REDMOND, Wash. — June 13 , 201 3 — Microsoft Corp. and Best Buy Co. Inc. today announced a strategic partnership to create the Windows Store only at Best Buy. The comprehensive store-within-a-store will be in 500 Best Buy locations across the United States and in more than 100 Best Buy and Future Shop locations in Canada.

Windows store only at Best Buy June 12, 2013 Microsoft and Best Buy announce The Windows Store only at Best Buy. Coming to 600 Best Buy stores in North America this summer.

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Ranging in size from 1,500 square feet to 2,200 square feet, the Windows Store will be the premier destination for consumers to see, try, compare and purchase a range of products and accessories, including Windows-based tablets and PCs, Windows Phones, Microsoft Office, Xbox, and more. Each store will feature an innovation space highlighting a variety of Windows scenarios across devices; a showcase section with the latest Windows-based PC form factors such as ultrabooks, convertibles, detachables and all-in-ones — including portable devices; and a standalone area featuring Microsoft Surface.

“The Windows Store offers a large-scale, hands-on customer experience that will show customers how Windows and Microsoft devices and services can make it easier for them to work and play,” said Tami Reller, chief marketing officer and chief financial officer of the Windows Division at Microsoft. “We’re pleased to partner with Best Buy in bringing the latest technologies to consumers at scale in a unique environment where they can explore how Microsoft products fit together across entertainment, travel, music and other scenarios.”

In addition to the dedicated Microsoft specialists already working across Best Buy locations, the alliance will add more than 1,200 Best Buy Microsoft-trained sales associates to create an engaging customer experience at scale.

Windows Store only at Best Buy – back wall June 12, 2013 The Windows Store only at Best Buy features a wide array of software and accessories, including Windows 8 apps, Office, Skype, Xbox music and games. (Photos/Craig Lassig for Windows)

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“Best Buy’s chief goal is to serve our customers as only we can, whether they come to us online or in stores. The Windows Store creates the kind of retail destination we all want to shop in, combining great selection, the latest technology, the best service and the lowest prices,” said Jason Bonfig, vice president of computing for Best Buy. “What our customers will see in these 600 stores is something totally new and fully in line with our determination to transform Best Buy.”

The two companies also will mirror the in-store experience online at http://www.bestbuy.com/windowsstore, which will provide updates on store locations, promotions and other information, including joint marketing efforts throughout the year. Windows Store only at Best Buy will roll out from late June through September. More information is available at http://www.bestbuy.com/windowsstore.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

2ndQuadrant has launched a ‘carrier-grade’ support service for companies who require absolute mission-critical incident protection.

The company has decided to offer this level of service commitment to support the rapidly growing adoption of PostgreSQL by enterprises requiring the highest level of support services.

This new service, branded Platinum Production Support, provides the additional reassurance of a guaranteed 15-minute (human) response time, 4-hour workaround, and a fix within 24 hours for PostgreSQL production databases. With 24/7 coverage included too.

2ndQuadrant has an excellent track record of recovering databases for companies of all sizes, having provided 24/7 production support for over 8 years. Simon Riggs, CTO of 2ndQuadrant, said, “More of our major clients from financial, telecoms and internet-based sectors are increasingly requiring extraordinary levels of up-time to avoid the potentially significant costs of downtime. With the rise in PostgreSQL databases at the heart of these mission-critical operations, we've launched this new service to ensure that organisations have the best support available, and equally to provide reassurance in their choice of database. The Platinum service complements our popular Gold service, providing clients—where every minute of downtime counts—with the reassurance they need.”

PostgreSQL is becoming a default choice for many leading corporations and public sector organisations, who can see the value in open source products and the benefits of reducing the costs of fee-based database licences. 2ndQuadrant’s launch of this level of support heralds new expectations of PostgreSQL, and helps dismiss the fears amongst the sceptics that an open source database might be a higher-risk choice.

