CHICAGO -- Accenture and AT&T today are announcing that the two companies have formed an alliance to market and deliver managed messaging solutions on a global basis to large and medium enterprises and U.S. government agencies. The offering, Enterprise Messaging Service, is designed to significantly reduce the total cost of ownership of an organization's E-mail and other messaging platforms.

The Enterprise Messaging Service includes hosted messaging services based on the latest Microsoft Exchange Server platform and provides a foundation for future optional, advanced capabilities such as enterprise-class secure instant messaging and unified communications. By using these services, enterprise and government customers can continue to enjoy the same functionality but with AT&T and Accenture managing and administering the service on their behalf. Customers also gain the benefit of receiving the latest versions of software and security upgrades automatically.

Today's announcement launches the strategic alliance of AT&T and Accenture plus a new joint service - Enterprise Messaging Service, a managed email and messaging service designed to significantly reduce costs for enterprise and government agencies. AT&T and Accenture will sell this service jointly and individually.

AT&T Corp.

Accenture