Expert Server Group's Unique Virtualization Migration Solution Set Allows Solaris 8.0 and 9.0 Users to Reduce Costs, Maximize ROI

BEDFORD, NH--(Marketwire - December 9, 2008) - Expert Server Group (ESG), a 35-year IT professional and consulting services veteran and virtualization pioneer with over 40,000 virtualized servers deployed yielding over 1 billion dollars in realized cost savings, today announced the availability of a Solaris Virtualization Solution Set designed to simplify and reduce costs associated with the migration of Solaris 8 and 9 servers to Solaris 10 Branded Zones. The new solution set provides best-of-breed technology, virtualization and features aimed at managing end-of-life Solaris software while maximizing investments in existing enterprise hardware.

Sun has announced that Solaris 8 will enter into EOSL (End-of-Service Life) phase 2 at the end of March 2009. At which time, Solaris 8 users face the mandate to migrate to Solaris 10 in order to keep their systems under support. Manual software migration is costly and time consuming and presents significant security and availability risks. By leveraging ESG's Virtualization Solution Set, users can easily virtualize their outmoded servers using Solaris' native virtualization capabilities.

"Our experience shows that Sun's newest hardware is no longer supporting Solaris 8, and this version of the Operating Environment (OE) will need to run as branded containers under Sun's host-based virtualization technology on new server models," explained Keith Gauvin, VP of Professional Services at ESG. "With this in mind, ESG created an innovative Virtualization Solution Set which enables customers to upgrade their older servers to CoolThreads™ utilizing Solaris virtualization capabilities. Benefits to our customers include reduced migration costs through server consolidation, reduced hardware acquisition costs, and reduced energy costs associated with power and cooling."

Features and Services of ESG's Solaris Virtualization Solution Set Include:

Basic Consolidation Estimate (BCE) -- High level assessment of the existing SUN environment followed by a technical discussion intended to estimate the Solaris virtualization opportunity.

Design Assessment -- In-depth technical exploration resulting in a report outlining the server virtualization scenario, such as how many servers can be consolidated into x number of new hosts, as well as concrete data on potential benefits such as ROI and reduction of power and cooling costs.

Pilot Deployment -- A candidate server is selected for conversion to a new target Solaris 10 environment. Conversion is based on a solution architecture and blueprint for the implementation and knowledge transfer processes.

Expert Server Group is hosting a breakfast seminar, "Solaris 10 Academy" in Boston on December 11th, 2008 which will focus on virtualization under Solaris 10. To register for this event, please visit www.expertserver.com/events or call 800.726.9797.

To learn more about ESG's wide range of virtualization professional and consulting services, please visit www.expertserver.com/solutions/Default.aspx.

About Expert Server Group

ESG specializes in the Assessment, Architecture, Implementation/Migration and Management of advanced virtualization technology infrastructures for organizations of all types and sizes. A 35-year IT professional and consulting services veteran and virtualization leader since 1998, ESG has deployed over 40,000 virtual servers at customers' sites across North America representing over 1 billion dollars in realized cost savings. ESG's production-proven methodologies, long-standing technology partnerships, experienced staff and vendor agnostic technology approach continues to help customers obtain a verifiable return on their technology investments. ESG is located in Bedford, NH.

For more information please visit, www.expertserver.com.

Contact Information: Contact: Jackie Abramian BridgeView Marketing (for Expert Server Group) 207.439.0963 jackie@bridgeviewmarketing.com