Platinum Production Support is available now from 2ndQuadrant. Find out more at http://2ndQuadrant.com/support/

REDMOND, Wash. — June 11, 2013 — A study released today reveals that, in addition to time and cost savings, small and midsize businesses (SMBs) in the U.S. that use a cloud service gain significant security, privacy and reliability advantages compared with companies that have not adopted the cloud. The study, commissioned by Microsoft Corp., shows that perceptions of the cloud held by nonusers directly contrast with the real experiences of cloud adopters.

“There’s a big gap between perception and reality when it comes to the cloud. SMBs that have adopted cloud services found security, privacy and reliability advantages to an extent they didn’t expect,” said Adrienne Hall, general manager, Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft. “The real silver lining in cloud computing is that it enables companies not only to invest more time and money into growing their business, but to better secure their data and to do so with greater degrees of service reliability as well.”

The Microsoft study, which did not qualify participants by product, service or vendor, asked SMBs that have not adopted the cloud what was holding them back:

• Sixty percent cited concerns around data security.

• Forty-five percent worried that using the cloud would result in a lack of control over their data.

• Forty-two percent doubted the reliability of the cloud.

In stark contrast, the study found that the experiences of SMBs that use cloud services contradict these concerns:

• Ninety-four percent have gained security benefits they did not have with their former on-premises technology, such as up-to-date systems, up-to-date antivirus and spam email management.

• Sixty-two percent have seen increased levels of privacy protection.

• Seventy-five percent have experienced improved service availability.

Seventy percent of SMBs in the study said that adopting a cloud service meant they could invest money and time savings into areas such as product development and innovation, demand creation, and expansion into new markets. Half of SMBs have pursued new opportunities because of the time they saved managing security.

An example of a business that has realized the security and compliance benefits of the cloud is DHCU Community Credit Union, a nonprofit financial cooperative. To meet the compliance requirements and security expectations of a financial institution, the organization recently moved to Microsoft Office 365.

Since its transition, DHCU Community Credit Union has experienced improved security and increased productivity, while enabling the organization to maintain its tradition of delivering excellent customer service.

“In the financial services industry, security and compliance are a critical table stake. Microsoft Office 365 gives us peace of mind that these things are being handled, and handled well. So much so that we’ve been able to reposition resources to reinvest in our business,” said Matt McCombs, president and chief operating officer, DHCU Community Credit Union. “Quite simply, the move to the cloud saved us money and freed up time to help us focus on what matters most — serving our members.”

In conjunction with the study, Microsoft has released an updated version of the Cloud Security Readiness Tool (CSRT). Based on the Cloud Security Alliance’s Cloud Controls Matrix, the CSRT is no-cost, interactive and easy to use. It enables organizations to assess the current state of the security of their IT environment and compare it to what they could expect if they used a cloud service. The updated release extends the range of industry standards covered by the tool to include European Network and Information Security Agency Information Assurance Framework (ENISA IAF) and British Standards Institution (BSI).

“Organizations are keen to understand how cloud adoption would compare with their existing on-premises policies, procedures and compliance, and that can be a complex task,” said John Howie, chief operating officer, Cloud Security Alliance. “In the Cloud Security Alliance, industry leaders have collaborated to develop best practice security guidance. Microsoft’s Cloud Security Readiness Tool builds on these efforts as it gives organizations a way to more easily evaluate cloud services against critical areas, as well as against compliance with key industry standards like ENISA IAF and BSI.”

About the study

The vendor-agnostic study, commissioned by Microsoft and conducted by independent research company comScore Inc., polled companies with between 25 and 499 PCs in France, Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. Cloud users were defined as companies using a subscription model service for data storage, email or calendar, online productivity, customer relationship management, database service, application hosting or management to manage and help secure computers, for enterprise resource planning, and/or compute capacity to run application code.

More information can be found at the Microsoft Security Newsroom: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/news/presskits/security.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.