Microsoft Corp and Hewlett-Packard Co will invest US$50 million in a partnership to boost sales of Hewlett-Packard's servers, organizers and consulting services and Microsoft's software to businesses.
Hewlett-Packard, the world's third-biggest seller of computer services, will have 160 consultants and salespeople "focused entirely" on joint selling and building of Microsoft's .Net programs for corporate networks and software programmers, said Rick Fricchione, a Hewlett-Packard vice president.
The agreement will provide "incremental revenue above and beyond our current forecasts," Fricchione said. He declined to specify the amount. Microsoft needs services companies and server computer makers to push its products to customers as its .Net Internet and software strategy competes with rivals such as Sun Microsystems, Oracle Corp and the Linux operating system.
"This is probably the most significant commitment we've made to Microsoft, if not ever, then for many, many years," said Fricchione, who serves as a vice president in the company's Enterprise Microsoft Services group.
The agreement extends through 2004.
The agreement is not exclusive and both companies will be looking for other partners, said Sandi Thomas, a Microsoft general manager.
Microsoft is trying to bolster its .Net strategy of selling software that lets companies share data between computers, corporate networks, Web sites and portable devices such as hand-held organizers and cellular phones.
Hewlett-Packard will also train more than 5,000 salespeople and 3,000 services workers to be familiar with Microsoft's .Net Server programs for corporate networks, as well as its Visual Studio .Net programming tools for building Web services.
The two companies said their first customers are cereal and cake-mix maker General Mills and a police force in the UK.
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