Microsoft Hong Kong has awarded certification, scholarships and other prizes to winners of a server configuration competition, said the firm in a statement.

The Microsoft Server Championships 2005 was held to provide software skills enrichment opportunities by engaging the local IT community in a challenge on software optimization skills and a series of free technical training seminars sponsored by the company, said Microsoft Hong Kong, with a total of 40 university students and 100 IT professionals advanced to the final round of the competition, where they simultaneously configured 140 Microsoft Windows-based servers.

?The Microsoft Server Championships 2005 is foremost a quest for IT professionals and students with the most outstanding software skills and the highest level of proficiency in Microsoft Windows Server technology,? said Adam Anger, director, business and marketing organization, Microsoft Hong Kong. Anger said that simply joining the contest would comprise "a thrilling knowledge exchange among experts and future IT innovators."

Top prizes included cash, scholarships and enrollments in the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) course sponsored by Microsoft and Hong Kong Polytechnic University. The scholarships are for an IT programming course under a Master of Science in Information Technology, sponsored by Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Memberships to the Hong Kong Computer Society were also bestowed.

The Microsoft Server Championships 2005 is also a community initiative to support the Cyber Senior Network Development Association (CSNDA), a voluntary organization that promotes and provides free IT training for Hong Kong?s senior citizens. A total of HK$50,000 (US$6,400) was raised and donated to CSNDA through the competition, said Microsoft Hong Kong.