New Microsoft Solution for UNIX Migration Speeds Shift to Windows Server

REDMOND, Wash., Oct. 8, 2002 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the Microsoft® Solution for UNIX Migration (MSUM), a set of customer-driven offerings delivered by Microsoft and industry partners to assist with the migration of UNIX applications to the Windows®
platform. Industry reports and broad customer adoption continue to indicate that the Windows Server platform continues to gain installed base while the combined UNIX derivatives continue to decline. Industry partners have announced products, services and support programs in conjunction with Microsoft’s initiatives around helping customers that want to migrate from UNIX to Windows.

“People see the compelling value of ‘PC economics’ and the Windows Server family, and that is reflected in the growing demand for Windows Server solutions by UNIX customers,”
said S. Somasegar, corporate vice president of Windows Engineering Services at Microsoft.
“To assist customers with interoperation and migration of UNIX applications, Microsoft has made this key investment in tools and technologies, services and practices contained in our new MSUM.”

Microsoft and industry partners have been assisting customers moving from UNIX to the Windows Server platform. With the migration of more than 50 customers already completed, Microsoft is currently working with more than 100 of the largest companies worldwide to address issues of UNIX interoperability and migration.

“We see the tools and services that Microsoft has invested in as an excellent resource for customers migrating from UNIX to Windows,”
said Tony Iams, vice president of Systems Software and Midrange Systems at D.H. Brown.
“The ability for Windows to take maximum advantage of cost-effective, industry-standard hardware continues to put pressure on UNIX as users focus on containing costs. We believe that Windows will represent an attractive alternative to UNIX for users seeking an end-to-end, integrated software solution.”

Patterns and Practices Guide and Services Now Available for UNIX Migration

The MSUM incorporates the recently published UNIX Code Migration Guide, which offers free prescriptive guidance on all aspects of moving applications from UNIX to Windows. This comprehensive guide is built on the best practices developed with customers and industry partners based on several person-years of work and can help customers reduce the time, cost and risk associated with the migration process. Ideal for both UNIX and Windows developers, the guide is a valuable source of information for anyone looking to take advantage of the Windows platform.

Partners Provide UNIX Interoperability and Migration Support Services

Industry partners have seen the huge opportunity to support customers interoperating with or migrating to the Windows platform by developing their own solution and service offerings. The following companies provide UNIX interoperability and migration tools and services or are announcing new offerings today: Accenture Ltd., Avanade Inc., Dell Computer Corp., IBM Global Services, Infosys Technologies Ltd., Interop Systems Inc., Intel Corp., MigraTEC Inc., Rogue Wave Software Inc., TPI Inc. and Unisys Corp.

“The combination of Windows and Intel Xeon processor-based servers, along with Intel Solution Services consulting and deployment expertise, provides customers with a robust, scalable and reliable solution,”
said David Brown, general manager of Intel’s Platform Enabling Group.
“By working with Microsoft to develop tools and services, Intel is making it easier for customers to migrate from legacy RISC-based servers to platforms based on Intel Architecture.”

“Our clients value tools and capabilities that help them to avoid being locked in to a single technology solution,”
said James Hall, managing partner of Technology and Research for Accenture.
“They want the freedom to move applications to where they can get the best value. These tools from Microsoft will help us serve clients who want to migrate their applications to Windows.”

“With the combination of the Unisys ES7000 server, Unisys migration services and the ability of Windows and SQL Server (TM) to scale up to 32 processors, we are seeing great results in liberating enterprises from the expense and complexity of proprietary UNIX/RISC solutions,”
said Tom Manter, director of Database Server Programs at Unisys.
“Furthermore, we expect that the introduction of new processor innovations from Intel, the next-generation Windows .NET software, and new services and tools will help make migration an even more compelling value for business and government.”

Services for UNIX 3.0 Is Key Product for Interoperability and Migration

To assist customers, Microsoft has continued to heavily invest in providing the right products, tools, services and practices to support seamless interoperability between UNIX platforms and Windows systems. Microsoft provides Microsoft Windows Services for UNIX 3.0, which enables seamless integration between UNIX and Windows environments including the ability to use existing UNIX applications and scripts on Windows.

The Cornell Theory Center (CTC) was the first high-performance computing center to move all its applications from UNIX to Windows.
“After investigating the Windows Server platform it became obvious the applications running on UNIX could be migrated to a Windows-based platform relatively easily, and the performance gains and lower costs made this a very sound business decision,”
said David Lifka of Cornell Theory Center (CTC).
“We have extremely high performance demands as we support analysis for a variety of applications in manufacturing, financial services and bio-informatics; Windows allows us to meet these needs.”
CTC offers a suite of Windows-based services to clients through CTC High-Performance Solutions.

Information on the Microsoft Solution for UNIX Migration can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/migrate/unix/ . More information on Services for UNIX 3.0 can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/sfu/ . Additional information on Microsoft and related partner products can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/migrate/unix/migratetools.asp . More information on the UNIX Code Migration Guide can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/migrate/unix/pag.asp .

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 and Windows 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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Quote Sheet

“Avanade has helped dozens of organizations maximize value from the rich capabilities and attractive price point of the Microsoft enterprise platform. The combination of this expertise and experience and the new tools in the Microsoft Solution for UNIX Migration means Avanade can deliver even more value to customers that need to integrate and migrate an installed base of UNIX applications to the .NET environment. By extending the MSUM foundation through use of its application framework assets for the .NET Platform, Avanade’s technologists can deliver a reliable solution more rapidly and with reduced complexity.”

  • Ashish Kumar


  • CTO
    Avanade

“We’re continuing to see strong customer interest in migrating off proprietary, UNIX platforms to standards-based software and hardware platforms due to their ease of use and increased ROI. Working with Microsoft, Dell is providing its customers with a robust set of tools and services that will ensure a smooth migration to a Windows-based platform.”

  • Peter Morowski


  • Vice President of Software, Enterprise Systems Group
    Dell

“We’ve seen growing demand for services, tools and training to assist customers migrating from UNIX environments to Windows. Microsoft has produced some excellent guides to help with this migration. We’re pleased to be able to leverage this content to provide unique value in helping our customers transition to a Windows environment.”

  • Gene Clark


  • IBM Global Services

“Familiar tools are important to UNIX developers and administrators while working in a mixed Windows- and UNIX-based environment. So, today we are excited to announce our UNIX Tools Community Web site to provide the tools developers and administrators need to do their jobs.”

  • Bill Miller


  • President
    Interop Systems

“IT managers are recognizing that Windows can address the needs of their mission-critical applications as well as greatly reduce the total cost of supporting those applications. MigraTEC’s automated migration technology offers service providers and application owners a way to maximize the lower TCO benefits of Windows by providing an efficient and predictable process to move applications off UNIX to a native Windows environment.”

  • Wes Blair


  • Vice President, Sales and Marketing
    MigraTEC

“More than a quarter million developers have used Rogue Wave’s SourcePro C++ for building mission-critical applications for ISVs and for the finance, telecommunications and aerospace industries. SourcePro’s scalability and interoperability — providing access to eight databases — increases developer productivity through effective reuse of components. We’re pleased to work with Microsoft to continue and enhance support for SourcePro C++ for the Windows Server.”

  • Mike Gionfriddo


  • Director, Technical Services
    Rogue Wave Software

“Enterprises migrating from UNIX-based solutions to the Windows platform will be impressed with Microsoft’s blend of products, tools, services and support to ensure a seamless transition. We are thrilled to have the thoroughly planned Microsoft Solution for UNIX Migration to use with our customers.”

  • Thomas J. Klinect


  • CEO/President
    TPI

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