Windows 2000 rollouts will be upgrades of unprecedented scope and effort. What's most complex is the system's new way of managing, via its directory service, the users, workgroups, and computers that make up an enterprise network. IT managers will have their hands full updating hardware, identifying network assets, planning directories, and exhaustively testing applications. "We're not so much talking about migration. We're talking about implementing a new technology," says Franc Gentili, worldwide director of Compaq Professional Services.

Microsoft's ultimate goal is to enable "zero administration" IT environments with Windows 2000--but, if anything, the demand for Windows know-how is growing, not diminishing. "There's probably a greater opportunity for services around Windows 2000 than there's ever been," says John Connors, VP of Microsoft's worldwide enterprise group. The worldwide market for Windows-related services is projected to grow from $6 billion last year to $23 billion in 2003, according to Gartner Group.

Companies such as Compaq and Hewlett-Packard have devoted considerable resources toward pumping up their expertise of Microsoft products, making them the go-to providers of service and support for many businesses. But as Microsoft prepares to march on enterprise data centers, it's drawing more players into the fray.

IBM Global Services this week will expand a Windows 2000 services program that, until now, has been limited to about 20 customers. IBM divides migration into three stages: readiness, in which it helps companies devise a migration path and budget; architecture, including interoperability and server consolidation; and implementation. "It's still an unknown entity," says Anne Fitzpatrick, manager of business development and strategy for Microsoft technologies at IBM Global Services. "Customers are excited--and nervous. We've heard it can take as long as 18 months to plan and deploy Windows 2000 in an organization. Our goal is to reduce that time to deployment by 50%."

Compaq Professional Services has trained about 1,000 consultants on Windows 2000 migration and designed a program for businesses looking to integrate Windows 2000 with back-end systems. Gentili estimates consulting for a company with 150,000 seats would entail a one-week workshop at the outset, a month of design work, then several more months of integration and migration.

HP plans to focus much of its effort on building knowledge-management systems, including so-called Digital Dashboards, around Windows 2000, Office 2000, and the forthcoming Exchange Server 2000. Product marketing manager Myles Harper admits much of it is new to HP. "The advantage in the Microsoft space is quick time to market," Harper says. "Today, these services are largely customized. There's ample opportunity to package that more tightly."

Banyan Worldwide is building its business around Active Directory migration services. "We're seeing tremendous demand and a lot of confusion around directories," says Windows 2000 program director Joe Biggs. "In many cases, people haven't worked with a directory of this scale."

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llustration by Robin Jareaux
Photo of Connors by Ellen Banner