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IND LEADERS FORM MS WINDOWS DATACENTER SUPPORT COMMUNITY

TSANet (Technical Support Alliance Network) announced that a group of IT companies has come together to form a support community on behalf of Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server customers. Original sponsoring companies participating in the relationship include BMC Software, Citrix Systems, Compaq, EMC, Hewlett-Packard Company, IBM, Microsoft, and Unisys. Additional Windows Datacenter solution providers are expected to join in the relationship as it gains momentum in the industry.

Utilizing the vendor-neutral, global community infrastructure of TSANet, the original sponsoring companies have created a community relationship that enables rapid and predictable support for mutual customers among the vendors involved. The formalization of this capability is built upon Microsoft's Windows Datacenter Program and TSANet's proven vendor-to-vendor, Web-based infrastructure. Microsoft has defined three types of vendors who can gain Windows Datacenter certification to join the community. They are as follows:

• Windows Datacenter Server Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs)
• Windows Datacenter Infrastructure Vendors (DIVs)
• Windows Datacenter Server Independent Software Vendors (ISVs)

Utilizing standardized relationship elements, members of the TSANet-based Windows Datacenter community are required to collaborate at enterprise-level response times on a twenty-four by seven basis worldwide. The Windows Datacenter Certification Program verifies the interoperability of each certified vendor's products with Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, www.microsoft.com/windows2000/datacenter. The support community agreement promotes rapid resolution of mutual customer issues.

"Windows Datacenter customers require high availability support from each solution provider," said Bob Ellsworth, lead product manager, Windows .NET Server Solutions Group, Microsoft. "When customers need multiple vendors involved to isolate and resolve an issue, the TSANet Datacenter community gives those vendors a mechanism to collaborate through to resolution, ensuring all providers in the customer's environment are working as one."

The Microsoft Windows Datacenter Program

Microsoft designed the Windows Datacenter Program to complement the Microsoft Windows 2000 Datacenter Server operating system. This program provides customers with integrated hardware and software support, which is jointly marketed, sold, and delivered by Microsoft and qualified server vendors. This program is specifically designed to address the demanding requirements of enterprise customers. Included in this program are the following:

• Rigorous system testing and qualification focused on the entire system rather than individual components
• Coordinated maintenance and change control for hardware and software updates
• The Microsoft Gold Certified Partner for Support Services Datacenter Program, which provides a joint support team with server vendors for single-point-of-contact support

About TSANet

Founded in 1993, TSANet (Technical Support Alliance Network) is a worldwide, multivendor alliance that offers an industry-wide forum to facilitate servicing multivendor customers and provides an infrastructure for more efficient multivendor problem solving. Membership consists of more than one hundred software and hardware companies, including industry giants such as 3Com, BMC Software, Citrix Systems, Compaq, Computer Associates, Dell, EMC, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Microsoft, NCR, and Unisys. TSANet can be reached at 913-345-9311 or at www.tsanet.org.

Contact Deborah Barnes, TSANet, 913-345-9311, deborah@tsanet.org.