Kiwi Company Achieves World First Certification

Kiwi Company Achieves World First Certification

SilverStripe CMS first open source web application to achieve Certification for Windows Server.

SilverStripe, a web development company delivering open source content management systems (CMS) and development services to businesses throughout Australasia, Europe and the USA, has achieved “Certification for Windows Server 2008 R2” for version 2.4.0 of their flagship product, SilverStripe CMS . This is a world first, as the software is the only truly open source web application to achieve certification on the Windows platform.

“We are very excited about receiving the Certification, as it validates everything we have been working towards – ease of use and added value for our customers, along with faster deployment times, as well as confirming the robustness and reliability of our software,” says Sigurd Magnusson, Co-founder and Business Relationship Manager of SilverStripe.

“At least half of SilverStripe’s customers manage predominantly Windows Server IT environments. These customers are now able to confidently deploy our software on the Microsoft platform. The addition of Internet Information Services (IIS) and SQL Server support for SilverStripe CMS opens up a diverse new market, and we are confident that greater interoperability with the Windows platform will contribute to our further success in the years ahead.”

Certification for Windows Server is achieved through an independently audited process that has extensive and strict criteria. In addition to being the only open source web application to attain this, the other unique element of the certification is the SilverStripe application was written in PHP rather than the .NET format.

“As an active participant in the web and open source communities, Microsoft welcomed the opportunity to work with the SilverStripe team to further develop our relationship with open source developers,” says Andrew Gordon, Platform Strategy Manager for Microsoft New Zealand.

“We would like to congratulate SilverStripe on its well-deserved win at the New Zealand Open Source awards last week and look forward to continuing to work with the team to further create a mutually beneficial relationship.”

SilverStripe and Microsoft have worked together over the last three years to achieve a number of technical milestones. The first of these was support for IIS and the Windows operating system, followed by native support for SQL Server 2008. SilverStripe was also one of ten initial products able to be installed at the launch of the Microsoft Web Platform Installer and the Web Application Gallery. Certification for Windows Server 2008 R2 is the culmination of all this work.

In the time that SilverStripe and Microsoft have been working together there have been more than 60,000 downloads of the SilverStripe CMS from the www.microsoft.com website. The recent addition of Windows Server 2008 R2 Certification will no doubt see this number grow.

“Interoperability between SilverStripe CMS, Windows Server and SQL Server enables customers to leverage the investments they’ve already made in Microsoft technology. Businesses are always looking to get the most out of their IT infrastructure, so organisations are attracted by the ability to do more with less,” says Sigurd.

SilverStripe CMS’ support for Windows was central to it securing a significant website development contract with one of New Zealand’s largest local government bodies, the Greater Wellington Regional Council. Greater Wellington operates www.gw.govt.nz and www.metlink.co.nz, both are heavily trafficked council and official public transport sites that necessitate a stable and reliable content management platform.

“The 2010 upgrade of the council’s official websites to SilverStripe CMS was a major initiative. Our choice to implement the SilverStripe solution was based on it being a user friendly and flexible product. In addition, it was important we could consolidate our IT infrastructure on Windows Server and SQL Server. This approach delivered simplified management of our websites and meant a centralisation of our web server stack to Microsoft technology was possible. SilverStripe CMS having 'Certified for Windows Server 2008 R2' status is important to Greater Wellington because it offers confidence that the overall solution is reliable and commercially viable,” says Brett Sangster, Communications Manager for Greater Wellington Regional Council.

While SilverStripe is excited about the opportunities created by its involvement with Microsoft and the recent Certification, according to Sigurd, the work so far is just a hint of things to come.

“There’s little doubt in my mind that SilverStripe’s product adoption, credibility and growth have all been enhanced through our involvement with Microsoft. We are confident that greater interoperability with the Windows platform will contribute to further success in the years ahead,” he adds.

ENDS

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