The announcement was made at the Microsoft Exchange and Collaboration Solutions Conference.
Dell will collaborate with Portal Software, Xevo and Microsoft to enable service providers to offer Microsoft Exchange 2000 in a hosted environment using Portal Software’s Infranet customer care and billing solution software and Xevo’s ASP Workbench service management platform on Dell PowerEdge servers and PowerVault storage products.
Portal Software is a leading provider of customer management and billing software for Internet and emerging, next-generation communications services. Xevo, a provider of infrastructure solutions for ASPs, markets a comprehensive service management platform — ASP Workbench — that significantly enhances the ASP’s ability to reliably and rapidly deliver scalable application services via the Internet. Microsoft’s Exchange 2000 is the latest version of Microsoft’s messaging and collaboration solution designed to meet the scalability and reliability requirements of the hosted messaging marketplace.
Teaming with Portal, Xevo, and Microsoft dramatically extends Dell’s capabilities of serving the ASP market, said Judi L. Webster, vice president and general manager, Dell’s Internet Partner Division. Managed messaging and collaboration, and the corresponding need for superior customer management, service management and billing, are ground-breaking opportunities for ASPs. With the release of Exchange 2000, and our relationships with Portal and Xevo, we will be able to help our ASP partners capture and benefit from this new revenue stream.
Agillion is already a strong believer in Dell and Portal, said Steve Papermaster, chairman and CEO, Agillion in the press release, This alliance between Dell and three strong players in this market will enable Dell to provide an even more compelling value to its customers.
The relationships announced will offer a wide range of benefits to ASPs:
Software applications will be tested and validated on Dell PowerEdge servers, which incorporate Intel Architecture-based microprocessors, and PowerVault storage. White papers will be developed to help customers with sizing, capacity planning, and implementations based on Dell’s Internet architecture to maximize performance and availability.
Dell Technology Consulting (DTC) and the alliance partners will develop a set of best practices for the implementation of these ASP solutions on Dell hardware.
Dell and the alliance partners will participate in co-marketing programs to highlight ASP solutions on Dell hardware.
Dell and the alliance partners will participate in joint selling activities through Dell’s direct sales model and the Dell Internet Partner Division.
With the launch of Exchange 2000, Dell is prepared to provide a valuable component to ASPs hosting a reliable messaging solution, said Gordon Mangione, vice president of the Exchange Business Unit at Microsoft. Dell is focused on delivering to ASPs a reliabl
