Avanade Launches Comprehensive Business Solution for Media and Entertainment Companies

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - April 14, 2008) - Avanade Inc., a global IT consultancy, announced today that it has developed a new, comprehensive business operations solution for media and entertainment companies based on Microsoft Dynamics AX. Avanade's media and entertainment solution for Microsoft Dynamics AX supports industry-specific business activities from planning to management to monetization of media assets. The Avanade solution is designed to enable media and entertainment companies to increase profitability and support new services, distribution channels and business models as opportunities emerge without making costly updates every time a change is required.

"The Avanade solution represents a major step forward in an industry that is continuously evolving. Media companies can now more easily manage and streamline their key processes, while improving delivery predictability and time-to-market," said Mike Pazak, VP of Enterprise Business Solutions at Avanade. "The Avanade solution, built on the proven Microsoft Dynamics AX platform, optimizes the entire media value chain, from project inception to completion, supporting billing and all steps in between."

Avanade's solution enables employees, vendors and customers to collaborate and drive optimal results in a quick and flexible manner. Groups that previously operated in silos can now collaborate across departments and functional areas using integrated Microsoft Office SharePoint Server technology. Integrating financial, customer management and collaborative processes across the entire value chain helps deliver what every business needs -- maximized performance and reduced costs.

"We partnered closely with our media and entertainment customers to develop a new, up-to-date, leading-edge solution that allows their business to scale and flex as new opportunities and challenges are identified," said Justin Calvo, Media & Entertainment Industry Director at Avanade. "Avanade's relationship with Microsoft gives our customers confidence that the solution is flexible, rapid to deploy and provides them with low total cost of ownership."

"With the combination of Avanade's expertise in the industry and with adaptability of Microsoft Dynamics AX, media companies can improve their bottom line by integrating systems, processes and internal organizations while taking advantage of existing IT investments," said Gabriele Di Piazza, Managing Director for Media & Entertainment at Microsoft Corp. "Our collaboration with Avanade has consistently produced solutions to help media companies increase profitability by increasing operational simplicity and allowing focus on the high-valued processes within an organization."

Avanade will be demonstrating this solution during NAB Show 2008 from April 14-17, 2008. The demo will be featured as part of the Microsoft Booth, #SL5520.

About Avanade

Avanade is a global IT consultancy dedicated to using the Microsoft platform to help enterprises achieve profitable growth. Through proven solutions that extend Microsoft technologies, Avanade helps enterprises increase revenue, reduce costs and reinvest in innovation to gain competitive advantage. Avanade consultants deliver value according to each customer's requirements, timeline and budget by combining insight, innovation and the talent of our global workforce. Founded in 2000 by Accenture and Microsoft Corp., Avanade has more than 7,800 professionals serving customers in 22 countries worldwide. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com.

Avanade and the Avanade logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Avanade Inc. Other product, service, or company names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact Information: MEDIA CONTACTS: Avanade: Charlie Zaragoza (206) 239-5893 Edelman: Jessica Kendall (206) 268-2231