HP, Microsoft Do the .NET Tango

Hewlett-Packard Monday said it is closely teaming up with Microsoft on its .NET initiative.

As part of an extension of a previous announcement, the two companies are investing a combined sum of $50 million to combine HP’s IT infrastructure technology and services with Microsoft .NET software.

The initiative is designed to respond to customer demand for .NET solutions and Web services and is expected to create one of the world’s largest, most specialized forces of .NET consultants and systems architects.

The Palo Alto, Calif.-based computer and printer maker said more than 5,000 HP sales professionals will be trained on .NET, 3,000 HP Services professionals will be certified on .NET, and a new group of .NET solution architects will be formed by HP.

In addition, HP said it would establish a worldwide sales force of systems engineers and enterprise sales professionals who are dedicated to the sale and deployment of Microsoft .NET solutions.

The new project builds upon HP’s history as a provider of IT infrastructure programs based on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server, Exchange 2000 Server, BizTalk Server 2000 and other Microsoft .NET Enterprise Server products.

“This initiative integrates the strengths of both companies – thought leadership, innovation, comprehensive software and hardware platforms, and end-to-end services – to bring customers unprecedented value from their existing technology investments,” said Mike Sinneck, corporate vice president of Worldwide Services at Microsoft. “We are extremely pleased to work with HP and usher in the new generation of computing based on .NET.”