Agreement Features Launching of Scalability and Reliability Centers
HOUSTON and NEW YORK, Sept. 25, 2000 - Compaq Computer Corporation (NYSE: CPQ) and Accenture today announced they are extending their long-time relationship by teaming up to help companies and organizations build large-scale business applications on lower-cost platforms, utilizing the newly announced Microsoft® .NET technologies.
Driving the agreement is the increasing demand by "new enterprise" companies to migrate mission-critical applications to industry-standard platforms and operating systems in order to drive down their overall costs of computing and simplify their complex computing environments. As Windows 2000 and .NET emerge as the next generation of Internet- and enterprise-ready platforms, Accenture and Compaq will bring a new level of economics to enterprise customers while working to preserve the reliability and availability needed in a mission-critical environment.
The agreement includes the launching of performance and scalability centers that will develop next-generation enterprise and e-business solutions based on the Microsoft® Windows 2000 and .NET Enterprise server products and Compaq ProLiant™ servers and related storage. Along with Compaq hardware, the centers will feature the expertise of Accenture’s Microsoft Solutions Organization (MSO).
The first two centers, to be opened at an existing Accenture facility in Cincinnati and on the Compaq campus in Houston, will facilitate the joint development of vertical and cross-industry solutions. Jointly staffed, the centers will operate as one, allowing experts in either location to concurrently work on the same project, helping accelerate turnaround time. Services provided by the centers will be available immediately.
"We believe by combining Compaq’s world-class industry-standard ProLiant servers with Accenture’s expertise in business process design and applications, we will be able to accelerate delivering the advantages of the Windows 2000 and .NET Server platform to the enterprise," said Mary T. McDowell, Vice President and General Manager, Compaq Industry Standard Server Group. "Together, we will deliver innovative, Windows 2000 enterprise platform-based solutions to help customers achieve immediate and concrete business results."
"This is all about speed and accuracy, two key requirements of businesses seeking to migrate mission critical applications," said Karl E. Newkirk, managing partner, Microsoft Solutions Organization, Accenture. "I’m convinced that, by teaming up with Compaq, we are better able to meet those requirements."
Leveraging the Strengths of Both Companies
The agreement leverages the resources of both Compaq and Accenture for the development, marketing, deployment and support of Microsoft and ProLiant technologies in the enterprise.
Earlier this year, Accenture formed the Microsoft Solutions Organization, a dedicated organization of solution architects with deep expertise in Microsoft technologies and products. In addition, the firm offers unmatched expertise in vertical-market applications, business process redesign, customer relationship management and supply chain integration. As a result, Accenture is well positioned to assist enterprise customers to migrate from legacy systems to the Windows 2000 and .NET enterprise platform.
Compaq not only has the leading market share in industry-standard servers, but also brings extensive experience in high availability, and clustering and management solutions for the enterprise. Its portfolio includes ServerNet II, the premier server-to-server interconnect technology to address the scalability requirements of the Internet age, and a range of clustering solutions to provide high availability for applications and data in business-critical environments. These capabilities enable customers to connect servers to achieve mainframe-class computing at lower costs.
About Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation, a Fortune Global 100 company, is the largest supplier of computing systems in the world. Compaq designs, develops, manufactures and markets hardware, software, solutions, and services, including industry-leading enterprise computing solutions, fault-tolerant business-critical solutions, and communications products, commercial desktop and portable products, and consumer PCs.
Compaq products and services are sold in more than 200 countries directly to businesses, through a network of authorized Compaq marketing partners, and directly to businesses and consumers through Compaq’s e-commerce Web site at http://www.compaq.com. Compaq markets its products and services primarily to customers from the business, home, government, and education sectors. Customer support and information about Compaq and its products and services are available at http://www.compaq.com.
Compaq is Registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective companies. This release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially include implementation of new distribution systems; changes in product mix; unanticipated component shortages; increased competitive factors and pricing pressures; market responses to pricing actions and promotional programs; inventory risks due to shifts in market demand; volatility of certain equity investments; and instability in developing countries that may affect operations. Further information on the factors that could affect Compaq’s financial results is included in the company’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including the latest annual report on Form 10-K and the latest quarterly report on Form 10-Q.