
If you know anything about managing a complex email system
like Lotus Notes or MS Exchange, you know it can be a pain. Most companies
would prefer to leave it to the experts, especially smaller organizations.
Microsoft brought out its
online infrastructure services beta this week and
will begin to make a name for itself in Managed Services. While the SaaS
industry is in the early stages, Microsoft will need time to rework their
software to support multitenant architectures. OCS doesn't support a
multitenant instance either (by the way, all this means less money for
Microsoft, could we see any more PE contraction?). This is still a beta
offering for under 5,000 seats. The competitive set includes Google's Postini and
Yahoo's Zimbra along with many other niche players. Other Microsoft partners
already provide some of these services for enterprises. They will have to
carefully maneuver their channel relationships because they rely on a
substantial revenue stream from these service partners and systems integrators.
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