Accenture Revs Up World Rally Championship Web Site with Microsoft E-Business Technology

MICROSOFT LOGO
Microsoft company logo. (PRNewsFoto)[PM TK]
REDMOND, WA USA 09/03/2002
   Car Rally Organization Creates Interactive Web Site Utilizing Microsoft
 Commerce Server, Content Management Server and Web Services, Forming Online
        Community For Rally Enthusiasts and Reaching Broader Audience

    REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 22 Microsoft Corp. today announced that, with the help of
Accenture, the World Rally Championship (WRC) has seen increased brand
awareness as well as scalability and reliability with its new Web site,
http://www.wrc.com/ . The WRC Web site, built using Microsoft(R) Commerce
Server and Content Management Server, takes advantage of Web services,
bringing more interactive content to the site and offering more real-time
services. This has helped significantly increase viewers of the site and the
length of time those viewers stay online.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO )
    The championship takes place in 14 countries across four continents with
participants from around the globe. Previously, rally enthusiasts found it
difficult to locate much information on the WRC site or keep up with rally
events. When International Sportsworld Communicators (ISC) bought the
television and commercial rights to the World Rally Championship in April
2000, the company's goal was to transform the sport using compelling
television and innovative media technologies. Part of its goal was to create
an interactive Web site that is continually refreshed with high-quality
content, downloadable images and live radio webcasts. ISC turned to Accenture,
a leading management and technology consultancy, to develop the site, and
together they chose to use the Microsoft platform, which offered ISC the most
economical solution with quick production time.
    "We recognized that not enough people had the opportunity to view the
different rallies, so we worked with Accenture to pull together a new Web site
that made the event information more accessible to everyone," said Simon
Miles, chief marketing officer at ISC. "Together, Commerce Server and Content
Management Server have allowed us to easily publish fresh content that is
tailored to the viewer and also to build and deploy Web services, allowing us
to post real-time rally results. With the new site up and running, we have
seen double the number of page views with no problems during peak viewing
times, and WRC has become well-recognized around the world."
    Accenture has a close working relationship with Microsoft under a global
alliance focused on helping companies across all industries meet their most
pressing business challenges. Throughout the World Rally Championship project,
Accenture worked with Microsoft Consulting Services to put together a strong
platform for the WRC Web site.
    "We knew that Microsoft technology would be a perfect fit for the World
Rally Championship Web site," said Stephen Deane, development manager for
Accenture. "The previous Web site was simple and static and did not give ISC
much control over the content. Building the new Web site with Microsoft
e-business technology gives ISC complete control over the content, which is
now more dynamic and really brings the site to life."
    The site also was built using Microsoft Windows(R) 2000 Advanced Server,
Active Directory(R) service and SQL Server(TM) 2000. The site is hosted by
Attenda Ltd., a leading supplier of outsourced Internet infrastructures based
on Microsoft technology in Europe.

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