Avanade Named to 2011 InformationWeek 500 List of Top Technology Innovators

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwire - Sep 26, 2011) - Avanade, a business technology solutions and managed services provider, today announced its inclusion in the 2011 InformationWeek 500, an annual listing that identifies and honors the nation's most innovative users of information technology. Avanade was recognized for its Modernization and Virtualization Program (MVP), which included a complete revamp of its Seattle-based physical data center in order to better serve the company's burgeoning business.

InformationWeek tracks the technology, strategies, investments and administrative practices of America's best-known companies. The annual list is unique among corporate rankings as it spotlights the power of innovation in information technology, rather than simply identifying the biggest IT spenders.

"For 23 years, the InformationWeek 500 has chronicled and honored the most innovative users of business technology," said Rob Preston, editor in chief at InformationWeek. "In this day and age, however, being innovative isn't enough. Companies and their IT organizations need to innovate faster than ever before to stay a step or two ahead of their customers, partners, and competitors. This year's ranking placed special emphasis on those high-octane business technology innovators."

Through its MVP program, Avanade improved its Seattle-based physical data center to create a modernized, on-demand and automated global data center. As a result, the company significantly increased its responsiveness, created an elastic infrastructure that supports ongoing business growth without server sprawl, and slashed overall operation costs. Avanade also became one of the first companies to use Microsoft Windows Server with Hyper-V to virtualize an entire data center -- including development, test and production environments.

"One of Avanade's core values is 'Demonstrate a Passion for Technology,'" said Chris Miller, chief information officer at Avanade. "At Avanade, we take innovation seriously. We're lucky that through our association with Microsoft, we are able to actively collaborate on breakthrough technologies early in a development cycle -- and then to directly leverage those results to benefit Avanade customers."

Avanade was further recognized for its innovative IT department and innovative use of Microsoft technologies. Avanade is an established early adopter of many Microsoft technologies, showcasing successful customer implementations of Windows 7, Exchange, Lync^™, Microsoft Dynamics® CRM, Microsoft Windows Server with Hyper-V® for data center virtualization, and more.

The 2011 InformationWeek 500 list was revealed on September 13 at a gala awards ceremony in Dana Point, Calif. Additional details can be found online at www.informationweek.com/iw500/.

About Avanade
Avanade provides business technology solutions and managed services that connect insight, innovation and expertise in Microsoft® technologies to help customers realize results. Our people have helped thousands of organizations in all industries improve business agility, employee productivity, and customer loyalty. Avanade combines the collective business, technical and industry expertise of its worldwide network of experts with the rigor of an industrialized delivery model to provide high quality solutions using proven and emerging technologies with flexible deployment models -- on premises, cloud-based or outsourced. Avanade, which is majority owned by Accenture, was founded in 2000 by Accenture and Microsoft Corporation and has 13,000 professionals in more than 20 countries. Additional information can be found at www.avanade.com

About InformationWeek Business Technology Network
The InformationWeek Business Technology Network provides IT executives with unique analysis and tools that parallel their work flow -- from defining and framing objectives through to the evaluation and recommendation of solutions. Anchored by InformationWeek, the multimedia powerhouse that looks across the enterprise, the network scales across the most critical technology categories with online properties like DarkReading.com (security), NetworkComputing.com (networking and communications) and PlugintotheCloud.com (cloud computing). The network also provides focused content for key IT targets, such as CIOs, developers, and SMBs via InformationWeek Global CIO, Dr. Dobb's and InformationWeek SMB, as well as vital vertical industries with InformationWeek Financial Services, Government, and Healthcare resources. Content is at the nucleus of our information distribution strategy -- IT professionals turn to our experts and communities to stay informed, get advice and research technologies to make strategic business decisions.

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