Misvatting over Online Diensten in educatie

Eergisteren had ik een aardige “discussie” op twitter met Ernst Fuld (@efuld) van o.a. NGN over Online diensten in de educatie sector. Dit was naar aanleiding van nieuws dat Universitiet van Utrecht GMail aan haar studenten gaat bieden.

Ernst reageerde daarop met :

Dit triggerde een korte tweet-wisseling :

Het is namelijk zo dat er geen 25 GB email capaciteit geboden wordt door Google in educatie, maar “slechts” 7.414998 GB . Google laat de capaciteit heel langzaam groeien.

Ernst was van mening dat het toch de standaard 25 GB was, maar de Google Apps voor educatie pagina bevestigt het tegendeel.

Dus bij deze is dat misverstand de wereld uit. Google Apps voor educatie is niet hetzelfde als de standaard omgeving.

 

Even later nam Melle Gloerich (@mgloerich) ook nog even deel aan de discussie :

 

1. Kosten voor Google / Microsoft in educatie ?

2. Meer storage voor Google ?

3. BPOS (Microsoft Online Services) voor educatie ?

 

Ik heb Melle belooft daar even wat uitgebreider op te reageren, dus bij deze :

1. Kosten voor Google / Microsoft in educatie ?

Google en Microsoft hebben beiden een gratis oplossing voor educatie instelling. Deze is gratis voor studenten/leerlingen, personeel en alumni.

• Google Apps voor Educatie
• Microsoft Live@EDU

Een kort overzicht met de highlights van Microsoft Live@EDU:

2. Meer storage voor Google ?

 

Totaal dus 40GB opslag voor studenten, medewerkers met Microsoft Live@EDU.

Dit is aanzienlijk meer dan Google biedt. In een blogpost van april vorig jaar heb ik ook een evaluatie van Google Apps vs Microsoft Live@EDU

Denk je daarnaast eens in hoeveel educatieinstelling dus zouden kunnen besparen op hun opslagkosten.

Een grote groep instellingen heeft ook al voor Microsoft’s oplossingen in educatie gekozen. Een moie recente referentie is Canisius College uit Nijmegen :

Het Canisius College kiest met Live@edu voor de beste communicatie- en online samenwerkomgeving voor leerlingen en leraren
Het Canisius College was op zoek naar een communicatie- en online samenwerkoplossing voor leraren en leerlingen die goed aansluit bij hun behoeften. Lange tijd had de school een voorkeur voor Google Apps.

 

3. BPOS (Microsoft Online Services) voor educatie

 

Ja, naast Microsoft Live@EDU heeft een instelling ook de keuze om online diensten via Microsoft Online Services af te nemen. Dit is niet gratis, maar er gelden voor educatie instellingen wel speciale tarieven. Voor meer informatie over de prijzen kunnen instellingen terecht bij hun Licentiepartner (SURFdiensten, APSIT en SLB diensten.

Er wordt al veelvuldig gebruik gemaakt van Microsoft Online :

Schools adopting Microsoft Online Services

Universities are beginning to embrace the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite on campus, which is comprised of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online and Office Live Meeting. These products have been traditionally on premise, but are now available in a paid-for, hosted environment in the cloud that Microsoft manages for you that you can buy through partners.  These online services offer streamlined communication, simplified management and business-class security and reliability…and new this quarter, we are increasing the mailbox size five-fold to 25 GB for every user.  Recent customer wins include:

• University System of Ohio. The state of Ohio has signed an Education Alliance Agreement with Microsoft that will bring a cloud computing approach to the entire state. Exchange Online is one of many products that will provide significant cost savings, increased productivity and improved performance while minimizing environmental impact.
• Hofstra University. Hofstra is moving its faculty and staff to Exchange Online. By using Microsoft’s security, spam filtering and archiving capabilities, the technical staff will be able to concentrate on providing other high-valued academic services to the University.
• Belmont University. Belmont is using Exchange Online to serve approximately 1,400 faculty and staff email accounts. The Exchange Online implementation supports the school’s green initiatives by saving space and energy costs. They anticipate saving about $30,000 a year by not having to hire additional IT staff to support.

Bron: Microsoft Education Blog

Microsoft biedt dus verschillende opties, keuze,  voor educatie instellingen hoe zij hun ICT omgeving willen inrichten. Het onderstaande document geeft inzicht welke afwegingen een instelling kan maken in de keuze voor bijvoorbeeld het email platform :

Key Considerations For Exchange Email Deployments In Academic Environments

View more documents from dehaaspeter.

En hier blijft het niet bij … Coming soon:

• Office Web Applications (Office in de browser, Safari, FF, IE)
• SharePoint Online based collaboration (met office Web Apps)  - gratis voor studenten

New collaboration opportunities

We are also announcing new SharePoint Online-based collaboration and productivity services will be available for students as part of the Live@edu next year. These new SharePoint-based services will offer IT departments more flexibility and control to set up and manage their school’s collaboration and productivity tools in a security-enhanced environment…as well as the ability to access and manage permissions to sites, documents and content (pictures, videos) with enterprise-class control.

For students, these new services give them access to similar types of functionality that has made SharePoint the fastest growing server product in Microsoft history. It will enable them to create, edit and securely access content from their school’s site anywhere, whether at home, at the school library or even while on the road for holiday. It will allow them to organize, track and easily share classroom information, interests, expertise and easily find colleagues. By leveraging Office Web Apps that are currently in technical preview, students will have a new online space where they can securely upload, easily share, and collaborate on documents, including in-place editing. We believe this will better prepare them for the workforce through use of functionality and technology used every day in the workplace.

Microsoft’s software plus services model—which spans mission-critical datacenter availability and security, Live@edu, Microsoft Online Services collaboration and communication offerings, and Windows Azure—combines the reach and flexibility of the cloud with the power of on-premises software applications. Today, we see that people want to access information on the PC, in the browser and on a mobile device…and I think this the real value in moving to the cloud…having the flexibility and choice to run your solutions either in the cloud, on premises, or a mix of the two.

Bron: Microsoft Education Blog

Microsoft Online diensten in educatie … now you know …

Email market share is getting more confusing by the day

Email market share has been a discussion topic shortly after the solution came to market (ages ago) and it is also a fun topic for many people.

Although “Email in the cloud” was introduced in the mid-90’s, it now has become a hot topic in the whole email market share discussion. This becomes clear when you look at for example a recent article on LotusLive :

…With LotusLive, launched just a year ago, the effort is to allow people to be able to stay in their in-box and bring work tasks, information, and people together, in context. It has 18 million users today compared to just about 1 million each for Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) and Google Premier Apps. …

The conclusion looks straightforward :

• 18 M users in Lotus Live
• 1 M in BPOS
• 1 M in GAPE

The question it raises : What are the various platforms and what functionality is offered, licensed and used. So are we comparing apples to apples ?

A second question it raises : which email platform(s) does the vendor offer. Assuming you can only sell so many different email platforms to 1 company, 1 solution is gaining share while the other is loosing right ?

