Windows 2000 Certification And What It Means To You.

Windows 2000 certified products can bring a 27 percent drop in TCO 

During the heyday of Windows 95 and NT, the "Certified for Windows" logo was little more than a marketing gimmick to broadcast the wide range of Windows compatible applications available. As product qualifications were fairly lax, the program provided no worthwhile comparison of one product to another.

Not anymore! Microsoft's revamped "Certified for Windows 2000" program has vendors jumping through hoops trying to meet the stringent requirements. Seven months into the evolution, with the operating system already released, only nine workstation and nine server products currently meet the Windows 2000 application specification.

"It was clear that we needed to offer a new level of status to the most reliable and manageable applications," says Brian Valentine, vice president of Microsoft's Business and Enterprise Division. "The 'Certified for Windows' program is a quantum leap ahead of anything we've done in the past. We've raised the technical bar through a demanding application specification."

Tough Standards

The application specification for Windows 2000 ensures that compliant products provide users with a more manageable, reliable, and secure experience. Only software that bears the logo is fully equipped to take advantage of features such as Microsoft Software Installer (MSI), component sharing, data and settings management, support for OnNow power management, user interface/accessibility support, and Active Directory. MSI, for instance, permits installation without reboot, as well as comprehensive monitoring of all system installations, minimizing the types of DLL conflicts that occasionally crop up on Windows installs/uninstalls.

The tests for the "Certified for Windows 2000" program are conducted for Microsoft by Lion-bridge's VeriTest Labs. Third-party software must comply with each point of a 500-page checklist (for server applications, the checklist is around 200 pages longer). Those applications that meet this new specification are licensed by Microsoft to wear the "Windows 2000 Certified" logo.

"The 'Certified for Windows' logo program really raises the standard of compliance," says Marc Zasada, vice president of Lionbridge, responsible for VeriTest logo programs. "For the first time ever in a logo program, we are doing extensive functionality testing, in addition to compatibility testing. We have worked closely with Microsoft to implement a test plan that nails down the issues for IT managers."

All "Certified" Products, Please Stand Up [ldots]

Although Microsoft issued three levels in its certification process for Windows 2000, two are mainly cosmetic, with only one having real value. At the bottom of the pile comes "Planned," signifying nothing more than the vendor's intention to one day make a product compliant.

Next comes the misleading title "Ready," which can mean anything from "submitted for approval" to "failed the VeriTest inspection." Officially, however, it indicates that the ISV has tested the application for Windows 2000 compatibility and will offer Windows 2000-related product support. Unfortunately, some vendors are capitalizing on consumer ignorance by advertising their wares as "Windows 2000 Ready" as though it carried some additional weight.

The only classification that can be depended upon, therefore, is "Certified." This confirms that the application has met all standards in the Windows 2000 Application Specification, has passed all Windows 2000 compliance testing by both the ISV and VeriTest, and has been approved by Microsoft. "Certified" is the highest ranking and the only one that matters in product comparison or purchasing.

Windows 2000 TCO

While the number of Windows 2000 Certified applications remains low (See Sidebar), the numbers have more than doubled over the past few weeks. It appears that vendors are getting the message--quality counts on Windows 2000. This is excellent news for resellers, systems integrators, and consumers, as it may serve to usher in an era of bug-free software that is long overdue.

Major retailers, seeing an opportunity to offer value-added Windows 2000 merchandise, are quick to jump on the Certification bandwagon. CompUSA, for instance, is now distributing products that were traditionally considered more enterprise-oriented such as Executive Software's Diskeeper defragmenter at all 217 of its North American stores.

"The Windows 2000 Certification program helps us ensure that third-party products we sell for Windows 2000 are of the highest quality," says Gary Bale, vice president of merchandising/ software and accessories at CompUSA.

The value of Certified applications was also highlighted in a recent Gartner Group study. TCO reductions of as much as $1,675 per desktop were attributed to exclusive deployment of "Certified" applications on Windows 2000.

"In creating a strong logo requirement, Microsoft has made the logo valuable to enterprises, which will be able to use certification as a condition for the application's use in the enterprise," says Gartner Group. "Enterprises that use only applications that conform to the specification have the potential to increase the stability of their systems and lower their TCO."

It appears likely, therefore, that both businesses and consumers are going to demand Certified applications whenever possible. By holding the line on Windows 2000 compliant products and using the presence of the logo as a principal selection criterion, standards in third-party software may soon be soaring to new heights.

Drew Robb is the president of Robb Editorial (Tujunga, CA).

Windows 2000 Certified Products

Despite intense vendor pressure dating back before Comdex, only a short list of vendors has made the grade to date. Due to the trial by fire that these products have already endured, each can be counted upon to do the job on Windows 2000.

Diskeeper 5.0 Server and Workstation Editions

The first utility to earn "Certified" status was Executive Software's Diskeeper 5.0. Having already conquered an 80 percent share of the enterprise market, this enterprise-class defragmenter looks set to reinforce its popularity among corporate Windows users.

