Microsoft Launches SQL Server 2000 Data Warehousing Certification Program for Business Intelligence Applications With VeriTest

REDMOND, Wash., Dec. 13, 2002 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that it has launched a new Microsoft®
SQL Server (TM) 2000 data warehousing certification program through VeriTest, the testing division of Lionbridge Technologies Inc., for business intelligence (BI) applications. The new Microsoft certification program is an essential step in the application process for independent data warehousing and BI software vendors to join the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program. The program enables organizations to work closely with Microsoft to provide increased functionality and support for customers.

Using criteria co-designed by VeriTest and Microsoft, VeriTest evaluates enterprise applications to gauge their compatibility with Microsoft’s data warehousing framework including technologies such as SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, Data Transformation Services (DTS) and data mining. Companies with applications that meet the rigorous standards qualify for participation in the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program for software products. Program details are available at http://www.veritest.com/certification/ms/sqldwa/ .

“Comshare’s membership in the Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Program for Software highlights our long-standing development relationship with Microsoft. Benefits to our mutual customers include increased business agility, low implementation effort and risk, and lowest total cost of ownership. By taking advantage of the Microsoft BI platform, Comshare MPC adapts to changing business and IT requirements and addresses the gap between strategy and execution,”
said Brian Hartlen, senior vice president of Comshare Inc.
“The software certification combines with Comshare’s Gold status for implementing business intelligence solutions. The requirements for these programs are dedication to Microsoft’s BI platform and customer references. Because of this, our clients can have confidence that this critical BI management solution is responsive, open, flexible — agile.”

“ProClarity is pleased to be one of the first business intelligence partners to achieve certification in Microsoft’s new Gold Certified Partner Program, providing customers a ‘stamp of approval’ that the products they are evaluating have been tested to meet the most rigorous standards in the industry,”
said Clay Young, vice president of marketing for ProClarity Corp.
“The Data Warehousing Alliance has been a key factor in our growth over the past three years, and we are happy to see it evolve to include updated testing standards. ProClarity and Microsoft are committed to delivering best-in-class enterprise BI solutions to our mutual customers.”

In 1998, Microsoft created the Microsoft Data Warehousing Alliance (DWA) to build a community of members building BI solutions with Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Office 2000 or Office XP. DWA members embrace the Microsoft Data Warehousing Framework, an open, scalable architecture that speeds, simplifies and reduces the cost of building, managing and using BI applications. More information on the Data Warehousing Alliance can be found at http://www.veritest.com/special/ms/sqldwa/.

“The Data Warehousing Alliance was a critical element in our success in the BI market. We want to move the DWA to the next level and merge it with our Microsoft Certified Partner Program,”
said Don Petersen, product manager for SQL Server at Microsoft.
“Based on VeriTest’s proven expertise with SQL Server 2000, and our long-standing partnership, it was a natural decision for us to select VeriTest to lead the creation and execution of this important program.”

“According to leading analyst firms, revenue for data warehousing tools is expected to grow substantially by 2004. With the SQL Server 2000 data warehousing certification program, VeriTest speeds and simplifies the certification process for solution developers,”
said Katrina Teague, vice president of marketing and partner management for VeriTest.
“Testing data warehousing technology is a complex process, and VeriTest has the experience and infrastructure necessary to certify and test market-leading business intelligence applications.”

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 is the complete database and analysis offering for rapidly delivering the next generation of scalable e-commerce, line-of-business and data warehousing solutions. It dramatically reduces the time required to bring these applications to market, while offering the scalability needed for the most demanding environments. SQL Server 2000 is the next-generation database of the .NET Enterprise Servers and is an integral part of the Microsoft .NET Platform. More information on Microsoft SQL Server can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/ .

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