So 2 interesting tables / charts to build would be :

1. An overview of email platform(s) offered per vendor
2. An All-up market share view of total mailboxes per vendor with maybe a consumer / business split.

Request to all of you interested in this topic :

I will make a start with this but would very much appreciate your comments / tweets to public data sources that can help me figure this out.

CSC Signs Cloud Computing Agreement With UK Royal Mail Group

Very strong BPOS win for CSC. UK’s Royal Mail is moving to Microsoft Online Services with 30.000 users ..

… today announced that it has signed an agreement with the UK's Royal Mail Group to provide cloud computing information technology (IT) services. The new agreement expands the company's current contract signed with Royal Mail Group in 2003 to maintain its desktop computers and manage and develop its servers, mainframes and IT processes.

The new contract is an industry first, with CSC being the first Microsoft partner to lead and win a cloud computing services agreement of this scale. Under terms of the contract, CSC will provide Royal Mail Group's 30,000 employees with access to new IT services using Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), part of Microsoft Online Services. CSC will also provide first line helpdesk support. …

Continue at source : CSC.com

Parool : Thuiswerk moet mkb'ers uit de file lokken

Project Digitale Mobiliteit gaat van start in regio Amsterdam. Microsoft Online Services / BPOS maakt hier een belangrijk onderdeel van uit …

… Honderd Amsterdamse kleine ondernemingen gaan op proef hun personeel een half jaar vanuit huis laten werken. Met subsidie van de overheid krijgen de werknemers thuis snel internet en vergadersoftware.

Wanneer het experiment slaagt, krijgt het navolging in de rest van het land, aldus Kees Verhoeven, directeur van MKB Amsterdam.

De proef, in 36 gemeenten rond Amsterdam, moet uitwijzen of thuiswerken een oplossing tegen de files is. Uit onderzoek is gebleken dat veel kleine ondernemers vooroordelen tegen thuiswerken hebben. Zo denken zij dat de investeringen hiervoor in hardware en software hoog zijn en weinig opleveren.
Volgens de organisatoren van de proef, MKB Nederland en adviesbureau Boer & Croon, bedragen de kosten voor thuiswerksoftware slechts 13 euro per maand per werknemer. Voor dat geld wordt de thuiswerker voorzien van Microsoft-programma's voor e-mail, videovergaderen, tekstverwerken en een agenda. …

Bron: Parool.nl

Meer informatie over digitale mobiliteit :

www.digitalemobiliteit.nl

www.microsoft.nl/digitalemobiliteit

Organisaties over op Microsoft online-applicaties

Vandaag heeft Microsoft een aantal belangrijke aankondigen gedaan met betrekking tot Microsoft Online Services en specifiek de Business Productivity Online Suite. Een paar highlights :

• De prijs van de BPOS Suite wordt verlaagd van €12,78 naar € 8,52 per gebruiker per maand.
• De prijs van Exchange Online gehalveerd en kost vanaf nu € 4,26.
• De standaard mailboxgrootte verhoogd van 5GB naar 25GB

Schiphol, 3 november 2009 – De Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) - software voor communiceren en samenwerken, aangeboden als dienst – komt later deze week in meer landen beschikbaar en krijgt vanaf nu elk kwartaal nieuwe functies. Verder heeft Microsoft de prijzen van de online suite en een aantal onderdelen ervan verlaagd. De Business Productivity Online Suite maakt deel uit van de Microsoft Online Services.

De afgelopen maanden hebben honderden organisaties gekozen voor de Business Productivity Online Suite. Dat zijn onder meer McDonald’s, Aon Corporation, Hallmark Cards, het Zweedse Rode Kruis en in Nederland NOC*NSF, Helvoet, RET, RWG (Maasvlakte 2) en SkyTeam Alliance. Zij hebben voor BPOS gekozen vanwege de uitgebreide mogelijkheden, de flexibiliteit en de waarde die deze oplossingen bieden - online, binnen het bedrijf of een combinatie van beide. In een jaar tijd biedt Microsoft nu in 36 landen BPOS aan, met in totaal meer dan een miljoen gebruikers.

Sinds de beschikbaarheid van BPOS in Nederland (april 2009) hebben zich inmiddels 172 partners als BPOS-reseller aangemeld. Zij kunnen klanten helpen om de Microsoft onlinediensten snel in gebruik te nemen. Partner TamTam vergaarde wereldwijd faam met de implementatie bij annatommie. Partners ITSP en Wortell wonnen zelfs internationale Microsoft awards voor hun projecten, waaronder Procore. Diverse nieuwe partners, zoals Sparked en Worktivity, richten zich specifiek met Microsoft onlinediensten op het kleinzakelijke segment.

SkyTeam Alliance
SkyTeam is de wereldwijde alliantie van luchtvaartmaatschappijen met negen leden – Aeromexico, Air France, Alitalia, Aeroflot, Delta Air Lines, China Southern Airlines, Czech Airlines, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines en Korean Air – plus twee geassocieerde maatschappijen Air Europa en Kenya Airways. Deze organisatie heeft gekozen voor het gebruik van de volledige Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite voor bijna 450 medewerkers. Dit zijn voornamelijk medewerkers die veel mobiel werken en die dankzij BPOS altijd en overal, makkelijk en snel toegang hebben tot hun bedrijfsgegevens. BPOS is bij SkyTeam geïmplementeerd door Wortell, de eerste Microsoft partner in Nederland die BPOS bij klanten heeft geïmplementeerd.

Bruno Faccini, verantwoordelijk voor IT bij SkyTeam: “SkyTeam heeft voor BPOS gekozen omdat we het IT-beheer willen minimaliseren. We hoeven nu niet te investeren in serverinfrastructuur, softwarelicenties en IT-personeel. Hiermee denken we ongeveer 30 procent van de kosten te besparen, ten opzichte van een traditionele omgeving. De bekendheid met de tools - zodat er geen tijd verloren gaat met het leerproces - en de probleemloze integratie met onze IT-omgeving waren voor ons belangrijke redenen om te kiezen voor het online-aanbod van Microsoft. Momenteel gebruiken we al Exchange Online, Office Communications Online en Live Meeting. Volgende week gaat SharePoint Online wereldwijd live met een training bij KLM.”

Nieuwe prijzen
Vanwege de snelle acceptatie door klanten, de wereldwijde schaal en de verbeterde efficiency dankzij software zoals Exchange 2010, verlaagt Microsoft de prijzen van de Business Productivity Online Suite en ook van Exchange Online, SharePoint Online en Office Communications Online. Na deze verlaging bedraagt de prijs van BPOS € 8,52 per gebruiker per maand. De onderdelen kunnen ook afzonderlijk worden afgenomen, Exchange Online bijvoorbeeld voor € 4,26. Klanten kunnen kiezen uit een reeks oplossingen met Microsoft Online Services, van Deskless Worker voor incidentele gebruikers tot de volledige BPOS voor kenniswerkers. Meer informatie over beschikbaarheid en de prijzen is te vinden op www.microsoft.nl/online.

