Microsoft Completes Acquisition of FrontBridge Technologies

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug. 31, 2005 —Microsoft Corp. today announced it has completed the acquisition of FrontBridge Technologies Inc., a leading provider of managed services that help address corporate e-mail compliance, security and availability requirements.

Originally announced July 20, the acquisition of FrontBridge allows Microsoft to deliver services for enforcing compliance through archiving, ensuring e-mail availability in the case of a disaster, and improving protection of employee inboxes from viruses and spam. FrontBridge, now a wholly owned subsidiary of Microsoft, will continue to offer managed messaging services for multiple e-mail platforms such as Microsoft®Exchange, IBM Lotus Domino and other SMTP-compliant servers currently supported by FrontBridge.

“We are really excited about finalizing this acquisition so we can bring the FrontBridge team and their advanced services technology into Exchange,” said Dave Thompson, corporate vice president of the Exchange Server Group at Microsoft. “This acquisition marks an important step forward in Microsoft’s commitment to providing customers with greater flexibility and choice in how their messaging and collaboration solutions are delivered.”

FrontBridge managed messaging services provide value to customers by requiring no upfront capital investment, minimizing IT management overhead, and enabling companies to concentrate their IT resources on areas that most directly impact their business, such as driving innovation, building organizational efficiencies, and increasing customer satisfaction.

Customers such as RSM EquiCo, a global investment banking firm, are already realizing these benefits. “RSM EquiCo had the insight to recognize the strategic importance of e-mail archiving, not only for compliance requirements, but also as a business best practice,” said John Dal Poggetto, vice president of RSM EquiCo. “By choosing FrontBridge, we didn’t have to go through the hassle of acquiring new hardware or ramping up our in-house technical expertise.”

FrontBridge partners are sharing the same enthusiasm for the acquisition. “Sprint Nextel has existing alliances with Microsoft and FrontBridge that will only be strengthened by their integration,” said Randy Ritter, product marketing vice president of Sprint Nextel. “We are especially excited that Microsoft will continue to support the FrontBridge platform-agnostic strategy that enables us to grow and expand domestic and international opportunities for customers seeking best-of-breed message security, compliance and availability technologies.”

FrontBridge Services and Support

With the close of this acquisition, Microsoft begins the process of integrating FrontBridge into the Exchange Server Group, fully committed to delivering uninterrupted service for customers. Microsoft will continue to provide high-quality customer support for the complete range of FrontBridge managed services offered before the acquisition and will continue to work closely with FrontBridge partners.

More information about Exchange Server and this announcement can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Microsoft is a registered trademark 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.mspx.

Related Posts