Unisys Introduces Application High-Availability Guarantee for PeopleSoft Solutions Based on Windows NT and SQL Server 7.0

Business Wire, Feb 28, 2000

Business Editors/Hi-Tech Writers

BLUE BELL, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 28, 2000

Unisys Achieves Leading Benchmark for Windows Nt-based Peoplesoft Hrms

Performance

Unisys Corporation today announced an exclusive Application High Availability Guarantee for PeopleSoft solutions, the first guarantee in the industry to cover the availability of applications running under Microsoft's Windows NT operating system and SQL Server 7.0 database.

Unisys also announced that the eight-processor Unisys e-@ction Enterprise Server ES5085 achieved the industry's highest performing benchmark results for the PeopleSoft HRMS application in a Windows NT Server 4.0 and SQL Server 7.0 environment.

The guarantee applies to customers using Unisys Windows NT-based clustered servers optimized for all PeopleSoft solutions, including those supporting electronic business, that access the Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 database. It assures customers of a resilient and stable environment for their mission-critical ERP and e-business solutions.

Under the guarantee, Unisys will offer a month's rental reimbursement credit in the event a PeopleSoft server fails for more than an hour in any month during the first year of operation. A failure might occur, for example, when a significant fault could stop the system from being able to respond to users, or to process reports.

The guarantee does require the customer to participate in the program have trained operational staff and follow recommended best practices.

To ensure uninterrupted availability, PeopleSoft solutions covered by the guarantee run on Unisys ES5000-series servers clustered to enable operations to shift to a secondary back-up server should the primary production server fail.

The guarantee applies to Unisys High-Availability Application Assistant software complemented by TUXEDO transaction manager from BEA Systems for continuous application availability.

For solutions accessing Microsoft's SQL Server 7.0 databases, the Unisys HA-Application Assistant software uses Microsoft Cluster Server to enable TUXEDO-based transactions to move automatically from a failed server to a functioning one should any server outage occur.

The guarantee covers servers that will be pre-configured, tested and performance-certified by Unisys.

"With this availability guarantee, Unisys clearly demonstrates their commitment to and confidence in Windows NT and SQL Server as a preferred platform for mission critical, enterprise class solutions," said Paul Maritz, group vice president, Microsoft Corp. "Furthermore, the Unisys benchmark result definitively proves that Windows NT and SQL Server are capable of supporting the largest transaction oriented applications. Microsoft and Unisys are committed to making it easier for enterprise customers to leverage Windows NT and SQL Server in corporate data centers."

Leading benchmark for Windows NT-based PeopleSoft solutions

In its record-setting benchmark performance, the Unisys ES5085 server running PeopleSoft HRMS 7.5 supported 17,500 concurrent users, with an update and retrieval time of less than three seconds. In the test, the Unisys server surpassed by 3 percent the highest UNIX result, achieved on a twelve processor IBM RS/6000 Model S70 Advanced Server running DB/2.

"This is proof positive that Microsoft Windows NT and SQL Server on the powerful Unisys ES5000 servers offer linear scalability and the ability to perform in the largest of mission critical enterprise application environments," said G.W. Smith, head of Worldwide Business Solutions, Unisys Systems and Technology. "With these results and the application high availability guarantee, the largest enterprise customers can have confidence in deploying their PeopleSoft applications on Windows NT and SQL Server 7.0."

About Unisys

Unisys is an electronic business solutions company whose 36,000 employees help customers in 100 countries apply information technology to seize opportunities and overcome challenges of the Internet economy.

Unisys people integrate and deliver the solutions, services, platforms and network infrastructure required by business and government to transform their organizations for success in this new era.

The company offers a rich portfolio of Unisys e-@ction Solutions for electronic business based on its expertise in vertical industry solutions, network services, outsourcing, systems integration and multivendor support, coupled with enterprise-class server and related technologies.

The primary vertical markets Unisys serves worldwide include financial services, transportation, communications, publishing and commercial sectors, as well as the public sector, including federal government customers. Unisys is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, in the Greater Philadelphia area.

For more information on the company, access the Unisys home page on the World Wide Web at www.unisys.com. Investor information can be found at www.unisys.com/investor.> Forward-Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this release that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations.