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Microsoft, Plumtree Align on Corporate Portal Solution

Microsoft Corp. and Plumtree Software announced a global strategic alliance to offer organizations a scalable portal solution. Within 30 days, the two companies will begin to jointly market a portal solution that combines the Plumtree Corporate Portal with the Microsoft family of .NET Enterprise Servers. Deployment support will be offered by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Compaq Global Services.

The integrated portal solution is designed to help organizations quickly maximize the value of their corporate systems by giving employees, partners, and customers personalized, consolidated access to critical information from strategic applications.

The solution includes the Plumtree Corporate Portal 4.0, a license for Microsoft SQL Server 2000, select Plumtree Portal Gadgets for integration with Internet-based information and a wide range of enterprise applications, and new Plumtree Portal Gadgets for integration with Microsoft Exchange Server 2000. Customers will be able to purchase the package, including SQL Server 2000, from Plumtree under a single part number.

Cap Gemini Ernst & Young and Compaq Global Services will provide lifecycle services to help customers design and deploy the new integrated corporate portal. CGE&Y will support customers worldwide by implementing the solution architecture, security and entitlement, directory taxonomy, and productivity tools. It will also help organizations to create collaborative work methods using the portal solution.

Analyst firm IDC, in a recent report, noted that the corporate portal market has been expanding rapidly over the past few years. IDC reports that 18 percent of companies had a corporate portal, with that number expected to rise to 32 percent expected by the end of 2001. The most popular applications for corporate portals, according to the report, are internal Web sites, customer support, and groupware. – Isaac Slepner

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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