Microsoft kicks off TechEd with Visual Studio 2005 Team System

By Alun Williams

Posted on 25 May 2004 at 12:17

Network security and software development were the keynote announcements on the first day of Microsoft's TechEd show in San Diego, California.

Following Microsoft's current emphasis on the security of its products, HP and Microsoft are to develop and market a hardware security system, known as the 'HP ProLiant DL320 Firewall/VPN/Cache Server running Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server (ISA) 2004'.

'Businesses must remain securely operational in the face of ever-increasing security threats,' said HP's VP of enterprise Microsoft services, Rick Fricchione. 'This means protecting highly sensitive business information, privacy and business continuity. Microsoft and HP are once again collaborating to bring together the best people, processes, and technology.'

The HP ProLiant DL320 Firewall/VPN/Cache Server running Microsoft ISA Server 2004 is expected to be available in the autumn with pricing beginning at $3,000. Other appliance partner agreements involve Celestix Networks and Network Engines, which also plan ISA-based firewall systems.

Over at software engineering, Steve Ballmer used his keynote to announce the Visual Studio 2005 Team System, a new suite of Web service-oriented development lifecycle tools. The product is aimed at helping different gtroups within a development team work together more effectively.

The Team System can be integrated into third-party IDEs, and Borland is already taking Microsoft at its word. Dale Fuller, CEO of Borland, officially welcomed Microsoft competition into an area his company has long operated within: 'We believe Microsoft's entry into application life-cycle management is evidence that the industry is maturing, and will even further expand for leaders like Borland.'

Steve Ballmer also announced the immediate availability of Web Services Enhancements 2.0. This is an add-on to Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework that is intended to speed the creation of 'security-enhanced' Web services.

You can find outr more about TechEd, and details of the available webcasts, on the Microsoft website.