Microsoft and Meta4 integrate PeopleNet into the new Windows Vista operating system

Meta4, a multinational company specialized in Human and Intellectual Capital Management (HICM) solutions, has reached a technical collaboration agreement with Microsoft in order to offer clients first-rate integration between the new Windows Vista operating system and the Meta4 PeopleNet platform.

This integration will enable PeopleNet users to get the most out of the new functionalities offered by Windows Vista, and will also provide additional services to Meta4 users, thus minimising TCO thanks to simple and efficient integration into the client environment. PeopleNet will use Windows Vistaís new functionalities in three areas:

- Thanks to the operating systemís new look, PeopleNet will be able to offer users a new generation of simpler and more intuitive tools.

- Users will be able to benefit from Microsoft Officeís new functionalities to access data and processes managed with PeopleNet.

- Through the use of Windows Vistaís new integration capabilities, users will be allowed to access Web services offered by content providers from PeopleNet, as well as delivering Web services to third parties, so they can in turn access PeopleNet data and processes.

Meta4 and Microsoft have worked together in technology for many years in order to integrate their tools and offer clients constant innovation. Marc Sabbagh, Head of RandD at Meta4, explained that Microsoftís choice of Meta4 to take part in IDCís study is due to ìMeta4ís leadership in supplying HR solutions in Spain and the rest of the world. Meta4 has always invested in the most advanced technology, and it even has its own solution development centre (RandDandI) in Madrid.î

The greatest economic impact on the European IT industry in recent years

At the request of Microsoft, the research firm IDC has prepared a study about the economic impact that Microsoft Windows VistaTM will have on six European markets: Denmark, France, Germany, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. IDC claims that Microsoftís new operating system will be a great source of income and job creation for more than 150,000 IT companies in those six countries, which together represent 65% of IT expense in the European economic region.

According to IDC, the availability of Windows Vista will generate revenues of more than 32 billion euros for these companies in 2007. In addition, the new operating system will sustain more than one million jobs ñ approximately 20% of all IT employment in those six countries- and will create 50,000 additional jobs. In this way, Windows Vista will have a strong and positive impact on the growth and innovation of local economies throughout Europe.

Windows Vista will be installed on more than 30 million computers in the six countries mentioned in the study during its first year, and on 105 million computers worldwide. The existing client base will constitute a market for application developers, system integrators and other companies that make, sell and distribute products and services. IDCís research predicts that for each Euro earned by Microsoft, the companies within the ìIT ecosystemî will earn on average 13 Euros.