Nieuwe mogelijkheden
Elk kwartaal komt Microsoft met nieuwe mogelijkheden voor Microsoft Online Services. Dit kwartaal betreft deze update een mailbox van 5 GB naar 25GB voor elke gebruiker en nieuwe scriptingmogelijkheden voor het beheer. …

Bron : Microsoft Nederland persberichten

Channel 9 Interview with David Thompson About Microft Online Services - BPOS

 

Dave Thompson, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Online Services, kicks off the Microsoft Online Services Executive Video Series on MSDN's Channel 9. Dave began building the Microsoft Online Services team about three years ago and delivered the first version of the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) in November of 2008.

Watch the interview to hear Dave's thoughts on building and running software services. He talks about the challenges encountered while building BPOS v1, and what’s on the top of his mind while working with his team to provide the best possible customer and partner experience in future versions of Microsoft Online Services.

Post your comments to the video or to this blog post and Dave will respond in a future video.

The Microsoft Online Services Team

Source : Channel 9 Interview with David Thompson

Digitale Mobiliteit – Een ondernemer aan het woord

Tijd en plaats onafhankelijk werken is geen loze kreet, maar echt een goede mogelijkheid waarin technologie de rol speelt waarvoor het is ontwikkeld

Marjan Hoffman, eigenaar van HBNK reclamebureau in Zaandam vertelt over haar ervaringen met Digitale Mobliteit. Marjan neemt deel aan de pilot van MKB Amsterdam en Boer & Croon, waarbij zij gratis gebruik maakt van software en ondersteuning om thuiswerken binnen haar bedrijf te proberen en ervaren.

HBNK maakt kennis met Digitale Mobiliteit from digitale mobiliteit on Vimeo.

Digitale Mobiliteit staat voor een nieuwe manier van werken als vervanging voor fysieke verplaatsing.

MKB Nederland lanceert in 2009 een project om kenniswerkende mkb ondernemingen eenvoudig kennis te laten maken met flexibel werken (bijv. thuiswerken). In de pilot kunnen ondernemers en hun medewerkers gedurende 6 maanden kosteloos de voordelen van flexibel werken ervaren.

De pilot is bedoeld voor ondernemingen die de stap willen maken om met digitale oplossingen de fysieke verplaatsingen te verminderen of zelfs voorkomen en zo helpen de fileproblematiek te verminderen.

 

 

Bron : www.digitalemobiliteit.nl

Microsoft Online Services / BPOS Case studies

As the BPOS business is really taking off, a lot of clients and partners ask us for reference cases during the sales cycle.

When you go the the Microsoft Case studies website you can find all them under the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite solution.

Here’s the right query : Business Productivity Online Standard Suite.

It includes both clients and partner reference cases.

We have a few good Dutch references in the pipeline … stay tuned.

Online Diensten : Liever Microsoft dan Google ?

Sytse van der Schaaf van IT Executive heeft een goed artikel over Cloud Computing geschreven. Zoals ik in het interview heb aangegeven is het echt geen hype meer, maar een snel groeiende tak binnen Microsoft.

Microsoft biedt met Business Productivity Online Services een concrete oplossing voor kleine en grote bedrijven. Hieronder een frament uit het artikel van IT Exeutive over Cloud Computing:

Liever microsoft dan Google?

"Ik zie om me heen veel concrete interesse in cloud computing", stelt Peter de Haas, online strategy manager bij Microsoft Nederland. Hij ziet er tal van bedrijven al voor kiezen. “Neem GlaxoSmithKline die zijn 90 duizend Exchange-postbussen nu in een online variant afneemt. Coca Cola Enterprises, Nokia en in Nederland Philips kozen ook op grote schaal voor afname van Microsoft-software uit de cloud. Dat zijn serieuze stappen.”

Volgens De Haas begint bij bedrijven het besef door te dringen dat zij e-mail en andere communicatievormen niet per se zelf in de lucht hoeven te houden, maar beter af zijn als ze deze functionaliteit als dienst afnemen. Kostenbesparing, flexibilisering en reductie van de complexiteit in de infrastructuur zelf, maar vooral ook de eenvoudige kostentoerekening zijn de voornaamste motieven.
Microsoft heeft zelf grote verwachtingen van de Business Productivity Online Suite, die het concern eind april in 19 landen waaronder Nederland uitbracht. Het concern houdt er rekening mee dat over drie tot vijf jaar 50 miljoen van de in totaal 120 miljoen postbussen die nu lokaal draaien dan in de Bpos-cloudvorm afgenomen zullen worden. De genoemde voorbeelden zijn overigens stuk voor stuk bedrijven die voorheen op grote schaal met Lotus Notes-software van IBM werkten.

"Waarom deze bedrijven nu juist voor Microsoft hebben gekozen en niet voor Google waar ze bij de Apps-dienst soortgelijke functionaliteit en meer hadden kunnen afnemen, moet je niet aan mij vragen, maar aan deze bedrijven zelf”, zegt Eran Feigenbaum, security expert van Google.
“Ik ben in ieder geval blij dat Microsoft zoveel succes heeft met zijn nieuwe Bpos-dienst; het laat namelijk zien dat dit aanbodmodel echt door gaat breken.”

 

Lees het gehele artikel op de website van IT Executive : Cloud computing voorbij de hype

CRN Interview with Eron Kelly on Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS)

Microsoft’s Hosted Services Come Into Focus

Eron Kelly, senior director of Microsoft’s Business Online Services group, says partners are getting in tune with the advantages of selling hosted Exchange and SharePoint to their customers.

'Twee e-mailsystemen naast elkaar is geen optie' Verzekeraar Achmea migreert van Notes naar Exchange

Computable publiceerde gisteren een moooi artikel over de emailmigratie van Achmea van Lotus Notes/Domino naar Microsoft Exchange. De emailmigratie is al enige tijd geleden, maar de publieke communicatie volgt altijd later. Achmea is een van de vele organisaties in Nederland die deze migratiestap heeft gemaakt in de afgelopen jaren.

De quote over de keuze van Microsoft Exchange in het artikel vind ik heel mooi :

'Het was een gemakkelijke keuze', vertelt de programmamanager. 'Exchange is de de facto standaard in vergelijkbare bedrijven en we willen geen uitzondering zijn. Bovendien hebben de meeste medewerkers thuis geen Notes en gebruikte hun vorige werkgever het ook niet.'

Het feit dat Microsoft nu ook een Exchange Online oplossing heeft gaat de resterende bedrijven in Nederland die nog op Lotus Notes / Domino zitten zeker helpen die beslissing (sneller) te nemen ..

… Na de fusie met Interpolis besloot verzekeringsmaatschappij Achmea zijn mailomgeving te migreren van IBM Lotus Notes naar Microsoft Exchange. 'Het was een makkelijke keuze', vertelt programmamanager Steph Berghuis. 'Exchange is de de facto standaard in vergelijkbare bedrijven.' Toch is niet iedereen tevreden.

