Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard struck an agreement yesterday to jointly market, sell and support Service Provider-in-a-Box (SP-in-a-Box), an Internet-enabling solution for service providers creating applications and services online.
The SP-in-a-Box solution will combine Hewlett-Packard’s Web server and storage hardware with Microsoft Windows NT Server, Windows 2000 Server and Microsoft Commercial Internet System. According to the companies, SP-in-a-box will allow for easier support of ASP, mobility and interactive WebTV solutions.
With this solution, service providers will be able to create new services quickly while delivering on service level agreements. Microsoft (MSFT) and Hewlett-Packard (HWP) claim that service providers will realize faster time to market, expanded market reach, and a better return on investment with these pre-integrated and pre-tested solutions.
“By providing integrated solutions that allow service providers to offer more and better services to their customers, HP and Microsoft are turbo-charging the market for e-service solutions,” said Jeff Raikes, group vice president, worldwide sales and support, Microsoft.
Additionally, service providers will be able to use HP WebQoS to prioritize Web traffic, take advantage of HP Smart Internet Usage and Portal’s Infranet to monitor Internet usage and use HP OpenView and Agilent Firehunter to easily bill for services while maintaining their integrity.
Service providers desiring to view, test and benchmark applications on the Microsoft and HP solutions can look into Microsoft Partners Solutions Center .
