Microsoft's online service push has holes

Microsoft partners say basic service won't appeal to many corporate customers

By John Fontana, Network World
July 10, 2008 06:49 PM ET

Microsoft hosting partners welcome the visibility that the company's plunge into the hosting market brings, but they say many corporate users will find the Exchange and SharePoint services fall short of the mark.

The partners say that Microsoft’s pricing structure will cause them some disruption, but that users will realize Microsoft’s prices don’t include a full complement of add-ons, integrations, customizations, support and maintenance that they must purchase from partners.

The biggest upside hosting partners see is that Microsoft is shining a bright light on the benefits of hosted online services.
“Initially we had a concerned reaction that Microsoft was coming into our space,” says Ravi Agarwal, founder and senior executive officer of GroupSpark, Microsoft’s 2008 partner of the year in the advanced infrastructure/hosting solutions category. “But as we looked at the details we saw it was a limited offering. It really is an opportunity for us. Microsoft will spend a lot of marketing money to create awareness and that solves one problem for us.”

Microsoft Online Services (MOS), currently in beta and slated to come online later this year, include a Business Productivity Suite anchored by Exchange and SharePoint, and separate Exchange and SharePoint offerings targeted at users who are not always tethered to a PC.

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“I think what they are going for is a simple way to get basic SharePoint,” says Paul West, a principal with provider SharePoint360, which has consulting and hosting businesses built up around the collaboration server.

Service station
Microsoft last week revealed the pricing for its corporate collaboration services expected to ship this year. The Business Productivity Suite is a combination of e-mail and collaborative services that also can be purchased ˆ la carte. Options for Exchange and SharePoint services targeting workers who spend little time at PCs also are being offered. Microsoft plans a base service, and many corporate users will require augmentation from a third party for add-ons or customizations.

Services	Pricing	What you get
Business Productivity Suite	$15 per user/month	Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Server, Live Meeting.
Exchange service	$10 per user/month	Desktop and mobile e-mail and calendars with Outlook Web Access; includes integration with Outlook.
SharePoint service	$7.25 per user/month	Portals, collaboration, search and customized team sites.
Office Communications Server	$2.50 per user/month	Instant messaging and presence.
Live Meeting	$4.50 per user/month	Web conferencing and video conferencing.
Exchange Online Deskless Worker	$3 per user/month	E-mail; calendars; global address lists; antivirus, antispam filters; Outlook Web Access Light.
SharePoint Online Deskless Worker	$3 per user/month	SharePoint portal and team sites, and search.

Click to see: A chart of Microsoft's services

West says that since most of his customers customize the platform for their specific needs that he doesn’t see Microsoft cannibalizing his business. “We provide the personalization and customizations a lot of people are looking for.”