Microsoft Ships Digital-Rights-Management SoftwareMicrosoft Ships Digital-Rights-Management Software

Microsoft's digital-rights-management service for Windows Server 2003 has arrived, but version 1.0 is for internal company use only.

The Windows Rights Management Services, whose price ranges from $29 to $37 per server client access license, will allow employees to apply rights, privileges, and protections to Office 2003 documents distributed within a business network, executives said Monday.

With version 1.0, the author of a Word 2003 document can specify which group of users can open, modify, print, and forward an Office 2003 document and under what circumstances it can be used. For instance, authors can designate a sensitive document as read-only or set an expiration date for a time-sensitive or highly confidential document.

The software--whose availability was officially revealed Tuesday--works with Microsoft Office 2003, the only rights-management service-enabled product in the market. The four RMS-enabled applications include Outlook 2003, Word 2003, PowerPoint 2003, and Excel 2003.

However, Microsoft plans to ship an RMS-enabled add-on for Internet Explorer for protected Web-page viewing later this year, and the company is in discussions with numerous independent software vendors that plan to develop RMS-enabled applications, executives said.

The software is aimed at midsize companies and vertical segments that require high levels of confidentiality, including finance, legal, government, and health-care companies. "I can see this server add-on being used more so in an midmarket or enterprise environment than the SMB space," says Frederick Johnson, president of Ross-Tek, a technology consulting firm. "Hospitals, large law firms or insurance companies could take advantage of this, but I see the biggest obstacle as not the companies making the investment to buy 2003 products, but the learning transition and willingness for their employees to do this rather than their usual way of sending confidential documents. I think this would be the biggest challenge as opposed to the availability of the technology and its features."

Still, channel partners bemoan the lack of cross-enterprise support.

Windows Rights Management Services will allow a one-to-one transaction between two companies that set up a trusted relationship using Active Directory. However, Microsoft executives acknowledged true business-to-business support isn't coming for several years.

"Version 1.0's focus is on internal information. There's limited B-to-B functionality, but we're not claiming someone could have trust with thousands of outsourced suppliers," says John Murchinson, product manager of the Security Business Unit at Microsoft. "In version 2.0, in the Longhorn Windows time frame, we're going to enable a more B-to-B scenario."

Nevertheless, Microsoft expects the add-on--like other server add-ons such as the Live Communications Server and Windows SharePoint Services--to give channel partners ample value-added opportunities, including implementing B-to-B scenarios.

"The technology is about enabling policies to be enforced. We don't claim RMS is an out-of-the-box solution, but it can be used to build end-to-end solutions," says Scott Hanan, lead product manager at the Security Business Unit. "There are a lot of opportunities for hosting solutions and extending the functionality of the server, building new client applications that are rights-enabled and driving upgrades."

Systems integration and independent software vendor partners include Avanade, EDS, GigaMedia Access, Omniva, Reciprocal, SecureAttachment and SyncCast, Microsoft says. EDS, for instance, plans to use the services in-house and deploy them in customer solutions.

One enterprising partner, GigaMedia, is capitalizing on the B-to-B limitations of version 1.0.

To that end, the company has launched an Active Directory-based Community Managed Service and servers that let customers harness RMS services for cross-enterprise use.

The company's GigaTrust Web server lets customers rights-enable content for portals and applications, and the forthcoming GigaTrust for the WorkPlace P2P solution will rights-enable files and instant messages. "We make this stuff work intercompany," says Glen Gulyas, president and chief operating officer of GigaMedia Access.

The software will be available for licensing in-house and on a monthly subscription basis, he says.

Several solution providers said the combination of Microsoft's Windows Rights Management Services and GigaMedia's software provides an end-to-end solution.

"Microsoft is going to offer rights management, but it needs service that sits outside," said Ken Winell, president and CEO of Econium, a solution provider working with RMS. "GigaMedia's trusted community will allow customers to exchange RMS-enabled documents outside the enterprise. It's a way to implement DRM across corporations."

Another solution provider lauded the combination. "It's a good solution to this limitation," says Frank Bell, CEO of Intellinet. "The GigaTrust managed solution extends Microsoft's rights-management solution so companies from small businesses to enterprise teams can secure communications beyond their private network boundaries."

In related news, Microsoft said it's teaming up with Rainbow Technologies to develop a hardware appliance that lets customers manage Windows rights-management services without Internet connectivity.