Microsoft To Tout Windows Server System Version 1 Criteria At Tech Ed 2004

According to a memo sent out in late April by Paul Flessner, senior vice president of Microsoft's Server Platform Division, the Windows Server and related stack of 16 other server applications that carry the 2005 version naming and higher will be engineered along a set of specific, objective technical criteria still being defined.

Microsoft announced last week that it plans to ship Windows Server, Windows Small Business Server and Windows Storage Server upgrades in 2005.

Microsoft verified the authenticity of the memo but declined to elaborate further.

"Well-engineered products consistently meet customer requirements, and our customers are demanding a consistently high level of reliability, security, TCO and predictability from our products," according to Flessner's memo, which is dated April 26. "We are currently in the process of defining the detailed V1 [Version 1] WSS criteria which we will announce at TechEd in May. We will also announce that all server products with 2005 or greater as their version will need to meet the Windows Server System V1 brand criteria."

The Redmond, Wash., software giant also recently announced official branding for forthcoming products to be released in 2004 and 2005 including Virtual Server 2005, Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, Live Communications Server 2005 and SQL Server 2005.

Ten-year company veteran Robert Barnes, Microsoft general manager of Windows Server System Engineering, has been tapped to lead the new initiative to define the engineering definitions and coordination for the Windows Server System, according to the memo.

The announcement will be made roughly a month after the first anniversary of the launch of the Windows Server 2003 and WSS.

In April 2003, Microsoft removed the .Net moniker from all Windows server branding efforts and implemented WSS, a unified system identity for the Windows server and related stack of server applications.

Observers said WSS defines an integrated server stack for Windows similar to Sun's Enterprise Java System. It also serves as an integrated framework for Microsoft's Dynamic Systems Initiative (DSI), which aims to bring enhanced management and flexibility to the data center.

Microsoft said the "high-level WSS criteria, objectives, and process" will supercede any market pressure to hurry products out the door.

"We understand there is a cost to making this happen, and we have all agreed this is the right thing to do for our customers," said Flessner's memo, noting that there may be exceptions to that rule but customers will be fully apprised if and when a product ships that doesn't meet all the criteria. "Exceptions will be made public, meeting our predictability promise, so our customers will see our report card, by product, in terms of performance to our brand criteria. We are still refining the V1 criteria."

One consultant said implementing such quality controls during the engineering process will go a long way to solving security problems across the entire server stack.

"Microsoft's security problems have been largely due to building new code on top of old code that is not secure. I applaud Microsoft's stated willingness to build products from the ground up starting from requirements," said Adam Lipson, president and CEO of Network and Security Technologies, a consulting firm in Pearl River, N.Y. "Ultimately, the proof point for what they say will be what they actually do. Their statement, at least, reflects an understanding of the problem and is a step in the right direction."

WSS encompasses the Windows Server, Application Center, BizTalk Server, SQL Server, Exchange Server, Systems Management Server, Commerce Server, Content Management Server, Host Integration Server, Identity Integration Server, ISA Server, Live Communications Server, Operations Manager, Systems Management Server, SharePoint Portal Server, Windows Storage Server and Speech Server.