Het is rustig in het grote pand van verzekeraar Achmea in Apeldoorn, met hier en daar wat medewerkers die aan hun pc of notebook werken. Net zo rustig als vorig jaar, toen de hele organisatie overstapte van IBM Lotus Notes naar Microsoft Exchange. Die migratie verliep vrijwel probleemloos, vertelt programmamanager Steph Berghuis van Achmea IT. 'We hebben tijdens de projectinventarisatie geen gekke dingen over het hoofd gezien.'

Migreren was nodig doordat Achmea in 2005 fuseerde met Interpolis. 15.000 medewerkers van Achmea gebruikten Notes en de 8000 van Interpolis hadden twee Exchange-omgevingen. Het naast elkaar gebruiken van beide platformen was geen optie, legt Berghuis uit. Hoewel tweederde van de gecombineerde organisatie Notes gebruikte, werd het Exchange.

Gemakkelijk

'Het was een gemakkelijke keuze', vertelt de programmamanager. 'Exchange is de de facto standaard in vergelijkbare bedrijven en we willen geen uitzondering zijn. Bovendien hebben de meeste medewerkers thuis geen Notes en gebruikte hun vorige werkgever het ook niet.' Het bedrijf gebruikt Exchange voornamelijk voor e-mail, agendabeheer en interne chat.

Per afdeling zette de verzekeraar in zo kort mogelijke tijd de drie systemen over op een nieuwe Exchange-server. 'Vooral de verhuizing van Notes was een huzarenstukje', vertelt Berghuis. Zo kon het persoonlijke mailarchief van Notes niet worden overgezet, waardoor alleen berichten jonger dan twee maanden werden ingeladen in Exchange. Voor oudere correspondentie moeten medewerkers alsnog de archieffunctie van Notes gebruiken. 'Maar uiteindelijk ging alles goed. Achteraf was iedereen er blij mee.' …

Read more: Computable.nl

The Radicati Group Releases "Email Storage Market, 2009-2013" Study

Email stirage is (becoming) a story of very big numbers. An organisation of 1000 users will generate an average of 400GB per month. 

The latest study by The Radicati Group, Inc., "Email Storage Market, 2009-2013," includes an in-depth analysis of  market trends, drivers and barriers, installed base and revenue market share by vendor, and four-year forecasts for the on-premises email storage market.

Enterprise email volumes continue to grow driving the need for increased storage capacity. Based on the study, an average company of 1,000 users will use approximately 20 Gigabytes per day of storage in 2009, which translates into 100 GB per week, or 400 GB per month. 
All organizations, today, recognize that the need to offload email from their email servers and on to storage devices is essential to ensure efficient, long term storage capacity.

This study looks at the adoption of email storage devices from Dell, EMC, Fujitsu, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi Data Systems, IBM, NetApp, and Sun Microsystems across Small, Medium and Large Enterprise. It estimates that revenues for storage devices across all three market segments will reach $16.3 billion in 2009, and grow to over $22 billion by 2013.

To view the the full study brochure and Table Of Contents, click here

Source : http://www.radicati.com

Comparing oranges to oranges: Microsoft's hosted collaboration suites vs. IBM's LotusLive iNotes

Mary Jo Foley highlights an interesting point who/what is the real competition for IBM Lotus iNotes  ? It’s the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft. Lower price, more functionality, more choice.

…IBM’s announcement of a new hosted entry-level communications offering has led to lots of punditry around how it compares to Google Apps. But I’m not sure that’s IBM’s main competition here.

Google Apps Premier, which costs $50 per user per year, includes Web-based office applications (Google Docs), plus Gmail for businesses, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Postini hosted/archived email. IBM’s LotusLive iNotes includes hosted email, calendar and contact management service — but no hosted productivity apps — for $36 per user per year.

I’ve seen almost no one analyzing IBM’s new hosted offering in comparison to what Microsoft is offering business users.

Microsoft already has a business-focused hosted e-mail/collaboration product on the market known as the Deskless Worker Suite, which includes Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Customers can get that suite for $36 per user per year. Exchange Online Deskless Worker includes e-mail, calendaring, global contact lists, anti-virus and anti-spam filters, and provides access to company e-mail via Outlook Web Access Light. SharePoint Online Deskless Worker gives you read-only access to SharePoint portal and team sites. If users want only Exchange Online Deskless or SharePoint Online Deskless, it’s $24 per user per service per year.

Microsoft offers a more comprehensive hosted communications/collaboration subscription service — one that includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Communications Online (corporate instant messaging and presence) and Live Meeting (Web conferencing and videoconferencing) — for $180 per user per year. That is the company’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). …

Source: Comparing oranges to oranges: Microsoft's hosted collaboration suites vs. IBM's LotusLive iNotes

Microsoft Online Services : (US) Government Requirements for a Secure Cloud

The US government has presented their vision for cloud computing. Ron Markezich, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Online Services, comments on the U.S federal government’s new cloud-based computing vision and initiatives. He highlights the importance of secrity and privacy and how Microsoft sets the highest standards for this, not only for governments but all online users …

… This week, U.S. Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra unveiled the federal government’s vision for cloud computing, beginning with Apps.gov, an online marketplace that will enable federal agencies to find and purchase cloud-based IT services. This is a smart move by the government to streamline procurement for new cloud-based solutions and lower costs.  In response, industry vendors are announcing future “dedicated” cloud services designed to meet the government’s security and privacy standards.

While other companies are just now developing – or announcing – their secure cloud strategies, Microsoft has built security and privacy into our offerings from the start. Available since 2006, Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (a part of Microsoft Online Services) “dedicated” cloud environment has been deployed and in use by a variety of businesses and government organizations with intense security and privacy requirements – such as GlaxoSmithKline and the City of Carlsbad, Calif.

The story doesn’t end there – not even close. We continue to make our customer’s security and privacy a top priority. Here is how…Microsoft’s facilities and operational infrastructure are ISO27001 certified today. The Microsoft Online Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), operated under the same program, is aggressively pursuing ISO certification to be achieved by end 2009. In addition to meeting this International Standard, we anticipate that the Business Productivity Online Suite will achieve FISMA Accreditation in Q1 2010.  We understand that all organizations – not just government entities on a dedicated cloud – want a high level of validated security and privacy, so these accreditations will exist for the services we provide all of our customers….

Continue at source : Microsoft Online Services Blog

My presentation for the Dutch Datacenter & Hosting Summit 2009

Yesterday I gave a presentation at the DDHS 2009. The room was fully packed so there was lot’s of interest in Microsoft Online strategy.

There were some issues with the network connections at the event so presenters who fully relied on their online presentation solution could not present. My tip is to always have you presentations available for offline use.

I was also glad to see the competition was using Microsoft PowerPoint for their offline use instead of Gears …

 

Here’s the presentation (go to slideshare for download)

DDHS 2009 Microsoft Heads In The Cloud Feet On The Ground Peter de Haas 15 9 2009 Final

View more presentations from dehaaspeter.

