Microsoft is Vendor of Choice for Unified Communications in the BFSI Vertical

Business Wire, Oct 22, 2007

SYDNEY, Australia -- In a survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan, Microsoft Corporation was selected as the recipient of the 2007 Frost & Sullivan Customer Endorsement Award for Unified Communications in the Banking, Financial Services & Insurance (BFSI) Vertical.

This follows Frost & Sullivan's latest unified communications (UC) report published in May 2007 announcing that organisations in the BFSI vertical in Australia are showing very strong interest in deploying UC applications, due to high IP telephony penetration in the industry.

Miss Audrey William, research manager for Frost & Sullivan Australia said, "Microsoft has done a brilliant job fuelling growth in the UC market in Australia and their dominance in the desktop e-mail and IM (instant messaging) environment has given them a jump start in the UC game."

Microsoft is currently in alliance with most of the leading telephony vendors, and with their Office Communications Server serving as a hub for gluing the UC pieces together at the desktop, the company is expected to drive a lot of the UC momentum in Australia in the coming months.

Adds Miss William, "At this time, in the BFSI vertical, Microsoft has got most of the large banks and insurance houses on presence and telephony type trials."

Oscar Trimboli, director, unified communications at Microsoft Australia said, "We are very pleased to receive this award, which recognises Microsoft's leadership and ongoing commitment to streamlining the way people and businesses communicate. We expect unified communications to impact 100 million of our Office System customers globally within three years by enabling them to 'click-to-call' from within their Office productivity applications."

An online survey was conducted with 75 senior management-level executives in the banking, financial services and insurance vertical in Australia with control or insight into their business' IT budget.

Microsoft was rated highest by respondents in each of the top seven factors of vendor performance in the unified communications space. Out of the top seven factors, Microsoft outperformed vendors in 6 of them and had an equal rating with another vendor in one other category.

Microsoft's award is part of Frost & Sullivan Australia's annual Best Practices Awards. The Awards seek to recognise outstanding performance and industry achievements by leaders in the Australian Information and Communications Technology (ICT) industry. All award recipients will be honoured at a gala awards banquet next month, on the 16th of November.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise their full potential.

About Frost & Sullivan

Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Consulting Company, partners with clients to accelerate their growth. The company's Growth Partnership Services, Growth Consulting and Career Best Practices empower clients to create a growth focused culture that generates, evaluates and implements effective growth strategies. Frost & Sullivan employs over 45 years of experience in partnering with Global 1000 companies, emerging businesses and the investment community from more than 30 offices on six continents. For more information about Frost & Sullivan's Growth Partnerships, visit http://www.frost.com

For more information on the Awards, please visit www.frost-awards.com.au