Microsoft BizTalk Server Helps Pennsylvania Quickly Build Pioneering E-Government Portal

REDMOND, Wash., March 6, 2002 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has built its new one-stop business services e-government portal using Microsoft® BizTalk® Server 2000 and the family of Microsoft .NET Enterprise Servers. The portal, dubbed Pennsylvania Open for Business (PAO4B), is another example of Pennsylvanias focus on e-government. PAO4Bs vision enables businesses to electronically identify, complete and submit all forms required for registration with the departments of Labor and Industry, Revenue and State by using a single electronic interface, saving time, effort and money.

“When we first began planning this portal, we knew that Pennsylvanias e-government vision would aid commerce within the commonwealth and in turn provide businesses with a real competitive advantage over neighboring states,”
said Marty Rupert, project manager for Pennsylvania Open for Business, in Pennsylvanias Office for Information Technology.
“Utilizing the capabilities of the Microsoft platform, we were able to complete the interactive phase from concept to release in five months. Since the live date of Sept. 10, the portal has received 19 million hits and has completed more than 2,500 online registrations. Without this solution, businesses would have had to fill out multiple forms containing similar information for each agency. We have reduced the amount of time and effort that businesses need to expend with the registration process and in turn have allowed them to focus entirely on their core business.”

Creating Pennsylvanias E-Government Vision

Before the launch of PAO4B, businesses were required to complete a repetitive set of paper forms and submit data separately to each department since many have different legacy systems. Registrants sometimes ran into confusion using the old process and spent a lot of time finding the correct forms and filling them out.

Today, registrants go online at http://www.paopen4business.state.pa.us/ and fill out one set of forms. Once they are submitted, BizTalk Server receives the XML from the Web site and applies business logic to determine what actions must occur next, dependent on the data received. These actions include sending e-mail messages, reformatting data, and enforcing the requirements for electronic signatures used by the Department of Labor and Industry. Finally, BizTalk Server distributes the XML data to the appropriate department in real time.

Once registration is completed, a confirmation is sent immediately to the registrant. After delivering the date to each agency, BizTalk Server automatically reformats the data so that each department can process it using specific internal applications and databases. These departments can then send necessary information, such as a tax license number, back to the registrant within days instead of the weeks previously required.

“Pennsylvanias e-government portal is one of the leading-edge solutions in todays government sector and has already delivered business benefits and efficiencies to Pennsylvanias commerce capabilities,”
said Dave Wascha, product manager of BizTalk Server at Microsoft.
“Pennsylvania is an example of how governments can quickly take advantage of new business opportunities and react to the needs of their constituents by integrating their IT infrastructure with BizTalk Server and the family of .NET Enterprise Servers.”

Microsoft Consulting Services built this solution on the Windows® 2000 Advanced Server operating system and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server using XML Web services, BizTalk Server 2000, SQL Server™ 2000, the Visual Studio® 6.0 development system, Application Center 2000 and Commerce Server 2000.

About BizTalk Server

Using XML, SOAP and other core Internet transports and protocols, BizTalk Server unites enterprise application integration, B2B and business process management technology in a single product to allow companies to easily orchestrate Web services and rapidly build dynamic business processes that span applications, platforms and businesses.

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.

Microsoft, BizTalk, Windows and Visual Studio are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

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