DAILY NEWS AND INFORMATION FOR THE GLOBAL GRID COMMUNITY / OCTOBER 13, 2003: VOL. 2 NO. 41    ( Table of Contents )

Systems/Enterprise:

MICROSOFT, SIEBEL OPTIMIZE BUSINESS APPLICATIONS

Siebel Systems Inc and Microsoft Corp announced new deployment options for Universal Application Network (UAN) utilizing Microsoft BizTalk Server 2004 as a runtime engine and tool set for customization. The companies also previewed new Microsoft .NET-based Smart Client technology, providing deep integration with the Microsoft Office System and Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 within all hosted and nonhosted Siebel deployments.

These offerings are expected to further the growth of the Microsoft Windows platform -- one of the fastest-growing platforms for Siebel deployments -- within the Siebel installed base by providing customers with breakthrough application integration, user productivity and scalability. "The integrated products announced today demonstrate how the Siebel and Microsoft solution enables customers to rapidly and cost- effectively deploy the best business solutions," said Mark Armenante, group vice president of alliances at Siebel Systems. "Working together over the past year, Siebel and Microsoft have developed .NET-based solutions throughout our client, server and integration product stacks that will help enterprises react to business change and realize greater value from their technology investments."

UAN, BizTalk Integration

Siebel Systems and Microsoft are delivering support for Universal Application Network with Microsoft BizTalk Server, enabling the rapid and cost-effective deployment of cross-application, industry-specific business processes both within and beyond the enterprise. Microsoft BizTalk Server executes UAN business integration processes and UAN common services, providing static cross-referencing, dynamic cross-referencing, and error and exception handling. Microsoft developed a UAN Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation (XSLT) importer, which loads base prebuilt UAN transformation and validation maps into Microsoft BizTalk Server transformation tools and enables integration with back-office applications (such as those from SAP, Oracle, PeopleSoft and others). Currently available via a joint early adopters program, UAN business integration processes for the communications, media and energy industries, implemented on BizTalk Server, provide an agile and cost- effective way to connect employees, partners and customers to critical business data.

Smart Client, Microsoft Office System Integration

The companies are delivering a new Siebel Smart Client, taking advantage of the Microsoft .NET Framework and enhanced integration with the Microsoft Office System. In addition, Siebel 7.7 will include enhanced integration with both Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Exchange for mobile knowledge workers. Siebel 7.7 will allow users to link Microsoft Office Outlook(R) 2003 records to data in the Siebel database, and the Siebel Exchange Connector will allow users to synchronize calendar information, contacts and to-do lists between Siebel 7.7 and Microsoft Exchange. Additional calendar options will be available via the Outlook View Control embedded in Siebel 7.7.

"By embracing .NET, business applications can meet the increasing demands for interoperability, faster deployment and tighter integration with the client that collectively drive value for the business," said Sanjay Parthasarathy, corporate vice president of the Platform Strategy and Partner Group at Microsoft. "The Microsoft-Siebel alliance continues to build on platform advances that deliver a new standard for economics and functionality thus offering enterprise customers a true competitive advantage."

Support For Windows Server 2003

Siebel Systems and Microsoft also are delivering Siebel application support for Microsoft Windows Server 2003, furthering the commitment to provide customers with enterprise-class scalability and performance at a low total cost of ownership. The Microsoft Windows platform continues to be among the fastest-growing platforms for Siebel deployments.

In addition to the integrated solutions combining Microsoft .NET with Siebel UAN and Smart Client, the companies have recently completed a 30,000- concurrent-user benchmark for Siebel business applications. The benchmark was conducted on the Intel Itanium 1-based Unisys Enterprise Server ES7000 Orion 130 running the 64-bit versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Datacenter Edition and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Edition. Siebel 7.5.2 certification of SQL Server 2000 (64-bit) on Windows Server 2003 was also completed. Based on the results of this benchmark, it is clear that enterprises do not have to sacrifice the advantages of a single, expandable server environment to reap the economic benefits of standards-based computing with Microsoft and Intel technology.

Siebel Systems and Microsoft expanded their global strategic alliance last year, with the goal of delivering the first enterprise solutions that would fully exploit Web services to meet the demands of today's enterprises. The announcement details major milestones in the alliance's objective of delivering the best business solutions for the lowest total cost of ownership. The companies' multimillion-dollar marketing investment, far-reaching go-to- market strategy, and comprehensive set of integrated services and resources provide expert assistance throughout the entire customer life cycle, from product evaluation and selection to installation, deployment and ongoing maintenance.