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Microsoft Launching Windows Server System Campaign

Next week, Microsoft will launch its first advertising campaign around the Windows Server System, an indication that Microsoft is committed to its latest branding of the back-end server products that run on top of Windows.

At its core, the Windows Server system is the group of products that grew up in the BackOffice suite -- products like the SQL Server database and the Exchange e-mail server. Those products briefly took on the ill-fated .NET brand as the .NET Enterprise Servers. Then Microsoft renamed the whole line the Windows Server System last April, temporarily putting a stop to speculation that Microsoft might someday port SQL Server or other members of the product line to Linux.

"To be honest, we looked at big, fanciful names. At the end of the day we came back to Windows Server System. From a maturation perspective, we're really making the case that it is about Windows at the core," said Harley Sitner of the Windows Server System marketing team at Microsoft.

The initial round of ads will focus on technology implementers who have rolled out solutions based on the entire Microsoft server stack at Motorola, Siemens, Toyota and Reuters. A later round of the print ads will focus on IT professionals in about 30 mid-size companies. Unlike the Office System ads, which aim at humor, the Windows Server System ads will consist of first-person accounts of success stories with the Windows Server System.

The print ads will also include a list of the products in the Windows Server System, which include SQL Server, Exchange Server, BizTalk Server, Commerce Server, Content Management Server, Host Integration Server, ISA Server, Microsoft Operations Manager and Systems Management Server.

It will be interesting to see what Microsoft includes in the Windows Server System list, given the overlap of some server products, such as Exchange, Live Communications Server and SharePoint Portal Server, with the Microsoft Office System product family.

About the Author

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

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