Windows IT Pro Announces Launch of the First-Ever IT Prolympics; Microsoft Sponsors Technology Competition Designed to Recognize Active Directory Experts

Business Wire, Oct 21, 2004

LOVELAND, Colo. -- Windows IT Pro (http://www.windowsitpro.com), a Penton Media (OTCBB:PTON) property, announced today the launch of the first-ever IT Prolympics, sponsored by Microsoft, and Culminis, the world's largest IT pro user group association. The IT Prolympics are designed to rally the IT community, reward real-world IT heroes and create a fun educational experience.

The IT Prolympics are an exciting opportunity for IT Pros to compete among their peers to be named the top Active Directory IT professional in the industry. The seven-week competition starts by downloading and studying the free Active Directory and Group Policy eBook curriculum, designed to prepare competitors for the quiz and the Virtual Active Directory Lab competition. In the quiz, contestants will answer 20 questions to test their Active Directory knowledge. In the virtual lab, contestants will face the challenge of fixing real-world problems and completing an Active Directory deployment scenario within a matter of minutes.

The top three competitors with the best overall scores will be named IT Prolympians, receiving prizes and recognition within the Windows IT Pro and Microsoft community. The gold medalist will receive an expense paid trip and special recognition at TechEd 2005 in Orlando, FL. All three medalists will gain notoriety among their peers with a feature in the Windows IT Pro January 2005 issue.

"We're proud to sponsor the first IT Prolympics as a way to honor and reward IT pros who exhibit outstanding technical knowledge," said Christopher Goebel, Group Marketing Manager, Microsoft. "Active Directory is a natural choice for the first round of the IT Prolympics because IT pros who know how to correctly implement Active Directory will save their company time and money, making them a real-world IT hero."

Active Directory is the central Windows technology for managing identities and their relationships in a network environment. This technology enables centralized management of users and of business systems, security and applications. Active Directory lets administrators link user accounts, mailbox accounts, and applications to facilitate such tasks as adding, modifying and deleting user accounts.

"With more than 300,000 IT pro members worldwide, Culminis is pleased to work with Microsoft and Windows IT Pro to help bring the IT Prolympics to the IT community," said Dave Sanders, Global Executive Director of Culminis. "This is an excellent opportunity for IT pros to earn industry-wide recognition for exhibiting technical prowess with an Active Directory implementation."

"The IT Prolympics is the ultimate IT competition that gives IT professionals a chance to gain technical Active Directory knowledge and showcase their expertise," said Peg Miller, Associate Publisher, Windows IT Pro. "As the hub of the IT community, we're pleased to recognize the knowledge and expertise of these IT heroes."

For more information about the IT Prolympics, go to http://www.windowsitpro.com/itprolympics

For more information about Windows IT Pro, visit www.windowsITPro.com.