[January 10, 2005]

Microsoft�s New Messaging Solution for SMBs

BY JOHANNE TORRES

Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), rejoice! Microsoft Corp. (quote - news - alert) today announced the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 3.0. The new offering, which is made available through Microsoft’s service provider and hosting partners, is a hosted version of Microsoft’s family of productivity server products: Microsoft Exchange 2003, Live Communications Server 2005 and Windows SharePoint Services. The solution is said to be cost effective for SMBs for enterprise-class e-mail, shared calendaring, contacts, document collaboration and instant messaging capabilities typically used by larger companies.

With the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 3.0 in place, service providers will be able to receive proactive monitoring, provisioning automation, delegated administration and centralized management, which allows for the consolidation of existing e-mail systems onto a single platform and reduces the cost of deployment, ongoing operation and support. Microsoft says its new product will enable service providers of all sizes to expand their product portfolio to generate additional revenue streams.

“Service providers recognize the huge untapped opportunity of offering ‘software as a service’ to small and medium-sized businesses,” said Pascal Martin, general manager for Hosting Solutions at Microsoft. “We are hearing from many small and medium-sized organizations that they need enterprise-class messaging and collaboration services but do not want the worry of keeping their systems safe against spam, viruses or other security attacks or having to recover lost data in the case of catastrophic event. At the same time, purchasing these services from providers that offer personalized support and high levels of availability is very important to them. With Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, we are enabling our service providers to run a profitable business and address their SMB customers’ needs.”

According to Microsoft, for service providers, Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration offers the following key benefits:

-- Faster time to market for hosters of all sizes. The new solution includes an upgrade to Microsoft Provisioning System based on Windows Server 2003 and a new deployment tool that automates 85 percent of the installation process.

--Maximized operational efficiency and cost-cutting. Using key products such as Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and Microsoft Operations Manager 2005, service providers are able to control their capital expenditures and reduce the cost of operation and centralized management through new reporting, filtering and security services.

--Increased revenue from launch of services. The new solution integrates two enterprise products — Windows SharePoint Services Hosting and the new Live Communications Server 2005 Hosting — making it easier for service providers to differentiate themselves and add new revenue opportunities.

“Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration sets a new standard for software as a service for small and medium-sized businesses,” said David Ramon, CEO of USA.NET Inc., a current Gold Certified Partner for Advanced Infrastructure and an early adopter of Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration. “With the new solution, we are now able to offer our customers an even richer service. We’re particularly excited about offering the document collaboration capabilities found in SharePoint Services hosting.”

New features for small and medium-sized businesses include the following:

--Rich hosted messaging by creating a collaborative environment that allows users to share calendars and contact lists with colleagues and interact with the Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 client.

--Real-time e-mail, calendar and contacts management. Using Outlook Web Access, customers can use any Internet-connected device to check e-mail by typing the URL and supplying a name and password.

--Collaboration tools. Windows SharePoint Services provides an integrated information dashboard for sharing notes, collaborating on projects and optimizing resources.

--Instant messaging. Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration supports provisioning for instant messaging, increasing efficiency through real-time communication.

Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration will be available worldwide on January 19, 2005. More information on Microsoft’s Hosting Solutions can be found at the company’s Web site.

Microsoft Corporation
www.microsoft.com