In brief: AppRiver launches Exchange 2003 hosting service

E-mail security vendor AppRiver last week launched a Microsoft Exchange 2003 hosting service that includes AppRiver's Web-based Shoreline control panel for setup and management, and SecureTide spam and virus protection. Shoreline also is the interface to administrative controls for adding users, storage quotas, distribution groups, e-mail routing, domain aliases, forwarding, passwords, client configuration and other functions. An Outlook client-configuration wizard moves users from their previous e-mail environment to AppRiver's hosted platform. The company is targeting corporate, government and educational customers. The hosted Exchange service is priced at $12.95 per user, per month.

Business Objects jumped into the world of subscription-based, on-demand software last week, announcing an online version of its Crystal Reports service, which lets customers share business information over the Web. The service is aimed at small and midsize businesses, which will be able to broaden their use of Crystal Reports without buying extra software licenses or assigning additional IT staff to maintain it, Business Objects says. Called Crystalreports.com, the service lets employees create Crystal Reports documents, upload them to the Web and create a list of employees, customers and partners authorized to access them. Authorized users then log on to Crystal_re_ports.com to view the documents. Until now, many companies have shared Crystal Reports by sending them as e-mail attachments or hard copies, which takes more time, is less secure and can lead to conflicting data, Business Objects said. The service is offered in two versions: a free, basic service and a premium service, paid by monthly subscription. Both services will be offered globally in the second half of this year. Pricing has not been announced.

Lawson Software is continuing its drive to fuel broader adoption of service-oriented architectures with the release of an SOA-based application designed to help businesses manage supplier relationships more easily. The Lawson Strategic Sourcing application targets government organizations and other businesses looking to automate sourcing events such as requests for proposals and bid analysis and awarding. The application lets companies respond more quickly to changing business needs instead of relying on traditional software-development upgrade cycles. Lawson says that although it designed the application to fit the more stringent requirements of the government and healthcare industries, the application is suitable for companies in all industries.

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E-mail security vendor AppRiver last week launched a Microsoft Exchange 2003 hosting service that includes AppRiver's Web-based Shoreline control panel for setup and management, and SecureTide spam and virus protection. Shoreline also is the interface to administrative controls for adding users, storage quotas, distribution groups, e-mail routing, domain aliases, forwarding, passwords, client configuration and other functions. An Outlook client-configuration wizard moves users from their previous e-mail environment to AppRiver's hosted platform. The company is targeting corporate, government and educational customers. The hosted Exchange service is priced at $12.95 per user, per month.

Business Objects jumped into the world of subscription-based, on-demand software last week, announcing an online version of its Crystal Reports service, which lets customers share business information over the Web. The service is aimed at small and midsize businesses, which will be able to broaden their use of Crystal Reports without buying extra software licenses or assigning additional IT staff to maintain it, Business Objects says. Called Crystalreports.com, the service lets employees create Crystal Reports documents, upload them to the Web and create a list of employees, customers and partners authorized to access them. Authorized users then log on to Crystal_re_ports.com to view the documents. Until now, many companies have shared Crystal Reports by sending them as e-mail attachments or hard copies, which takes more time, is less secure and can lead to conflicting data, Business Objects said. The service is offered in two versions: a free, basic service and a premium service, paid by monthly subscription. Both services will be offered globally in the second half of this year. Pricing has not been announced.

Lawson Software is continuing its drive to fuel broader adoption of service-oriented architectures with the release of an SOA-based application designed to help businesses manage supplier relationships more easily. The Lawson Strategic Sourcing application targets government organizations and other businesses looking to automate sourcing events such as requests for proposals and bid analysis and awarding. The application lets companies respond more quickly to changing business needs instead of relying on traditional software-development upgrade cycles. Lawson says that although it designed the application to fit the more stringent requirements of the government and healthcare industries, the application is suitable for companies in all industries.

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