Microsoft Exchange Online Standard – August update

The service description for Exchange Online Standard, part of Microsoft Online Services has been updated :

Microsoft® Exchange Online is a hosted enterprise messaging solution based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Exchange Online helps give your business the e-mail security it demands, your employees the e-mail access want, and your IT staff the operational efficiency it needs. The service uses the knowledge of Microsoft products, best practices developed with customers and partners, and our global infrastructure to deliver a world-class, mission-critical service.

Exchange Online services include advanced e-mail features as well as calendaring, contact, and task management capabilities. Exchange Online also provides built-in spam control and virus scanning to reduce common security risks that are associated with e-mail files.

This white paper is intended for company decision-makers and describes the services and features that are included with the Standard offering of Exchange Online.

Download at Source: Microsoft.com

Microsoft Exchange Online Standard Whitepaper – July update

The July update of Microsoft Online Services included the support of Outlook 2003. This paper contains the latest information on Exchange Online Standard.

Microsoft® Exchange Online is a hosted enterprise messaging solution based on Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. Exchange Online helps give your business the e-mail security it demands, your employees the e-mail access want, and your IT staff the operational efficiency it needs. The service uses the knowledge of Microsoft products, best practices developed with customers and partners, and our global infrastructure to deliver a world-class, mission-critical service.

Exchange Online services include advanced e-mail features as well as calendaring, contact, and task management capabilities. Exchange Online also provides built-in spam control and virus scanning to reduce common security risks that are associated with e-mail files.

This white paper is intended for company decision-makers and describes the services and features that are included with the Standard offering of Exchange Online.

Source: Microsoft Exchange Online Standard

Migrate from Exchange Public Folders to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite

Many organisations use Public Folders in Microsoft Exchange.  This paper discusses the most common public folder scenarios and how they are represented in Business Productivity Online Standard Suite services. It also provides the information you need to decide whether Microsoft Online Services is a good match for you based on your current public folder usage.

Exchange public folders are widely used in on-premises Exchange environment. However, Exchange Online does not support customer usage scenarios of public folders. If you or your customers are using Exchange public folders, there are special considerations for moving customers to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite. This document outlines these considerations for field representatives, discusses the most common public folder scenarios and how they are represented in Business Productivity Online Standard Suite services. It also provides the information you need to decide whether Microsoft Online Services is a good match for you based on your current public folder usage.

Source and download: Migrate from Exchange Public Folders to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite

Forrester : Case Study: Learning From GlaxoSmithKline's Cloud-Based Email Decision Process

GlaxoSmithKline already in January announced they plan tp save up to 30% on their Communication and Collaboration infrastructure costs by moving from Lotus Notes/Domino to Microsoft Online Services.

Forrester created a research paper on this that provides more background. Very interesting read for this still on Lotus Notes :

Executive Summary

GlaxoSmithKline is moving approximately 90,000 email users to Microsoft's Exchange Online, a cloud-delivered service. To make the decision, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) went through a rigorous internal discovery process to calculate costs, find dependencies, and analyze its workforce. The result is that GSK is able to optimize its messaging and collaboration platform to meet the full range of its end users' requirements — while saving on its ongoing costs. To make your own cloud-based opportunity, learn from GSK's experience and: 1) analyze your workforce needs; 2) tier your workforce to optimize costs; and 3) calculate your own fully loaded costs.

Continue at source : Forrester.com

Microsoft Online Services Migration Tools (32|64 bit)

The migrations tool to migrate Microsoft Exchange mailboxes onto Microsoft Online Services has been updated :

Use the Microsoft Online Services Migration Tools to forward copies of your Exchange Server mail to your Exchange Online mailboxes. You can also use the Migration Tools to copy content from your Exchange Server, POP3, or IMAP4 e-mail server mailboxes to your Exchange Online mailboxes. This product intended for use with Microsoft Online Services only.

Source: Migration Tools (32 bit) / Migration Tools (64 bit)

Radicati: EMEA Hosted Email Market projected to grow to 564M mailboxes by 2013

Impressive growth ahead in the coming years for Hosted Email in Emea :

… The Radicati Group, Inc.'s latest study, "EMEA Hosted Email Market, 2009-2013," provides an in-depth look at all segments of the European Hosted Email market, including: ISP/Webmail email, Hosted Business Email, and Managed Business Email.

According to the study, the installed base of hosted email mailboxes in EMEA is expected to grow from 398 M mailboxes in 2009, to 564M mailboxes by 2013. Growth is driven by increased broadband Internet availability across the region, lower prices and better bundling of premium services. Businesses, throughout EMEA, are also taking renewed interest in hosted business email solutions as a way to reduce costs in a tight economy. This is reinforced by the increased availability of low-cost, full-featured messaging and collaboration suites from Microsoft, Google and others.

The study provides an analysis of leading EMEA market players: 1&1/GMX, Arcor, Arsys, BT, Cobweb, Colt, Free, Global SP, Jazztel, Jet Multimedia, Mamut ASA/Active 24, Orange Business Services, Register.it, T-Home/T-Systems, Telecom Italia, Versatel, and others. …

Source: Radicati.com

New BPOS Whitepaper: Microsoft Online Services Business Value

This paper discusses how Microsoft® Online Services, subscription-based online communication and collaboration services, can free information technology resources and bring value to your business.

… Microsoft® Online Services provide businesses with subscription-based Microsoft-hosted online services that offer access to rich communication, collaboration, and productivity applications from anywhere. This hosted solution helps organizations reduce the costs of managing and maintaining business systems, which frees information technology resources and enables staff to focus on initiatives that can deliver competitive advantage to the business. This paper discusses the value that Online Services can bring to your business. …

Source and download: Microsoft Online Services Business Value

Frontier Technology and Binary Tree Collaborate to Offer Weekend Express Migrations to Microsoft Online to the European Market

Now also available in Europe: Weekend Express Migrations; migrating from Lotus Notes / Domino to Microsoft Online Services in a very fast way…

… Now European Organizations that are Running Lotus Notes Can Migrate Up To 5,000 Users to Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS Standard) In as Little as One Weekend

NEWARK, N.J., June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Binary Tree announced today a collaborative partnership with Frontier Technology in the United Kingdom to offer Binary Tree's Weekend Express migration offering to the European market. Hosted at Frontier Technology's data center based in the UK, Weekend Express migrations will enable organizations in Europe that are running Lotus Notes to migrate up to 5,000 users to Microsoft Exchange Online and the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS Standard) in as little as one weekend.

"Our Weekend Express has been met with overwhelming demand," stated Steven Pivnik, Co-CEO at Binary Tree. "Establishing a partnership with a trusted and experienced provider of enterprise messaging solutions like Frontier Technology will help make this offer available to more customers in Europe."

Frontier Technology's Weekend Express data center team will perform a pre-weekend initial briefing, a pre-weekend environmental audit and the migration itself all the while guiding customers through every step of Binary Tree's proven, best-practices methodology for migrations from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange Online. Considering Frontier Technology's extensive knowledge of Symantec's Enterprise Vault offering, Frontier Technology will also provide customers with the option of archiving the portion of their mail store they elect not to migrate to Microsoft Exchange Online.

