide better service to their customers — today.
Econium, a leading provider of collaborative solutions to Fortune 1000 companies, encountered a unique challenge while creating a solution for a large consumer products company that was trying to locate and distribute products from a customer call center to stores in order to meet customer demand. By creating an XML Web service built on the contacts, calendar, messaging and workflow capabilities of Exchange 2000, Econium fashioned a solution that allowed customer service representatives to route product, thus meeting customer demand to track the resolution of issues and to discuss product runs and potential changes that would enable more sales.
Exchange 2000 — The Winning Messaging Infrastructure for the Enterprise
Recent analyst reports clearly indicate that Exchange is the leader in messaging and collaboration products. Exchange has two times more deployed seats than its closest competitor, Lotus Development Corp., according to Ferris Research. Further, The Radicati Group Inc. found Exchange in use at 61 percent of Fortune 1000 companies and the leader in hosting messaging seats with a 50 percent share.
For customers switching from a competitive messaging system, Microsoft released the Exchange 2000 Competitive Migration Kit. The kit complements the connectors and utilities already shipping in Exchange 2000 with webcasts, white papers and other essential technical material that provides messaging professionals with the necessary steps to execute a migration to Exchange. The kit also contains updated migration tools for Lotus cc:Mail.
Reuters, a global information, news and technology group, is making the switch to Exchange 2000 from Lotus Notes to improve productivity and business integration. Reuters is in the process of consolidating messaging servers and migrating 18,000 employees worldwide.
“Being a global player, communication is key. The move to Exchange 2000 is strategic because it enables us to offer a wider range of messaging and collaboration features across more mobile devices,”
said Mike Sayers, chief technology officer at Reuters.
“As our technology lines up with the Microsoft .NET initiative for both internal systems and the next generation of Reuters’ customer-focused products, Exchange 2000 and Outlook provide an intuitive solution that requires little training.”
About MEC 2001
MEC 2001 is the essential Microsoft infrastructure planning and deployment conference. MEC reaches more than 8,000 people worldwide and offers attendees in-depth technical training for planning, deploying and managing their enterprise infrastructure to help their businesses gain a competitive advantage in a constantly changing digital world. Best practices are discussed for deploying Exchange 2000 and the Active Directory™ service in Windows® 2000 Server; extending the platform with Office XP, Mobile Information Server and SharePoint™
Portal Server; and integrating Exchange 2000 with other .NET Enterprise Servers. At MEC 2001 in
Orlando, Fla., 5,000 people are gathered to hear more than 210 breakout sessions and to explore more than 150 exhibitors booths.
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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