REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 20, 2003 — Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of the Microsoft® Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment (BDD). The accelerator is a new offering that can reduce tasks for deployment of Windows®
XP Professional, Office XP Professional and Office Professional Edition 2003 by up to 75 percent per desktop, helping enable enterprises to realize the value of their software investments more quickly. The new Microsoft Services (MCS) zero touch service builds on BDD to completely automate the installation process and adds a provisioning engine to enable outsourcing partners to build new managed desktop solutions.
The Solution Accelerator for BDD offers prescriptive directions for using existing deployment tools. The accelerator helps enterprises plan and manage their entire upgrade process, with best practices, scripts and operational guidance for tasks such as organizing a deployment team, setting up a pilot program and managing application migration. The Solution Accelerator for BDD also enables outsourcing partners to implement deployment solutions and value-added services using repeatable best practices customizable to the customer’s needs.
“When it comes to rolling out new software, enterprises are primarily focused on reducing deployment cost and minimizing the time needed to get the new software in the hands of information workers,” said Chris Jones, vice president of the Windows Client Group at Microsoft. “The Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment helps both customers and partners reach these goals by offering step-by-step guidance throughout the whole process, as well as comprehensive resources for customization to meet specific needs.”
“We are very pleased with the results we have experienced using the Solution Accelerator for Business Desktop Deployment in our migration to Microsoft Windows XP Professional,” said Donna Lamberth, senior manager of Information Services at L.L. Bean Inc. “The scripts and best practices allowed us to reduce the time needed to create a desktop image from 14 hours to less than two hours.”
Microsoft Services (or MCS) implemented a zero touch service offering based on BDD for outsourcing partners, systems integrators and enterprise customers deploying Windows XP Professional and Office XP or Office Professional Edition 2003. Designed to help these partners and customers create specific desktop services, zero touch has two components: installation and provisioning. Zero touch installation allows partners to automate deployment tasks for image creation and distribution that previously required manual intervention, greatly reducing deployment time and cost. Zero touch provisioning enables partners to build flexible IT services portal solutions and enables end users to configure and manage their own desktops according to specific rules set by their company’s IT department.
In addition, Microsoft provides a lab on its Redmond, Wash., campus where outsourcing partners can jointly develop customized desktop solutions based on zero touch. Microsoft recently collaborated in the lab with EDS to help it develop its new myCOE business solution, also announced today. The zero touch implementation of the Solution Accelerator for BDD enabled EDS to develop a complete desktop services portal that allows users to self-configure their desktops and applications according to their needs. As a result, the desktop provisioning services for myCOE give organizations new levels of flexibility for their technology investments, helping change fixed costs to variable, and providing greater levels of flexibility to configure services to meet individual users’ needs.
“We came to the development lab to work collaboratively with Microsoft on a flexible desktop services solution that would reduce fixed costs for our clients,” said Carol Wyatt, global offering executive for the Distributed Systems Service line at EDS. “The zero touch technology in the Solution Accelerator is a key component of myCOE, EDS’ evolutionary desktop delivery solution, which allows greater variability and service selection for business units and end users.”
The Solution Accelerator for BDD is available free of charge at http://www.microsoft.com/solutions/msm/evaluation/overview/bdd.asp and as part of the Microsoft Solutions for Management at http://microsoft.com/msm/. The scripts, templates and guides included in the Solution Accelerator for BDD can be used in conjunction with the other tools and resources available on the Desktop Deployment Resource Center, including the Microsoft Baseline Security Analyzer, the Deployment Cost Calculator and the Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit 3.0 with the Windows Application Compatibility Analyzer, and integrates fully with the other Solution Accelerators for Management and Security.
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