In a continuation of its “software as a service” strategy first unveiled in December 2004, Microsoft Corp. today announced the Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 3.0, a hosted service for SMBs that service providers and hosting partners can sell for a monthly recurring charge.
The solution takes Hosted Exchange 2003 and adds support for hosted versions of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Windows SharePoint Services. Functionality includes corporate-style e-mail, shared calendaring, contacts, document collaboration and instant messaging capabilities. Offering the group of productivity tools as a managed service brings applications typically found in enterprises into the hands of smaller businesses, says the software giant.
Hosted Messaging and Collaboration also provides proactive monitoring, provisioning automation, delegated administration and centralized management, so service providers can consolidate existing e-mail systems onto a single platform and reduce operational expenditures.
"Service providers recognize the huge untapped opportunity of offering software as a service to small and medium-sized businesses," says 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."
