ANAHEIM, Calif., Oct. 8, 2002 — In his opening MEC 2002 keynote speech to more than 5,500 Microsoft customers and industry partners, Paul Flessner, senior vice president of the Microsoft .NET Enterprise Server Division at Microsoft Corp., announced the forthcoming innovations within the Microsoft enterprise platform that will focus on driving a lower total cost of ownership and reducing complexity for customers as well as helping businesses better connect with their partners, customers and mobile devices. These innovations are included in Windows .NET Server 2003 as well as the newest versions of a number of the .NET Enterprise Servers, including Exchange — code-named
“Titanium” and the e-business Servers — code-named
“Jupiter.”
“The primary goal of Microsoft’s Enterprise software business is to drive the complexity out of IT through innovation,”
Flessner said.
“For the benefit of the customer, Microsoft is working to make all the pieces of its enterprise platform collaborate seamlessly, as well as making it more manageable and approachable by extending the platform to include more value-added technologies, and by ensuring that the platform is interoperable with all the existing technologies within a customer’s IT environment.”
Flessner also reported that customer anticipation and enthusiasm is rapidly building for Windows .NET Server 2003 release candidate 1. More than 200,000 customers have signed up for the product through the Customer Preview Program within the past 60 days – the largest number ever on any Microsoft server product. Industry partners also are preparing for the arrival, with more than 75,000 Windows .NET Server 2003 Partner Guides, which includes RC1, distributed since September.
Windows .NET Server 2003 Drives Down Storage Complexities
Flessner reported broad industry support for the Microsoft Windows .NET Server 2003, Volume Shadow-copy Services (VSS) and Volume Disk Services (VDS) technologies. Leading enterprise hardware vendors have already committed to developing products that will utilize the new technologies and deliver innovative enterprise storage solutions to their customers. VSS and VDS are part of a storage architecture that provides heterogeneous interoperation of storage hardware, storage software and applications. VDS and VSS are the latest additions to the improved storage services architecture in Windows .NET Server 2003.
“
Titanium
”
Revealed
Flessner announced that the next version of Exchange, code-named
“Titanium,”
will deliver significant reduction in TCO and the best connected user experience whether online, across a range of network connections or offline.
“Titanium”
will offer XSO, the code name for a new managed API for adding collaborative functionality to .NET applications. XSO is designed to make it more intuitive for developers to integrate Exchange data and services such as e-mail notifications, calendaring, contacts and tasks into line of business applications such as sales force automation. And because XSO is remotely accessible, applications built with XSO do not have to reside on the Exchange Server computer. This allows more applications to use Exchange Server functionality from anywhere in the organization.
Early projections show that with the combination of
“Titanium”
and Outlook 11, customers may realize an approximate fivefold reduction in servers through new backup technology, Volume Shadow-copy Services (VSS), and improvements to reduce and compress traffic between Outlook and Exchange. Further enhancements and tools ensure greater availability, with eight-node clustering and better manageability with the Exchange Management Pack for Microsoft Operations Manager (MOM).
Information workers also benefit from “Titanium”; with improvements such as MAPI over HTTP, a new Outlook Web Access client and native support for mobile devices, the next version of Exchange delivers an unparalleled connected user experience.
Content Management Server 2002 Launch and the
“
Jupiter
”
Vision
David Kiker, general manager of E-Business Servers at Microsoft, joined Flessner on stage today to launch Content Management Server 2002 and outline the company’s e-business vision, code-named
“Jupiter.”
The
“Jupiter”
vision will be delivered in two phases over the next year to 18 months and will include revolutionary business process management capabilities; additional support for XML Web services standards, including Business Process Execution Language for Web services (BPEL4WS); and unprecedented developer and information worker support through enhanced integration with Visual Studio .NET and Office.
MSUM Drives Down Interoperability and Migration Complexity
Introduced is the Microsoft Solution for UNIX Migration (MSUM), a set of tested templates and best practices on how to interoperate or move mission-critical business applications from UNIX to Windows. Current industry reports indicate that the Windows Server Platform continues to gain install base while the combined UNIX derivatives continue to decline. Industry partners are set to deliver services and support programs focused on aiding customers who want UNIX applications to interoperate with or migrate to Windows Server Platforms. It was reported that more than 100 of the largest enterprises worldwide are in various stages of migration, with more than 50 already completed.
