Microsoft Flexes Global Alliances to Deliver New Server Line

In helping customers who are  budget conscious to reduce IT expenditures and be more competitive on the global stage, Microsoft Malaysia has announced the general availability of Windows Small Business Server 2008 (SBS 2008) and Windows Essential Business Server 2008 (EBS 2008). The launch is part of Microsoft Corporation’s USD 6.5 billion annual investment in products, support programs and incentives for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs).

These solutions bring the power of Microsoft’s enterprise-class server technologies to SMBs in a way that these companies can best utilize them. Large businesses traditionally will have the budgets to equip themselves with a roster of specialists with the technical knowledge to manage IT environments – a luxury that SMBs can rarely afford.

“Globally, SMBs are the engines for economic growth and opportunity. Our SMBs, likening their larger counterparts, are facing tough challenges brought forth by the widespread uncertainty in the world market,” said Ramesh Rajandran, Product Marketing Manager, Infrastructure Servers, Microsoft Malaysia.

Mr. Vincent Lee, Country Business Manager, Industry Standard Servers, Technology Solutions Group, HP Malaysia, said, “HP is proud to be one of the key technology enablers of Microsoft to provide SMBs with optimized hardware configurations. Together we will ensure superior customer satisfaction when installing, running and maintaining the SBS 2008 and EBS 2008.”

Microsoft’s partners like HP, Dell and IBM are offering a broad choice of solutions for the new server line. In addition, HP, IBM and Intel Corporation have also designed and priced blade servers specifically for midsize customers. Combined with EBS 2008, these blade servers will give customers an affordable and scalable infrastructure solution that is quick to set up and easy to maintain.

Lee continued, “SMB customers are constantly searching for ways to stay at the technology forefront without having to make hefty IT investments. Being able to share our insights with Microsoft in the development of their new server solutions was an excellent opportunity for us to adequately address the needs of SMBs.”

Many independent software vendors (ISVs) are also supporting SBS 2008 and EBS 2008, across a wide variety of applications such as backup and recovery, security, business management, systems management, line-of-business applications, and more. In addition, SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 will run virtually any applications certified on Windows Server 2008.

Elaborating on the new products, Mr. Rajandran pointed out,” the Small Business Server 2008 is an upgrade to Microsoft’s Small Business Server 2003, whereby, it comes with standard & premium edition. The standard edition is enhanced by Windows Server 2008 & Windows Sharepoint Service 3.0…the premium edition comes with all the tools that is available in the standard edition plus an additional SQLServer 2008…”. Designed for companies with up to 75 users or PCs, SBS 2008 is an integrated server solution created to help businesses keep their data more secure and make their company more productive. 

Essential Business Server 2008 is a new software in Windows Essential Server solution that comes with a complete set of features in Small Business Server 2008 plus an additional database. EBS 2008 is designed for businesses with up to 300 users or PCs, and allows IT managers to have more control over their environment by reducing complexity and automating common tasks. With support for Windows Mobile phones, SBS 2008 and EBS 2008 can significantly help boost productivity with access to business e-mail, calendar, contacts and files when away from the office.

For more information about these new Microsoft solutions, and a whole range of other products, including detailed feature lists, please visit, http://www.secureandreliable.com.my/Home.aspx.