Microsoft Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. will spend $300 million over three years to bolster a Microsoft marketing strategy to win corporate customers from International Business Machines Corp.

Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest personal computer maker, will develop consulting services and work together on sales and marketing, the two companies said Wednesday.

The effort is part of Microsoft's "people-ready" business strategy, unveiled in March, to sell more business software by convincing customers it's the best and cheapest way to make workers more productive. The agreement extends a 20- year partnership between the companies and could help Hewlett-Packard sell more personal computers, servers and services.

"It's about selling our portfolio and about selling HP's portfolio," Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said.

The services will help customers use software for tasks such as unified communications, which combines e-mail, instant messaging, computer-based telephone calls and other methods of connecting workers. Services also will focus on helping employees collaborate on projects, managing business content and running business intelligence software for data analysis.

Software in these areas will generate $49 billion in sales in 2007, market research firm IDC said.

"We think we are uniquely competitively positioned to grab a large part of that opportunity," said Microsoft Vice President Peter Boit.

Hewlett-Packard, based in Palo Alto, Calif., will have more than 22,000 workers trained to work with the Microsoft programs and will boost the number to 30,000 over three years. The companies have already been providing such services to Barnes & Noble Inc. and the Weather Channel.

Shares of Microsoft rose 12 cents to $29.55 in Nasdaq stock market composite trading. They have gained 13 percent this year. Hewlett-Packard fell 16 cents to $39.67 on the New York Stock Exchange and has gained 39 percent this year.

Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have more than 20,000 customers in common.

Both also compete with IBM and Sun Microsystems Inc. Hewlett-Packard passed IBM in sales for the first time this year to become the largest information technology provider.