Hartford, CT-based United-Healthcare, for example, is standardizing 30,000 workstations and 800 servers on Diskeeper 5.0 as part of the company's overall strategy to improve IT efficiency and user productivity.

"The gains we've experienced from Diskeeper compare favorably with what you'd expect from a hardware upgrade," says Chris Gilbert, senior network developer at UnitedHealthcare. "It's great to reap the same benefits as a new CPU or extra RAM at a fraction of the cost."

Gilbert relates the experience of one user who often dealt with lengthy presentations and reports.

"After we installed Diskeeper on his workstation, access times for these huge documents dropped from about 12 seconds to less than five seconds. Overall, the average system access time has improved by a factor of three."

OmniPage Pro 10

Caere's OmniPage Pro 10 is an OCR application that converts scanned images into editable text. It is used extensively by corporate and government users, as it goes well beyond standard text scanning by being able to maintain the integrity of tables and other graphic elements.

At Easthaven, CT-based MicroPatent, a company specializing in the production and distribution of patent/trademark information, OmniPage Pro is used to process 30,000 pages a week. Documents are bulk-processed and, then, loaded into a large online database for storage and retrieval.

"The interface makes OmniPage Pro 10 accessible, as well as simple for new trainees to learn," says Beth Dodge, production manager for MicroPatent. "I'm very impressed with the program's accuracy and recognition abilities."

Reflection 8.0

With 70 percent of business data housed in legacy systems, WRQ's Reflection 8.0 series is a welcome addition to the Windows 2000 arsenal.

"Organization want to know that their Windows 2000 environment will be interoperable with their current host systems," says Deborah Willingham, vice president of Microsoft's Business Enterprise Division. "WRQ acted quickly to take advantage of the great technologies in Windows 2000, assuring our joint customers of a reliable, manageable solution."

Reflection 8.0 provides Windows users instant access to a variety of legacy hosts, including HP 3000/9000, AS/400, IBM mainframe, Sun/Solaris, SGI/Irix, HP/HPUX. Compaq/Tru64, Compaq/OpenVMS, and other Unix platforms.

Net1Q AppManager Suite

Not only has Net IQ Corporation's AppManager Suite gained Windows 2000 Certification, Microsoft has also adopted if for the world-wide monitoring of its Windows NT Server and BackOffice network. This enterprise management suite provides centralized performance measurement, event management, and automation to a Windows NT/2000 network.

"Performance monitoring and event automation is an important part of our data center operations," says Dave Gasiewicz, Microsoft's general manager of worldwide infrastructure operations. "Net IQ's AppManager helps address these activities and provides us flexibility in how we customize and implement the monitoring functions."

Executive Software's Undelete 2.0

Undelete delivers up-to-the-minute data protection for Windows NT and 2000. When files are deleted via command prompt, shift delete, inside non-Windows applications or remotely over the network, for instance, the Recycle Bin fails to capture them. With Undelete installed, however, they can be instantly recovered. As well as being a handy workstation tool for the individual user, Undelete can save system managers enormous amounts of time in scrambling through backup tapes for lost documents.

Damgaard's AXAPTA 3.0 (Server and Workstation)

An integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution designed for multinational companies.

GemPlus's GemSAFE User 2.1

A smart card based program that brings of use, portability and security for Secure Logon, Web site access, and email exchange on Windows 2000.

Navision Financials 2.60

The core of Navision Financials is its client/server-integrated development environment that permits substantial customization of enterprise business solutions. This financial suite is particularly suited to mid-sized companies.

Prophet 21 Wholesale 7.5

A customer service, asset management, and cash flow application for wholesale distributors.

ScanSoft's TextBridge Pro Millennium

This OCR program quickly converts scanned images into editable documents without retyping. Its OCR engine accurately renders documents with multiple columns, color text and photos. Spreadsheets, and text on tinted backgrounds.

Alibre Design 1.0

This is an Internet-based mechanical design tool that provides an integrated team environment for collaborative mechanical design and full 3D solid modeling.

BMC's PATROL (Server Edition)

PATROL is an enterprise/ application management product that delivers in-depth monitoring of Active Directory, ensuring its operation at optimum levels.

Fabsoft Components 3.0 (Server Version)

An object-oriented client/server application for business process management that covers the areas of customer relationship management, workflow, document management, and Intranet.

FileNET's Panagon Document Services 5.1 (Server Version)

This is a family of document repository services for creating, accessing, managing, securing, and updating electronic documents.

Mission Critical Software's OnePoint Operations Manager 3.1 (Server Version)

Operations Manager pro-vides central monitoring and automatic problem resolution for networks of tens of thousands of computers, continuously monitoring user actions, applications software, servers, and desktop computers.

Pivotal eRelationship (Server Version)

An eBusiness relationship management system designed to increase revenue by continuously improving on the quality of customer and partnership relationships.

TJ Planner (Server Version)

TJ Planner is a project management software that provides planning, tracking, and reporting for all project stakholders.