Microsoft Announces Rapid Growth for the Sentillion Family of Identity and Access Management Solutions for Healthcare

REDMOND, Wash., March 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Microsoft Corp. today announced strong momentum for the Sentillion family of identity and access management (IAM) solutions for healthcare. Since the acquisition of Sentillion Inc. in February 2010, Microsoft has expanded distribution of the Sentillion line of products into the Asia Pacific market, introduced new functionality for Vergence and expreSSO products, and seen continued strength in demand for the company's solutions among health organizations, ranging from single facilities to large, complex, multistate health systems.

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Microsoft also continues to see rapid enterprise wide deployment of Sentillion solutions at health organizations, bringing to approximately 575,000 the total number of users of Sentillion products across a customer community of more than 220 organizations representing more than 1,400 hospitals.

"Sentillion established a leading position in the healthcare IAM market by delivering innovative and practical solutions that make it easier for doctors and nurses to perform their jobs every day," said Steve Shihadeh, general manager, Microsoft Health Solutions Group. "We're focused on extending the capabilities and success of the Sentillion portfolio and on further developing the company's long-standing relationship with customers. We're very pleased by the positive response to date."

In 2010, demand for Sentillion Vergence, expreSSO and proVision products was strong, with more than 50 new customer deals signed by health organizations looking to significantly streamline the workflow of caregivers by giving them rapid, authorized access to the applications and patient data they need.

Scottsdale Healthcare, a community-based not-for-profit organization comprising three acute care hospitals, two outpatient surgical centers and a comprehensive cancer center in Scottsdale, Ariz., selected Vergence and proVision to improve the speed and accuracy with which 8,000 users receive role-based access into clinical and nonclinical systems and to simplify the process for signing in and accessing patient information.

Luton & Dunstable Hospital NHS Foundation Trust selected Vergence single sign-on for 4,500 users and Vergence context management for 440 of its key clinical users to accelerate access to patient information, introduce stronger authentication, and provide accurate auditing and reporting.

Macquarie University Hospital's selection of Vergence marks the expansion of Sentillion product distribution into the Asia Pacific market and Australia. Opened in June 2010, Macquarie University Hospital in Sydney is a 183-bed state-of-the-art hospital committed to using the latest technologies to deliver a positive patient experience and superior clinical outcomes. The hospital selected Vergence to improve productivity and patient safety, particularly in operating theaters and intensive care, by simplifying clinician access to five clinical applications.

Sentillion also received recognition in 2010 by leading industry research and analyst firms. Based on evaluation of Sentillion's single sign-on solutions, Vergence and expreSSO, it received a "Positive" rating in Gartner's 2010 MarketScope for Enterprise Single Sign-On based on offering strategy, vertical/industry strategy, geographic strategy, product/service, overall viability, sales execution and pricing, and customer experience. Sentillion also was positioned by Gartner as a "Visionary" in the Magic Quadrant for User Provisioning Report (September 2010), which evaluated Sentillion and other vendors on completeness of vision and ability to execute.

In its specialty report titled "Single Sign-On: To Identity Management and Beyond," published December 2010, leading independent research firm KLAS cites Sentillion's ability to offer a single-source solution for single sign-on and context management as a key market differentiator. In addition, according to the report, most customers are pleased or neutral about Microsoft's execution of the Sentillion acquisition, expressing satisfaction with the continued dedication to client relationship, responsive service and support, product functionality, and development.

Also in 2010, Microsoft continued to evolve the functionality of the Sentillion product line with Service Pack releases for Vergence and expreSSO. Vergence 4.5 Service Pack 1 constitutes the first combined release of Vergence Wizard with BridgeWorks. The Vergence Wizard is used to help customers rapidly create customized Bridges between Vergence and their specific healthcare applications. Other key features include additional card and device support including Dell E6400 and Net Motion; virtual desktop infrastructure support for shared and personal workstation modes; Windows 7 32-bit client support; support for 32-bit applications on 64-bit Citrix/WTS Server; and Active Directory 2008 R2 support.

Sentillion expreSSO 2.5 Service Pack 1 features Windows 7 client support, 64-bit Citrix server support, and expanded card reader support for Citrix.

About Microsoft in Health

Microsoft is committed to improving health around the world through software innovation. Over the past 13 years, Microsoft has steadily increased its investments in health with a focus on addressing the challenges of health providers, health and social services organizations, payers, consumers and life sciences companies worldwide. Microsoft closely collaborates with a broad ecosystem of partners and delivers its own powerful health solutions, such as Amalga, HealthVault, and a portfolio of identity and access management technologies acquired from Sentillion Inc. in 2010. Together, Microsoft and its industry partners are working to deliver health solutions for the way people aspire to work and live.

About Microsoft

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

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.