About MEC 2002
MEC 2002 is the essential Microsoft conference for planning, deploying and managing a connected enterprise for IT professionals and technical decision-makers. This year, 5,500 customers, partners and Microsoft technical staff and speakers will gather at MEC 2002 in Anaheim, Calif., to hear more than 200 breakout sessions and to explore 190 exhibitor booths. Platinum sponsors for MEC 2002 include Cisco Systems Inc., Dell Computer Corp., Hewlett-Packard Co., Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. and Verizon Wireless.
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, Windows, Outlook 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.
Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may since have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/contactpr.asp .
Windows .NET Server 2003 Supporting Quotes
“As the leading solution for creating and managing large-scale Employee Knowledge Networks for Fortune 500 companies, AskMe Enterprise demands a highly secure, reliable, scalable and cost-effective platform. Windows .NET Server 2003 not only delivers advanced capabilities for deploying sophisticated next-generation technologies to AskMe’s customers, but also shortens the time-to-value of our solution by reducing the cost of integration. We have developed a very strong relationship with Microsoft and are excited to be among the first companies to take advantage of the value of Windows .NET Server 2003 to deliver world-class enterprise software to our customers.”
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Hossein Mousavi
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Vice President of Marketing
AskMe Corp.
“Beyond exhibiting the enterprise-class scalability, reliability and security characteristics required by next-generation business applications for the Web, Windows .NET Server 2003 provides a central foundation for companies committed to leveraging a services-based architecture to increase agility, responsiveness and innovation. As an ISV that allows companies to accelerate delivery of .NET-based business services, Avinon is eager to offer our customers the role-based application security, Web service management and real-time communication capabilities that Windows .NET Server makes available out of the box.”
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David Ruiz
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Vice President of Product Marketing
Avinon Inc.
“Business Objects is committed to enabling companies to deploy our industry-leading business intelligence solutions on a variety of server platforms. To do this, Business Objects continually examines new platforms that provide the high levels of reliability and scalability required by our customers. We have committed to testing and supporting Windows .NET Server 2003 and are excited about the benefits this innovative environment will provide our customers.”
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Jill Henry
-
Director of Strategic Alliances
Business Objects SA
“Windows .NET Server 2003, delivering in several areas that enterprise customers demand, is an exciting release for Cognos customers. As an industry-leading, enterprise-class business intelligence solution, Cognos Series 7 requires a highly scalable, highly available and cost-effective platform on which to run. Windows .NET Server 2003 clearly delivers, and we look forward to supporting this platform. By working together, Cognos and Microsoft are positioned to provide intelligent solutions that grow seamlessly with an organization’s diverse needs.”
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Pat O’Leary
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Vice President of Strategic Alliances
Cognos Inc.
“Microsoft’s .NET Server 2003 technologies will enable Comshare’s customers to leverage their current investments in Comshare MPC, while taking advantage of the new functions and features provided by this release. Of particular importance are the enhancements to Windows Internet Information Services 6.0 and its .NET framework. The new version of Internet Information Services (IIS 6.0) included with this release provides substantially improved reliability and scalability. This means that customers will be able to deliver Comshare’s MPC to larger populations of users without requiring changes to their applications. In the same vein, the features that Microsoft has added to its .NET Framework will enable our customers to more easily deploy newer MPC capabilities that rest on XML Web services.”
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Dave King
-
Senior Vice President and CTO
Comshare Inc.
“Our E-vis collaborative application is built on the Microsoft .NET set of solutions and takes advantage of the power of Microsoft server technologies such as Microsoft Exchange, Active Directory and SQL Server 2000. With the release of Windows .NET Server 2003, we now have a highly scalable, out-of-the-box UDDI server implementation that lets us expose our application’s Web services for enterprise deployments. The UDDI service, along with the scalability and performance improvements of Windows .NET Server 2003, gives us an ideal platform to deliver Web services both in the enterprise and across the Internet.”
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David Tucker
-
System Architect
EDS PLM Solutions
“Enterprise Rent-A-Car is using Windows .NET Server 2003 to deploy a new line of business applications that will be rolled out to offices across the United States. The improved reliability and key enhancements to Terminal Services in Windows .NET Server 2003, such as Group Policies, make it the ideal platform for our new car rental solution.”
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Craig Kennedy
-
CIO
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Co.
