Industry Leaders Support New Enterprise-Class Solutions from Microsoft Canada Co.
HP, Intel, Dell, IBM, Unisys, NexInnovations and Navantis bring added customer value to Windows® Server 2003, SQL Server™ 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-Bit) and Visual Studio® .NET 2003
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MISSISSAUGA, ON, April 24, 2003 — Microsoft Canada Co. today announced extensive industry support for Windows Server 2003 operating system, SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition (64-Bit) and Visual Studio .NET 2003 development system, three new enterprise-class solutions that are designed to help customers reduce costs and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of IT operations.
Windows Server 2003 is the basis for Microsoft’s vision for next generation computing and will provide the platform for enterprise-class offerings including, application servers such as Exchange 2003; client applications including Office 2003; and XML Web services. The new server platform is already receiving widespread support around the world with more than 70,000 industry players ready to market, deploy and service Windows Server 2003.
Canadian organizations can tap into Microsoft Canada’s extensive ecosystem of resellers and solution providers including hardware vendors, value-added resellers, distributors, large account resellers, independent software vendors and certified authorized training centers in order to build a new generation of connected applications that improve business productivity.
“The support of our channel ecosystem is essential to helping our customers get better value out of their IT infrastructure,” said Frank Clegg, President of Microsoft Canada. “We are pleased to be working with each company to create ongoing value for new and existing customers as Canadian companies focus on increasing the efficiency of IT while dealing with fewer resources.”
Leading Hardware Vendors Team With Microsoft Canada
Hardware vendors, including Intel, Unisys, IBM, Dell and HP participated in the Canadian launch with support of Microsoft’s new offerings in the Canadian market.
“At HP, we are dedicated to providing our customers with solutions that enable them to meet their long term business goals,” said Paul Tsaparis, President and CEO, HP Canada. “Our joint solutions with Microsoft Canada, based on the Windows Server 2003 platform, will provide Canadian enterprises with an unprecedented ability to drive down costs while increasing productivity.”
“Intel and Microsoft are strategically aligned on 64-bit computing and we are pleased that Windows Server 2003 is optimized to take full advantage of the unique capabilities of the Itanium and Xeon processor families,” said Doug Cooper, Country Manager, Intel Canada. “The combination of Windows Server 2003 and Itanium 2-based systems delivers outstanding performance and scalability for enterprise computing, enabling Intel-based servers to out-perform the most powerful RISC-based systems on the market today.”
"Canadian organizations of all sizes are under financial pressure to get the most out of their IT investments," said Renaud Collery, President and General Manager, Dell Canada. "Working with Microsoft Canada, Dell is able to offer customers cost-effective enterprise hardware and software solutions and services. Windows Server 2003 operating on Dell's PowerEdge servers provides a robust platform that can optimize customers' return on investment and meet their needs for scalable and highly available computing environments."
"We are excited about the release of Windows Server 2003 as it offers powerful new features that take advantage of the IBM eServer xSeries platform," said IBM Canada eServer xSeries Business Unit Executive Bruce Beacham. "From business intelligence and ERP to supply chain management and high performance computing, our combined solutions enable Canadian organizations to increase efficiencies and productivity within their IT operations."
"The top IT priority among large enterprises is to eliminate complexity in the data center and we are helping them achieve this goal with our Unisys ES7000 family of servers that leverage the advanced enterprise capabilities of Windows Server 2003," said Debora Jensen, Vice President and General Manager – Solutions & Technology, UNISYS CANADA. "Leveraging the benefits of Microsoft Windows standardization, the ES7000 features the flexibility to redefine and reallocate server resources, memory, and processors to meet changing e-business requirements."
Resellers, Systems Integrators Embrace New Offerings
Resellers and systems integrators play a critical role in the Canadian market, enabling Microsoft Canada to successfully deliver and deploy their technology to customers. These companies have already started working with the products launched today, through early adopter programs, and are ready to meet the needs of their customers in acquiring or deploying these new products.
“We’ve been working with Windows Server 2003 and Visual Studio .NET 2003 in a variety of scenarios during the past several months and have been very impressed,” said John Kvasnic, CEO and Chief Architect, Navantis Inc. “In every scenario, users were able to increase the value of their IT investment. For the development community, we now have the ability to quickly build solutions that interoperate across languages, platforms and devices which results in a much more connected environment.”
“Our customers increasingly rely on us to help them align their IT needs with their business objectives,” said Hubert Kelly, President & CEO, NexInnovations Inc. “As infrastructure services experts, we leverage Microsoft’s solutions to deliver value to our customers and achieve significant return on their technology investment.”
About Windows Server 2003
Windows Server 2003 is a comprehensive, integrated and secure infrastructure designed to help customers reduce costs and increase the efficiency and effectiveness of IT operations. Building on Windows 2000 family strengths, the new server platform helps customers extend existing resources while laying the foundation for building a new generation of connected applications that improve business productivity. More information is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/.
About Visual Studio .NET 2003
Visual Studio® .NET 2003 development system is Microsoft’s Integrated Development Environment (IDE) for building secure and powerful applications and XML Web services. Visual Studio .NET 2003 is designed to help increase developer productivity, assisting developers to rapidly build and integrate applications and Web services, which results in faster time to market. Fully integrated with the Microsoft .NET Framework 1.1, Visual Studio .NET 2003 is the only tool developers need to build a broad range of applications that span from the device to the datacenter helping to reduce a company’s development costs. More information is available online at http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio.
About Microsoft Canada
Established in 1985, Microsoft Canada Co. is the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation (Nasdaq "MSFT") the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. Microsoft Canada provides nationwide sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in both French and English. Microsoft Canada is headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario with MSN.CA offices located in Toronto and eight regional offices across the country dedicated to empowering people through great software - any time, any place and on any device. Visit Microsoft Canada's web site at www.microsoft.ca.
©2003 Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft, Visual Studio and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation 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.
