$50 million from HP, Microsoft for .Net
C|Net | at | by Mike
Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft plan to invest $50 million in a joint effort to sell corporate customers on the software giant's .Net Web services efforts. As previously reported, HP plans to devote 3,000 consultants from its HP Services unit to the effort and also train 5,000 people in its sales and support staff. While acknowledging that .Net is still in its early stages, HP Services chief Ann Livermore said now is the time to start selling companies on the idea of using Web services to automate their businesses.
Livermore said Microsoft's approach to using the Internet to automate business tasks can help businesses react faster and save money. In addition to training its services and sales staffs on .Net, HP will also set up 160 three-person sales teams specifically focused on selling companies on using the Microsoft .Net technology.