“We are anxious to move our current production environment to Windows .NET Server 2003 because it will enable us to streamline operations, reduce IT management overhead, and enhance the manageability of our systems overall. We’ll be able to dramatically reduce the complexity of our current operating environment with a scalable and cost effective .NET solution.”
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Rick Parish
-
Vice President of Information Systems
Epicor Software Corp.
“We are excited about Windows .NET Server 2003 because of the enhancements in security and reliability in Internet Information Services and the new administration capabilities that will greatly simplify system administration. We are planning to deploy Windows .NET Server 2003 in late fall/early winter for delivery of a variety of Web services supporting Honeywell ACS.”
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Therese Fontaine
-
Principal Architect
Honeywell International Inc.
“Today’s enterprise customers need reliable, scalable and innovative solutions, such as those found with the Microsoft .NET set of technologies, to manage their business-critical information. LEGATO is meeting those customer needs by working with Microsoft to provide innovative backup and recovery technologies such as a virtual snapshot capability, to Windows .NET Server 2003 customers. On May 20, we announced our collaboration with Microsoft on the business and development strategy for enterprise storage management with a focus on .NET. We continue to be excited about the .NET set of technologies for developing information management solutions.”
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Derek J. Sanders
-
Vice President of the Microsoft Alliance
LEGATO Systems Inc.
“Onyx already delivers certified world-class CRM solutions on top of the entire breadth of the Microsoft Windows 2000 server family – Server, Advanced Server and Datacenter Server. Windows .NET Server 2003 will enhance our product offering in two ways. First, improvements in security, reliability and scalability will strengthen Windows as an enterprise-class platform and reinforce Onyx’s position as a superior Web-based CRM offering on the Microsoft platform. Second, as a leader in CRM Web Services, Microsoft .NET provides an excellent set of solutions for XML Web services.”
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Mary Reeder
-
Chief Technology Officer
Onyx Software Corp.
“Customers in today’s competitive and ever-changing business environment are demanding scalable and reliable analytic solutions that optimize business operations. We look forward to the launch of Windows .NET Server 2003 and the enhanced scalability and performance it will provide our mutual customers. The comprehensive Microsoft and ProClarity solution delivers proven, cost-effective analytics that can be rapidly deployed throughout the enterprise. We look forward to continuing to work with Microsoft to provide our customers with world-class analytic solutions.”
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Clay Young
-
Vice President of Marketing
ProClarity Corp.
“SAS is excited about the release of the Windows .NET 2003 Server family, which will provide increased scalability and performance for our Windows-based customers. SAS is working closely with Microsoft to ensure that our industry-leading business intelligence solutions are optimized for Windows .NET 2003 Servers in both 32-bit and 64-bit environments.”
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Zul Abbany
-
Vice President of the Alliance Development Division
SAS Institute Inc.
“Windows® .NET Server 2003 is creating an extremely dependable platform from which we can expand to reach new markets more easily, reliably and securely. We are using Windows .NET Server 2003 to build advanced, policy-based network authentication software for enterprises and service providers to take control of their wide-area networks and deploy secure IP VPNs.”
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Mark Beadles
-
Chief Architect
SmartPipes Inc.
“VERITAS Software has been working closely with Microsoft on the improved scalability and storage infrastructure built into Windows .NET Server 2003. Based on our experience with the product and with early adopter customers, VERITAS Software regards Windows .NET Server 2003 as ready for the enterprise, in both scale-up and scale-out scenarios. VERITAS will begin support for .NET customers in the fourth quarter of 2002 and will extend that support in 2003 to storage solutions, leveraging new Windows .NET Server 2003 capabilities such as Multipath I/O and Volume Shadow Copy Service.”
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Brenda Zawatski
-
Vice President of Product and Solutions Marketing
VERITAS Software
“Invensys is about to roll out (Dec 2002) it’s new Industrial Architecture ‘ArchestrA.’ In this first product, the framework has been built using the Microsoft .NET Framework for the core scripting engine. This has provided flexibility to serve the general user and power user with our applications, while providing the performance and reliability required in the industrial application space. Fundamental to ‘ArchestrA’s’ design goals is to deliver a powerful, scalable and robust industrial framework on which products and solutions can be delivered. We are leveraging Microsoft .NET Technologies and Windows .NET Server 2003 to provide many of the core technologies on which to build this framework, when applied in server applications.”
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Tim Sowell
-
Vice President of Product Management
Wonderware/Invensys plc
