Andersen Consulting will provide intellectual capital, training, resources, solutions development and other services. Avanade Will Focus on Services With headquarters planned for the Seattle area, Avanade, which will be co-owned by Andersen Consulting and Microsoft, will provide Internet and technical services based on the Windows 2000 platform. Within the first 24 months, Avanade will hire a highly skilled team of more than 3,000 technologists with expertise in Microsoft's products. The board of directors will comprise executives from both organisations, including Jack Wilson, managing general partner of AC Ventures, John Connors, CFO at Microsoft, and Paul Maritz, group vice president, Developer Group at Microsoft. In addition to its Seattle location, Avanade plans to open offices in San Francisco, Dallas, New York, Paris, London, Sydney, Sao Paulo and Singapore in the next 18 months.
Plans also call for taking Avanade public at some future date.
The decision to expand our relationship is a direct result of the dynamic market in which we both operate. With Windows 2000, Microsoft has demonstrated that it has reached the next level of enterprise computing, providing the scalability, reliability and availability that enterprises look for in running mission critical applications. Andersen Consulting's Microsoft Solutions Organisation, leading with Windows 2000, will define and build reference architectures, develop and distribute reusable knowledge capital, and establish eight new Microsoft solution centers to support its teams in delivering enterprise solutions. In addition, Andersen Consulting will leverage its business and technology expertise and experience to develop solutions across a variety of industries, including automotive, financial services, government, health care, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications and utilities. 2001 Microsoft Corporation.