Unisys Launches European Microsoft Enterprise NT Center Of Excellence

Business Wire, Nov 5, 1998

PARIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 5, 1998--

New center is first ever outside U.S.

Reinforcing its commitment to provide customers worldwide with enterprise-class solutions based on Microsoft technology, Unisys Corp. Thursday launched its European Microsoft Enterprise NT Center of Excellence here.

This center -- the third such facility worldwide and the first located outside the United States -- will provide support for solutions developers and customers based in Europe. As such, the opening of the European center marks the latest milestone in the year-old enterprise partnership between Unisys and Microsoft.

Like Unisys other Microsoft NT Centers of Excellence, the European center is unique in the region in its focus on crafting and delivering enterprise-class solutions based on Microsoft technology to address customers' mission-critical business computing requirements.

"The European Center of Excellence and our enterprise partnership with Microsoft are key parts of Unisys strategy to become the premier supplier of enterprise-class information services, solutions and servers based on advanced Microsoft technology," said Lawrence A. Weinbach, Unisys chairman and chief executive officer, who presided at the opening.

"The work we are doing here in Paris with Microsoft's committed support will surely expand the range of solutions both companies can offer customers in Europe and around the world."

At the European center, Unisys will work with Microsoft developers and Unisys European-based customers to build next-generation mission-critical solutions based on the Windows NT Server 4.0 and forthcoming Windows 2000 operating systems.

Unisys will also conduct applied research using those operating systems and other hardware and software to define a technology infrastructure that best supports Microsoft solutions providing the attributes required for business-critical computing in an enterprise-class environment: scalability, high availability, manageability, security and interoperability with other systems.

The European center includes a state-of-the-art multivendor systems laboratory for developing and testing that advanced technology infrastructure.

The center houses six Intel Pentium II Xeon-based Unisys QS/2 Enterprise NT servers, supporting four processors each; 2 terabytes of data storage in OSR 5000 subsystems; a Unisys ClearPath HMP/NX, which combines Unisys proprietary operating environment with Windows NT in a single computer system, allowing interoperability between the two environments; and an IBM R390 mainframe.

The team of high level engineers working in the Center includes a full time Microsoft consultant.

Other Unisys centers expand solutions based on Microsoft technology

Like the European center, Unisys other Enterprise NT Centers of Excellence and technology centers focus on creating enterprise-class solutions that uniquely combine Unisys services and technologies with Microsoft technology.

Unisys first Microsoft Center of Excellence, located at the company's Blue Bell headquarters, opened in October 1997. In addition to developing and deploying enterprise-class solutions on Windows NT Server 4.0 and Windows 2000, this center is conducting advanced development work on applications that will exploit the scalability and power of the Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 database environment.

The second center, located in McLean, Va., opened in September 1998. It is designed to showcase Unisys/Microsoft enterprise solutions for the U.S. federal government marketplace, such as the first Microsoft enterprise solution in the federal government, which Unisys implemented for the United States Coast Guard in 1995, and the Windows NT installation Unisys is managing for the Social Security Administration -- the largest in the federal government.

Earlier this year, as part of its agreement with Microsoft, Unisys also established a Technology Center in Redmond, Wash. and Enterprise NT Performance Laboratories in Mission Viejo, Calif., and Eagan, Minn.

These facilities are designed to optimize the performance of the Windows NT environment on Unisys symmetric multiprocessing architectures, integrate Unisys technology with future Microsoft products and demonstrate the value of Microsoft enterprise products for industry-specific customer solutions.

About Unisys

Unisys (NYSE:UIS) is more than 33,000 employees helping customers in 100 countries apply information technology to solve their business problems.

Unisys solutions are based on a broad portfolio of global information services including systems integration, outsourcing, "repeatable" application solutions, consulting, network integration, remote network management, and multivendor maintenance and support, coupled with enterprise-class servers and associated middleware, software and storage.

Repeatable solutions are focused on key vertical markets including financial services, transportation, telecommunications, government, publishing and other commercial markets. Headquartered in Blue Bell, in the Greater Philadelphia area, Unisys 1997 annual revenue was $6.6 billion.