"We are very excited about collaborating with Binary Tree," stated Edwin Wong, Managing Director at Frontier Technology. "The Weekend Express offering is a perfect addition to our capabilities and will help our Lotus Notes customer base take advantage of Microsoft's Cloud Computing Offering." …

Source: PRNewswire.com

Microsoft Live@EDU : Vragen over Outlook Live? Hier zijn de antwoorden …

Een blogpost van Remco Ploeg die de moeite waard is om te herhalen .. Outlook Live is de nieuwste propssitie binnen de Microsoft Live@EDU familie; een gratis 10GB Microsoft Exchange mailbox voor elke student en/of medewerker van een educatie instelling .. Voor gebruikers / administrators is er nu een nieuwe resource : http://outlookliveanswers.com/

Dan heeft Microsoft een nieuwe website gelanceerd waar je als gebruiker vragen kan stellen over dit onderwerp.

http://outlookliveanswers.com/

Hieronder een stukje uit de bekendmaking.

We are pleased to announce the release of Outlook Live Answers.  This forum and blog site provides Live@edu Outlook Live administrators and end-users with a friendly “Q&A” forum to quickly find answers to their questions and for administrators to get dynamic information about their Outlook Live service.

The site complements our help.outlook.com product documentation and will extend and replace our chalktalk DL. Instead of dispersing information in DLs, use of the forum by you and your student, faculty, and alumni end users will enable us to build a knowledge base that is available 24 hours a day.  There is also an administrator section, so you can continue to connect with your peers on administrative issues just as you do today on chalktalk. 

One particular exciting feature is a new Status and Alert system used to notify Outlook Live customers of service issues.   This update, located at http://outlookliveanswers.com/servicestatus.aspx, replaces the manual external blog approach we have previously used and allows us deliver targeted service information about your specific account

Bron: Vragen over Outlook Live?

Microsoft Live@EDU vernieuwd

De Microsoft Live@EDU diensten, gratis email en diensten voor communicatie en samenwerken voor de educatie sector, hebben een nieuw thuis.

De informatie over en het inschrijven voor Microsoft Live@EDU is overozchtelijker en gemakkelijker geworden :

 

Meer informatie : Microsoft Live@EDU

Mobility Solutions for Microsoft Online Services (BPOS)

Access Microsoft Online Services, Exchange Online and SharePoint Online with your smartphone; almost any smartphone that is, including the BlackBerry.

For “pushmail” (email, calendar, contacts, tasks) with Exchange Online there’s a great overview of the different vendors supporting Exchange Active Sync (including Nokia, Apple and SamSung)

… In an increasingly mobile world, more employees need seamless access to more types of communications and collaboration information—including e-mail, calendar, contacts, tasks, and shared content—from virtually anywhere, at any time. Microsoft Online Services includes two services which can be accessed through mobile phones: Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online. Both Exchange Online and SharePoint Online can be accessed through a variety of devices: Windows Mobile 6.0+ devices, Exchange ActiveSync devices, and RIM BlackBerry devices.

See solutions for each device type:

• Windows Mobile devices
• Exchange ActiveSync devices
• RIM BlackBerry devices

For detailed information on solutions for each device type, download the Mobility Solutions Description (Word). …

Source: Microsoft Online Services

Projectgroep ‘Digitale Mobiliteit’ op bezoek bij Microsoft Nederland .. BPOS valt in de smaak

Gisteren was de projectgroep ‘Digitale Mobiliteit’ op bezoek bij Microsoft Nederland. Dit project, onder leiding van Boer & Croon in opdracht van Ministerie van V&W / Taskforce Mobility en MKB Nederland, is recent van start gegaan met een kick-off dag die Boer & Croon organiseerde.

Een tiental MKB bedrijven uit de regio Amsterdam maken deel uit van het project. Zij zullen de pilotgebruikers zijn in dit project en gaan ondervinden hoe zij aspecten van ‘het nieuwe werken’ kunnen toepassen om hun ‘digitale mobiliteit’ te optimaliseren.

De sessie bij Microsoft was gericht de visie op het nieuwe werken en als voorbeeld hoe wij daar binnen Microsoft mee omgaan en ook een aantal korte demonstraties door Rene van Dormolen gericht op hoe oplossingen van Microsoft de digitale mobiliteit kan ondersteunen.

Microsoft heeft haar medewerking aan dit project toegezegd. Ondermeer door de inzet van Microsoft Online Services kunnen MKB ondernemening snel en slagvaardig van start …

AT5 heeft vandaag een kort verslag van het bezoek uitgezonden in de regio Amsterdam:

MKB Nederland start thuiswerkpilot in regio Amsterdam from digitale mobiliteit on Vimeo.

Meer informatie over het project Digitale Mobiliteit : http://digitalemobiliteit.ning.com/

2 new Microsoft BPOS Documents

2 new documents have come available this week providing more detail on the differences between SharePoint Online and Sharepoint On premise.

The second document is an updated version of the Trial Guide, describing the registration and setup of the BPOS trial :

 

Infrastructure Planning and Design Guides for SharePoint Online

Considering an online solution for your organization’s collaboration services? The SharePoint Online—Evaluating Software-plus-Services guide provides a clear comparison of SharePoint collaboration technologies across on-premises, standard hosting, and dedicated hosting scenarios. Join the beta program today and give us your feedback.  (Live ID login and registration required)

Download IPD Guide for SharePoint Online

 

Trial Guide for Microsoft Online Services is Published

A new Trial Guide for Microsoft Online Services has been published and is available from the Microsoft Download Center.

If you are considering the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services and want to start a 30-day trial of the services, the Trial Guide will help you get started with the trial and work through several common administrative and end-user tasks. The guide provides step-by-step instructions for several scenarios, including:

· Setting up a 30-day trial account in the Microsoft Online Customer Portal (MOCP)

· Basic account administration

· SharePoint Online administration

· Setting up the end user experience

· Converting a trial account to a paid subscription

Source: Microsoft Online Services Team Blog

Announcing Weekend Express Migrations to Microsoft Online from Lotus Notes

I’ve indicated in previous blogposts that Microsoft Online Services is going to be an accellerator in migrating Lotus Notes / Domino environments to the Microsoft Platform. Binary Tree has a great new offering in this area : customers are not required to buy, install or configure any hardware or software for the migration … That’s the Online business in a nutshell …

… Binary Tree announced today Weekend Express migrations that enable organizations with up to 5,000 users to be migrated to Microsoft Exchange Online and the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite (BPOS Standard) from IBM Lotus Notes in as little as one weekend. The Weekend Express offering includes migrating email, calendars, contacts, and to-do's and also provides an option to maintain the functionality of mail-enabled Lotus Notes workflow applications to interoperate with Microsoft Outlook without requiring any application modifications. Pricing starts at $29 per mailbox.

