Another article to read over evening cocktails
August 7, 1997
KPMG forms ventures devoted to
Microsoft systems
SEATTLE (Reuter) - KPMG Peat Marwick Thursday said it formed two groups focused on selling
Microsoft Corp. Windows NT computer systems to corporate customers.
The Big Six accounting firm said it formed a consulting group devoted to NT, Microsoft's high-end
operating system, with 100 professionals initially and an expected 500 or more within three years.
KPMG also said it had formed a joint venture with Microsoft and Cisco Systems Inc. focused on
computer networking issues. Cisco provides router hardware and software that make up the
"backbone" of a computer network.
Financial details of the joint venture were not released, but KPMG will own 80 percent of it, with
Microsoft and Cisco each taking a 10 percent stake.
Together, the two KPMG groups will employ more than 1,000 people in at least 10 cities around
the world, with projected annual revenue of more than $300 million by the year 2000, KPMG
officials said.
KPMG also said it would adopt Microsoft Exchange Server as the standard internal messaging
platform for its 20,000 U.S. employees.
Deborah Willingham, Microsoft vice president for enterprise customers, said the KPMG Windows
NT group would represent the largest single practice focused solely on Microsoft technology.
Microsoft does not have a direct sales force so it relies instead on resellers and consultants to
distribute its products.
Chris Le Tocq, an analyst with Datquest, said the market for Windows NT consulting is growing
rapidly.
"Transition issues for going to NT are going to be a major item on corporate executives' plates for
the next 10 years," he said. "For the server and the client side, it's clear most corporations see NT in
their future."
KPMG officials, who announced the new strategy at the annual meeting of the firm's 1,500
partners in Orlando, Fla., said their initial focus would be on delivering solutions for electronic
commerce and customer tracking to the health care and financial services industries.
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