HP, Microsoft reaffirm .Net ties

Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft on Monday tightened their partnership to promote the latter's .Net software initiative.

HP will continue to add new features to Microsoft's Visual Studio.Net development toolset in particular, the two companies said in a statement. HP will pursue tools and professional services to bridge incompatible .Net and Java-based programming systems, the company said. It will also strengthen Web services management and tools for high-end computing within Visual Studio.Net.

"Our tools will allow a wide variety of developers to design and develop manageability into applications and Web services upfront, ultimately increasing the value of those software offerings," Mike Rank, general manager of HP's Developer Resources Organization, said in a statement.

In September, HP and Microsoft launched a partnership around Web services and .Net, combining HP's infrastructure technology and professional services with Microsoft's development tools.

The companies said they would invest $50 million in the partnership, which has so far resulted in HP creating a line of professional services aimed at Microsoft .Net technologies, including consulting and services related to bridging .Net and Java technologies.

Earlier this year, HP signed on to Microsoft's Visual Studio Integration Program, a partnership program for third-party software providers to integrate functionality into Microsoft's Visual Studio.Net environment. In July, HP introduced its Enterprise Toolkit-NonStop Edition, a set of tools for Visual Studio.Net developers to create programs for HP's high-end NonStop servers.