Binary Tree's software has been key to helping organizations like Blockbuster, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Ingersoll Rand and others to migrate over 100,000 users from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Online and the Business Productivity Online Suite. Now with Weekend Express, customers are not required to buy, install or configure any hardware or software for the migration. Binary Tree's Weekend Express data center runs the migration and can scale to migrate organizations with up to 5,000 users in one weekend. Support for larger organizations can also be provided and BPOS Dedicated should be considered. …

Source: PRNewswire.com

Persbericht: Microsoft Online Services – nu leverbaar

Het officiële Microsoft persbericht n.a.v. de beschikbaarheid van Microsoft Online Services in Nederland. Het persbericht bevat de link naar de presentatie en er zijn ook 3 leuke graphics beschikbaar, zie de links onderaan het persbericht

Schiphol, 29 april 2009 – Na een korte testperiode is de Business Productivity Online Suite, onderdeel van Microsoft Online Services, leverbaar in 19 landen, waaronder Nederland. Het betreft hier bedrijfssoftware die in de vorm van een reeks diensten via internet wordt geleverd. Deze ‘software uit de muur’ wordt gehost in een datacenter van Microsoft of bij een hosting partner en door partners van Microsoft verkocht en op maat gemaakt. In Nederland zijn er inmiddels een aantal bedrijven die van BPOS gebruikmaken.

“De infrastructuur voor het Nieuwe Werken. Wel de baten maar niet de lasten,” zo kenschetst Peter de Haas, Online Strategy Manager Microsoft Nederland, de Business Productivity Online Suite. “We bieden deze suite aan als een pakket van online diensten, als abonnement verkocht door partners en gehost door Microsoft. Onze klanten hebben nu de keuze hoe zij de software van Microsoft willen installeren: op hun eigen server(s), als dienst gehost door een Microsoft Hosting partner, of door Microsoft.”

Microsoft Online Services bestaat momenteel uit de Business Productivity Online Suite en de Deskless Worker Suite. De componenten van BPOS zijn:

• Exchange Standard: e-mail, gedeelde agenda en contacten, toegankelijk via PC, mobiele telefoon en webbrowser, vrij van spam en virussen
• SharePoint Standard: online samenwerken en documenten, applicaties, video en audio delen, alsof je naast elkaar zit
• Office Communications: inzicht in elkaars bereikbaarheid, chat en via één klik communiceren
• Live Meeting Standard : web- en video- vergaderen

De Deskless Worker Suite is een goedkope oplossing voor gebruikers die momenteel geen toegang hebben tot e-mail- en samenwerkingsdiensten. Bedrijven kunnen hiermee al hun werknemers toegang geven tot dezelfde e-mail- en samenwerkingssystemen. Voor meer informatie: www.microsoft.nl/online en www.ictheld.nl.

Nederlandse gebruikers

NoSuch Company schakelde onlangs over van een eigen communicatieserver naar Business Productivity Online Suite, een krachtige set online diensten voor communicatie en samenwerking. Coen de Heer, IT-beheerder bij NoSuch Company: “Als we de IT die we in gedachten hadden ‘on premises' op eigen servers zouden laten draaien, was dat een kostenintensief traject geweest. Door te kiezen voor de Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite hadden we heel snel de beschikking over alle functionaliteit, zonder grote investeringen te moeten doen in een compleet serverpark en alles wat daarbij hoort. Het enige wat een pc-gebruiker nodig heeft, is een internetaansluiting en Microsoft Office 2007. Vergelijk de Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite met gas, licht en water: waar je het nodig hebt komt het als het ware uit de muur. En heb je een draadloos netwerk, dan pluk je de IT gewoon uit de lucht.”

Procore is voorstander van een moderne, flexibele aanpak volgens ‘het nieuwe werken'. Zo hoeven medewerkers zich niet te houden aan vaste kantooruren van 9 tot 5. In plaats daarvan zijn ze onderweg naar of aan het werk bij de klant. Of ze werken in een café, thuis of op kantoor. “Uit eigen ervaring weten we hoezeer het flexibele werken in onze organisatie bijdraagt aan een prettige en productieve werkomgeving en een gebalanceerde levensstijl. Dat gunnen we onze klanten ook”, aldus Ariejan van Saane, Senior Consultant bij Procore. Met de Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite realiseerde Procore verbeterde toegang tot informatie en verbeterde communicatie zodat de gebruiker kan bepalen hoe, waar en wanneer hij werkt. Verder is de productiviteit verhoogd en bedraagt de kostenbesparing jaarlijks € 77.400.

annatommie is een orthopedisch behandelcentrum met ambitieuze plannen. Van vier vestigingen wil annatommie groeien naar 18 locaties. Om deze plannen waar te maken moest eerst de productiviteit omhoog en de kosten omlaag, onder meer door handmatige processen te automatiseren. Omdat annatommie opzag tegen hoge IT-investeringen wees IT-partner Tam Tam op de Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. Hiermee kan annatommie met hetzelfde personeel 30% meer patiënten te behandelen. Door slimmere communicatie en informatieverwerking winnen medewerkers een tot twee uur per dag. Tegelijkertijd spaart annatommie jaarlijks € 28.000,= uit aan softwarelicenties.

Een presentatie van Peter de Haas over de Microsoft Online Services is hier te vinden. Blogs van Peter de Haas over ‘software uit de muur’ zijn te vinden op Peterdehaas.net

Microsoft

Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is opgericht in 1975 en stelt met zijn software, diensten en technologische oplossingen mensen en organisaties overal ter wereld in staat hun ambities te verwezenlijken.

Voor meer informatie:

Voor journalisten:

Microsoft Persdesk, telefoon: +31 (0)20 - 500 2555, e-mail: persdesk@microsoft.com.

Gebruikers die technische ondersteuning zoeken, kunnen contact opnemen met de helpdesk van Microsoft Nederland: 020 - 500 15 00

Dit persbericht en andere persinformatie van Microsoft kunt u ook vinden op de website van Microsoft Nederland, op pagina www.microsoft.nl/nieuws/.

Microsoft en Windows zijn hetzij gedeponeerde handelsmerken hetzij handelsmerken van Microsoft Corporation in de Verenigde Staten en/of andere landen. Alle andere merk- en productnamen zijn handelsmerken of geregistreerde handelsmerken van hun respectieve houders.

 

Foto's

cartoon1

cartoon2

cartoon3

Bron: Microsoft.nl

NIBC Bank kiest e-office voor migratie IBM Lotus Notes naar Microsoft Exchange

Weer een Microsoft klant die van Lotus Notes Domino naar het Microsoft platform migreert. Al enige jaren geleden is NIBC SharePOint gaan gebruiken, nu de laatste lootjes …

… Houten, 28 april 2009 - e-office, the human software organisation en specialist in het optimaliseren van de digitale werkomgeving van professionals, verzorgt voor de Nederlandse zakenbank NIBC N.V de migratie van IBM Lotus Notes naar de Microsoft Exchange-omgeving. De migratie past in de lijn van NIBC's strategische keuze voor het Business Productivity-platform van Microsoft als basis voor hun digitale werkomgeving.

