Unisys, Microsoft Launch Windows Mainframe Campaign

Microsoft Unisys

The two vendors on Friday unveiled a joint global campaign to show that Unisys' ES7000 server and Windows Data Center are ready to take on Unix, said Mark Feverston, vice president of enterprise servers at Unisys. The Blue Bell-based vendor is investing $25 million in the campaign, Feverston said. He didn't give a dollar figure for Microsoft's investment.

The days where people could discount the Windows operating system for use in the enterprise are gone, according to Feverston. "Reliability and security--those are issues we have to educate people about," he said.

Unisys' ES7000 server, which runs the Windows platform, is not a "mainframelike" server but a real mainframe, with all the scalability and reliability features that make mainframe users happy, Feverston said. The company recently introduced Server Sentinel for the ES7000, which offers self-management capabilities. "It competes with IBM's eLiza architecture," he said.

Currently, Unisys has a small channel program, but the company aims to recruit more solution providers with strong value-added skills in the Windows space, Feverston said. "Here's an opportunity to move up and open new market opportunities using those skills," he added.