In addition, because MPS procedures are transaction-based and because compensation can be applied by the Provisioning Engine where required, provisioning transactions can be rolled back if any failures occur. This eliminates any need in your provisioning environment for reconfiguration time following task failures.

The service provisioning component of Hosted Messaging and Collaboration has been designed for easy integration into the service provider’s self-care and reseller portal. It offers a high level of scalability and reliability—including automatic failover and recovery of pending transactions. As a result, the service provisioning component reduces the risk of orphan transactions, which can be costly to troubleshoot in a complex datacenter. Furthermore, service provisioning contains a highly reliable audit and recovery service; and disaster recovery can be delivered using Microsoft SQL Server clustering and failover.

Tasks such as adding new users, updating directory entries, and provisioning application services become difficult for administrators to manage as server volumes grow in a data center. The service provisioning component provides a means for automating these processes, thereby making operations more efficient and services more scalable.

With the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration solution, service provisioning relies on the Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) to automate routine administrative server management tasks. MPS addresses many of the provisioning challenges facing data center environments by enabling service providers to streamline the steps of the provisioning process. Combined with the scripts, tools, and best practices included with the service provisioning component, MPS can improve internal operations and customer satisfaction. You can use MPS to automate provisioning tasks for hosted services such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, and other services through the extension interfaces provided by MPS.

MPS is the mechanism that enables automated services in Hosted Messaging and Collaboration version 4.0. One set of these services is the Hosted Exchange services. Using MPS, the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration provisioning tools can automatically provision your hosted Exchange Server 2007 services, including e-mail, Unified Messaging, and Mobility. The services for Hosted Exchange include:

The following table summarizes the benefits provided by service provisioning and MPS.

Benefit	Description
Improved process management	MPS manages multiple-step provisioning processes without the need for a system administrator.
Task automation	By automating provisioning activities, you can lower your overall operations cost by eliminating repetitive manual tasks and reducing potential sources of errors in the service operations process. Automation also enables reallocation of development resources to revenue-generating projects such as deployment of new value-added services.
Delegated administration	MPS creates a framework for delegated administration of multitenant environments, allowing your customers to create and manage their own resources, like databases, e-mail, payment and contact information, and Web sites.
Time savings	System administrators can spend more time with new users or customers.
Lowered administrative burden	Server-to-administrator ratio for Microsoft Windows Server–based servers is improved, resulting in lower administration costs.
Lower costs	Operational costs are lower due to fewer on-site visits.
Sample Web-based interface	With MPS, a sample Web-based user interface can be accessed from any browser and provides you with a simple, out-of the-box tool that can be used for demonstration purposes as well as to demonstrate the use of the MPS Web Services.