Avanade Announces New Infrastructure Solutions to Help Customers Control Costs and Maximize Technology Infrastructure Investments.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 30, 2002

Avanade Infrastructure Assessments Provide Holistic 

Infrastructure View and Detailed Recommendations

Avanade Inc., the premier technology integrator for Microsoft enterprise solutions, today announced the availability of its latest solution: the Avanade Infrastructure Assessments. Crafted from a set of best practices gleaned through Avanade's hundreds of infrastructure engagements, the Assessments help customers identify opportunities to optimize their existing systems for cost control, while establishing a pragmatic road map for supporting its future strategic initiatives.

"CIOs today are under constant pressure to deliver increased flexibility and functionality without increasing their costs which, in turn, has created a demand for services that help them do more with what they already have," said Avanade Chief Technology Officer Ashish Kumar. "With expertise gained from two years of helping customers optimize their infrastructure and take advantage of the cost benefits of the Microsoft platform, Avanade's Infrastructure Assessments help customers take this holistic approach to their infrastructure in order to identify the best way to move forward."

During the three- to five-week assessments, Avanade's senior technologists works closely with the customer's IT team to identify and prioritize its "pain points" in areas such as operating systems, security, messaging, server consolidation, enterprise directories, and operations management. Avanade then conducts a thorough accounting of existing systems, and uses appropriate analysis tools to determine a set of concrete recommendations and clear-cut next steps. Specifically, the Avanade team will help customers understand how they can:

-- Maximize server resources;

-- Build a cost-effective communications infrastructure that enables collaboration among employees;

-- Liberate IT talent from reactive situations to focus instead on higher value projects;

-- Increase end-user productivity; and

-- Design a structured yet flexible approach to operations management that keeps the infrastructure running smoothly.

At the conclusion of the assessment, the customer receives a formal Avanade Infrastructure Assessment Report, which includes a summary of the state of the current infrastructure and its ability to support the organization's goals, a spreadsheet analyzing current costs and how these can be lowered, and a cost estimate for next steps.

Already, Avanade has helped companies around the world optimize their existing investments to create a cost-effective, manageable infrastructure flexible enough to support strategic initiatives such as Web services. Some examples include:

-- Tesco: Avanade is creating an Active Directory design and

migration strategy for this UK-based global retail chain. The

design will help Tesco maximize the benefit of implementing

collaboration services, security and authentication services,

object naming standards and group policies, systems

management, and software distribution.

-- Hannover Re: Avanade is helping Hannover Re standardize its

infrastructure by rapidly and smoothly migrating its operating

systems and messaging platform to a Microsoft environment.

Anticipated results include improved total cost of ownership

(TCO), increased manageability, and reduced overall

complexity.

-- TRW: This customer wanted to reduce TCO by consolidating its

messaging platform. In addition, it wanted an infrastructure

that could readily support collaborative solutions. Avanade

worked with TRW to design and deploy an infrastructure

solution using Active Directory, Windows 2000, and Exchange

2000.

"We chose Avanade based on their global reach as well as their insight, experience and thought leadership," said John Clarke, group technology director for Tesco Stores, Ltd. "Avanade acted as a useful channel to get greater thought leadership and bring more innovation into our design effort."

About Avanade

Avanade Inc. is the world's premier technology integrator for Microsoft solutions in the enterprise, delivering secure, reliable, scalable Microsoft-based solutions that help customers around the globe optimize their technology investments. Founded in April 2000 as a joint venture between Microsoft and Accenture, Avanade offers customers unique value based on a heritage of superior service and unmatched insight into cutting-edge Microsoft technologies. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.

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