Overview - Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 | Research shows that when small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) move from POP3 and Web-based e-mail to enhanced messaging systems that provide rich e-mail services, mobile device support, and collaboration technologies, they gain new revenue opportunities while simultaneously reducing the cost of operations.
At the same time, most SMBs wish to avoid deployment of complex in-house messaging systems. They do not want the headaches and costs of spam management, virus prevention, storage and archiving, and business-compliance requirements.
These converging trends are expected to drive the worldwide market for hosted business e-mail services from U.S. $626 million in 2006 to more than U.S. $1 billion in 20101. Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration version 4.5 puts service providers in a position to take advantage of this increasing demand. |
| Why Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5? | Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration version 4.5 gives service providers the opportunity to offer the widest range of messaging services. Those services start with a basic, e-mail–only Microsoft Office Outlook Web Access client experience and then add incremental functionality in multiple Office Outlook Web Access feature bundles up to a full Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 client experience that will run over the Internet through existing firewalls and routing infrastructure. This range of services provides a flexible services path to drive incremental up-sell value for every business-class mailbox provisioned on the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration environment.
In addition to traditional e-mail, Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 makes it possible for service providers to offer SMBs additional value-added services such as mobile e-mail that incorporates a richer Outlook experience on mobile devices, hosted Windows SharePoint Services, and more. Products such as Microsoft System Center Operations Manager 2007 and Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 have been incorporated into Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5, so service providers can offer an even broader set of services to their customers.
Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 offers service providers three key features: | Messaging: Hosted Exchange is a rich messaging service that service providers host using Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1). The target market for Hosted Exchange includes SMBs, small office/home office (SOHO) businesses, and individual consumers. With tools for flexible business modeling, service providers can offer a broad range of services that go from basic e-mail up to higher-value services such as providing additional storage and hosting personal domains and shared calendars and contacts. Enhanced communications: Office Communications Server 2007 manages all real-time (synchronous) communications, including instant messaging (IM) and audio and video conferencing. Office Communications Server 2007 also powers presence, a key benefit of Microsoft unified communications that unites all the contact information stored in the Active Directory service with the ways people communicate. With presence, users can see at a glance if someone is available and contact that person with a click using instant messaging, a voice call, or a video conference. Collaboration: Collaboration services enable users in customer organizations to work together more efficiently. Version 4.5 of the solution includes Hosted Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Service Pack 1, which allows service providers to host team Web sites that customers can use to share documents and other information. By using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 as a hosted solution, SMBs have the opportunity to take advantage of business application templates delivered to them as a service. The addition of these customizable application templates can be a significant differentiator for service providers who want to add value and create new revenue streams.
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| Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 Benefits for Service Providers | Version 4.5 of Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration focuses on providing tools and guidelines with which a business can: | |
| Package and deliver applications as services: Using Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1, service providers can deliver applications as a service to their SMB customers. Service providers can package templates with content and other value-added services that are tailored to specific vertical markets, including professional services, healthcare, financial services, the public sector, and others. Offer new communications services: Service providers can use the functionality in Office Communications Server 2007 to provide end users with additional options for collaboration and communication, such as instant messaging and PC-based audio, video, and Web conferencing. Drive operational efficiency: Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 is scalable and easy to deploy and manage. With Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 and Exchange Server 2007 SP1, service providers have a “fast-to-market” and cost-effective solution that can translate to higher profitability. Automate provisioning: Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 relieves service providers of the onus of having to engineer an automated provisioning system. Adopting Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 means that service providers can use the Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) to automate many provisioning tasks. Properly implemented, MPS also can help service providers deliver a more compelling experience for end users because it supports end-user self-management. Ultimately, MPS lowers operational costs for service providers while improving customer satisfaction. Increase reliability of service: By using the cluster and storage features of Exchange Server 2007 SP1, service providers can provide recovery or journaling services or both. Service providers can work with application developers to build applications to access the Web services interfaces, delivering expanded customization and integration with the service provider’s other information assets. Improve data availability and reliability: With updated operations and the monitoring and reporting features in Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5, service providers can implement processes that improve reliability and availability. Enjoy all the benefits of migrating to the latest products: By providing the same comprehensive automation and delegation that service providers have come to expect from Microsoft, service providers will be able to migrate to a fully tested, service-enabled solution that includes Exchange Server 2007 SP1 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1. The solution provides enhanced update management, provisioning, and reporting services to support these updates.
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| Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 Benefits for End Users | Version 4.5 of Hosted Messaging and Collaboration, which includes Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 SP1, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1, and Office Communications Server 2007, makes it easy for service providers to offer SMBs the tools and guidelines that they need to significantly improve how they communicate and collaborate. With it, service providers and their SMB customers can: | Provide access anywhere: With Exchange Server 2007 SP1, mobile workers can benefit from an unprecedented level of Outlook functionality: Reduce risk and keep users productive: The following compliance features help companies better manage e-mail environments while remaining transparent to end users: Deletion of e-mail messages of users not on retention Ability to permit exceptions for business-critical e-mail Ability to archive the e-mail of users on retention Enforcement of privacy and other restrictions Transparent process management - users don’t need to worry about making additional efforts to manage their mailboxes:
Improve team collaboration: The following features keep people working efficiently together: Information sharing: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 provides browser-based tools for collaboration—including team workspaces, blogs, and wikis—that make it possible for people to share information, route documents for review, and coordinate project tasks. Multimodal collaboration: Office Communications Server 2007 offers PC-based audio, video, and Web conferencing. Because users can switch between different modes of communication, they can adapt their collaboration methods to suit their needs at that moment. IM and presence functionality: Office Communications Server 2007 makes it easier to communicate and collaborate. Users can escalate communications to group IM sessions, take advantage of richer presence options, and group people into contact lists and distribution groups for faster communication.
Offer customers a customized application platform: Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 SP1 provides a set of prebuilt, customizable application templates that teams can use to manage day-to-day business operations, such as recruiting and hiring, event and meeting planning, customer service and support, team calendars, timecards, and more.
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| | 1Source: The Radicati Group, Inc: Hosted E-mail Market, 2006-2010
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Anywhere access requires Internet connectivity.
3Some features require Windows Mobile 6 or higher. |
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