EMC and Microsoft reaffirmed their partnership today with an alliance that could give the upcoming Windows 2000 a boost in the enterprise arena.
The companies said the alliance is meant to lend Windows 2000 greater credibility as software for mission-critical businesses. It may also help Data General, now an EMC division, move into new markets.
With the announcement, EMC is officially putting its weight behind Windows 2000, a little more than two weeks before the OS is set to ship. EMC's enterprise and mid-range storage products, as well as Data General's AViiON servers, will be available with Windows 2000 as soon as it is released.
What gives today's alliance weight is that 400 EMC engineers will be trained and certified in Windows 2000 within 12 months. EMC officials said this will give the company a competitive edge in services for the OS. Already both EMC and DG products support Windows NT.
Additionally, the DG division will provide global support to customers 24 hours a day, the companies said.
"I think as we move into the Windows 2000 architecture, you are going to see that people want it implemented quickly," said Mike O'Neill, director of Microsoft marketing for the DG division. "Not only do they want it implemented quickly, but they want it done by people who know what they are doing."
Up, up and away
As part of the deal, the DG division will offer a 99.9 per cent uptime guarantee on AViiON servers that Microsoft and EMC develop as a result of the alliance. (The industry standard, however, is 99.999 per cent uptime.)
Customers will receive a credit in the event of a product failure. The amount will vary and be determined by such factors as the size of the IT system, EMC officials said. The service guarantee covers clustered DG servers that run on Windows 2000 Advanced Server and Windows 2000 Data Center Server.
"Data General wants to be able to say, 'We can provide mission-critical applications in non-health care environments,'" said Vernon Turner, vice president for worldwide commercial systems at International Data Corp. "This is their chance to break out of that particular typecast."
Financial terms of the alliance were not disclosed.
EMC also announced today it is a Windows 2000 Global Launch Partner and will join Microsoft in more than 60 locations worldwide on Feb. 17, the day the OS is slated to ship.
Shares of EMC were down 2 1/4 at 104 1/4 in trading on the NYSE. Microsoft shares were up 3 7/16 at 101 5/16 in trading on the Nasdaq stock market.
