Avanade Helps Customers Use Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 for Web Services-Enabled Collaboration.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 2, 2004

Member of Microsoft BizTalk Partner Program, Avanade(R) packages

expertise, experience to benefit customers

Avanade Inc., a premier technology integrator for Microsoft solutions in the enterprise, today announced that several of its customers are already benefiting from solutions incorporating Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, a reliable, secure and scalable platform for enhanced business process and Web services. Avanade applies proven techniques and best practices to speed design and delivery of solutions using BizTalk Server 2004 and other Microsoft technology. As a result, customers are gaining value from existing technology investments and realizing greater productivity inside and outside the organization.

"Companies are finding our BizTalk Server 2004 solutions help improve the integration and automation of business processes, and afford greater control and faster deployment of their Web services-related initiatives," said Ashish Kumar, Avanade chief technology officer. "We help customers understand the impact of this new technology in conjunction with existing infrastructure. Then we design systems and Web services gateways that incorporate people, technology, and processes, for considerable improvement in collaboration inside and outside the organization."

Avanade BizTalk Server 2004 engagements have been driven primarily by two customer needs: strengthening internal business process and exposing business functions to external partners. For these projects, BizTalk Server 2004 acts as an engine of integration. More importantly, Avanade is utilizing BizTalk Server 2004 as a significant component of Web services "gateways" that expose systems or processes to external audiences. This approach to customers' Web services initiatives offers greater control over the applications exposed and much faster deployment than alternatives such as custom development. Avanade also draws on its deep expertise using products such as Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Office System, and Microsoft Visual Studio .NET to make the most of BizTalk Server 2004 in customers' environments.

"Avanade is helping our customers deploy Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 as a foundation for the next generation of E-Business solutions," said Eric Swift, director of E-Business Servers at Microsoft Corp. "Avanade's experience with the technology, and their best practices, proven code and techniques - speed high-quality solution delivery, and enable customers to quickly deploy tailored e-business functions that span corporate boundaries and improve business agility."

Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 Expertise

Companies that want to enhance business process and collaboration are enlisting Avanade's expertise and experience to exploit new features in BizTalk Server 2004. Avanade helps them:

-- Speed development and deployment of Web services that serve as

gateways to business functions.

-- Take advantage of Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003 for even

faster integration of BizTalk Server 2004 into heterogeneous

IT environments.

-- Bring convenience to greater security through single sign-on -

unified authentication among heterogeneous systems and

applications.

-- Enhance scalability with architecture for massively scalable

messaging and orchestration-based applications.

For one of the nation's largest energy distribution companies, Avanade used BizTalk Server 2004 to deliver a field force enablement system for its nationwide sales and service organization. Designed to integrate field service representatives with real-time call reports and the daily log of customer site visits, the field force enablement system leverages BizTalk Server 2004 as the integration architecture for incorporating many applications within the back and front office.

Avanade has also helped a large Canadian government agency gain real-time visibility into its business with the help of BizTalk Server 2004. This visibility enables the agency to expose their business processes to external partners through Web services and to automate internal processes. The implementation of BizTalk Server 2004 eases integration of CRM with the agency's other enterprise applications, and will produce a more maintainable system that provides better database performance and increased reliability.

The Avanade announcement coincides with the launch of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, which took place today as part of the Microsoft Corporation Silicon Valley Speaker Series in Mountain View, Calif. Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004, part of the Microsoft Windows Server System, is built on the Microsoft .NET Framework and integrated into the Microsoft Office System and Visual Studio .NET 2003. It provides foundational technologies -- including business-process orchestration, single sign-on capability, and human-based workflow and Web services support -- that enable customers to build tailored e-business solutions to connect people with information and processes.

About Avanade

Avanade is the premier global technology integrator for Microsoft solutions in the enterprise. Avanade helps customers use Microsoft technology to cut costs and improve results through standardization, consolidation, and integration. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.

Avanade and the Avanade logo, are registered trademarks or trademarks of Avanade Inc. Other product, service, or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.