"e-office heeft uitgebreide kennis van en ervaring met beide technologieën. Zij voeren vaker migraties als deze uit, maar de belangrijkste reden dat NIBC voor e-office kiest, is hun projectaanpak. De grote aandacht voor de eindgebruiker in de verschillende fases van het project is uniek", aldus David van ’t Hoog, Manager Infrastructure van NIBC. "Wij zien dat de aandacht voor de mens in alle fases van het traject, de acceptatie binnen de gehele organisatie verhoogt waardoor een soepele overgang naar een nieuwe werkomgeving ontstaat."
De migratie van IBM Lotus Notes naar Microsoft Exchange wordt bedrijfsbreed doorgevoerd. Het traject bestaat uit twee fases. In de eerste fase vindt een uitgebreid vooronderzoek naar de eisen plaats en wordt een analyse gemaakt van de huidige situatie. Daarna volgt de technische inrichting en uitrol. De inzet van workshops en persoonlijke trainingen maakt de overgang naar de nieuwe werkomgeving voor het personeel zo eenvoudig mogelijk.
Zakenbank NIBC biedt geïntegreerde oplossingen aan middelgrote bedrijven in de Benelux en Duitsland op het gebied van financiële advisering, financieringen en co-investeringen. Daarnaast is het een belangrijke speler op het gebied van asset financiering in sectoren als financiële dienstverlening, olie & gas industrie, infrastructuur en onroerend goed. NIBC Bank heeft kantoren in Den Haag, Brussel, Frankfurt, Londen en Singapore. Daarnaast richt NIBC Bank zich op de consumentenmarkt met de spaarbank, NIBC Direct.  …

Bron: e-office.nl

Comparing Lotus Domino/Notes and Exchange Server 2010

On the Microsoft Exchange website a great article is posted which point organisation still on Lotus Notes Domino to new advantages Microsoft Exchange 2010 brings.

 

Why switch from Lotus Domino/Notes to Exchange 2010?

At a time when organizations require adaptable and cost-effective communication tools, Microsoft Exchange 2010 helps achieve new levels of reliability and performance by delivering features that simplify administration, help protect communications, and delight users by meeting their demands for greater business mobility. Microsoft^® Exchange, the cornerstone of Microsoft's Unified Communications solution, has long been the choice of organizations to enable rich and productive collaboration among its users. With the latest release of Exchange, users are assured the widest range of deployment options, the richest user experience, and integrated information leakage protection and compliance capabilities which combine to form the best messaging and collaboration solution available. Come join the ~10 million strong that have already decided to make the switch to Microsoft in just the past few years!

Continue at source

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) nu commercieel beschikbaar in Nederland.

Vandaag hebben we de laatste stap in de lancering van Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) gehad. Deze laatste stap is de Commercial Availability; dit houdt in dat BPOS vanaf nu te bestellen is in Nederland. ook betekent dit dat de bestaande evaluaties na 30 dagen aflopen.

Er zijn inmiddels al een aantal bedrijven in Nederland die BPOS gebruiken. Van 3 van onze klanten en de betrokken partners zijn vandaag Nederlandstalige referentie cases gepubliceerd. Hopelijk een goede inspiratie voor toekomstige klanten en onze partners.

	Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite levert NoSuch Company tijdbesparingen op tot 40%. NoSuch Company schakelde onlangs over van een eigen communicatieserver naar Business Productivity Online Suite, een krachtige set online diensten voor communicatie en samenwerking. Teus Baars, directeur NoSuch: Meegaan met innovatie levert gewoon business op, we gaan gigantische klappen maken.
	Procore realiseert met Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite nieuwe business. Adviesbureau Procore realiseert met Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite nieuwe business én kostenbesparingen van € 51.000,= en (jaarlijks) € 77.400,=
	annatommie bespaart op IT-kosten dankzij Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. Orthopedisch Centrum annatommie realiseert met Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite een jaarlijkse besparing op IT-kosten van € 43.000 en een zakelijke besparing door hogere productiviteit van € 105.000,= per jaar.

Exchange 2010 Target? Google Gmail et al…

Bill Pray has a positive assessment of Microsoft Exchange 2010. Exchange 2010 is the most rock-solid Email and Calendaring solution for bith on-premise as well as Online scenario. I believe the recently released beta is very well received.

… As the Microsoft marketing machine cranks up the information on Exchange 2010, it is interesting to note how many articles are devoted to new productivity capabilities for users. However, user productivity is not what Exchange 2010 is about… Exchange 2010 is about Microsoft competing with Google and anyone else who throws their hat into the ring – Cisco? IBM? Yahoo!? - in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) e-mail market. While there is no question that Google still has a limited presence in enterprise e-mail, Gmail continues to garner fans and install base in the small and medium business market. Microsoft is no stranger to that strategy and must respond by providing a better enterprise SaaS e-mail solution or risk losing future market share.

Microsoft has not made it a secret that Exchange 2010 is intended to become Microsoft’s attack on the SaaS e-mail market, but the Microsoft marketing machine sometimes obscures things in an effort to get messaging to various audiences. However, the press announcement states in the second sentence: “Exchange 2010 is part of the next wave of Microsoft Office-related products and is the first server in a new generation of Microsoft server technology built from the ground up to work on-premises and as an online service.” …

… Obviously, many of these features are good for an on-premise implementation also. However, when you start perusing the feature list for Exchange 2010, it is clear that Microsoft is executing on a strategy to make Exchange SaaS friendly. The story line for Exchange 2010 is not about enhancements in productivity features for the enterprise, it is about Microsoft taking Exchange to cloud. …

Be sure to check the article for all details ..

Source: Exchange 2010 Target? Google Gmail et al…

Exchange Online Developer Guide

Exchange Online is part of Microsoft Online Services.

This document shows how to use exchange web services to programmatically communicate with exchange online. Some key scenarios such as integration with Azure are also documented.

Download : Microsoft.com

Microsoft Unveils Exchange 2010 With Public Beta

The news is already all over the internet the last 24 hours but I thought it would be appropriate to wait until the official press release .. here it is the next generation Exchange.

The quote that cought my attention is : “Exchange 2010 ushers in the next generation of Microsoft unified communications software as the first server designed from inception to work both on-premises and as an online service,”

On-premise, hosted by partner or hosted by Microsoft (BPOS) or a combination of these options. No other solution has that breadth of choice in a single solution.

Next Fiscal Year (starting July 1st promises to be yet another very exciting year full of innivative new productreleases …

…First in the next wave of Office-related products, Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 will help lower communications costs, improve user productivity and transform e-mail archiving…

… Microsoft Corp. today released a public beta of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, part of Microsoft’s unified communications family (http://www.microsoft.com/uc).

Exchange 2010 is part of the next wave of Microsoft Office-related products and is the first server in a new generation of Microsoft server technology built from the ground up to work on-premises and as an online service. This release of Exchange 2010 introduces a new integrated e-mail archive and features to help reduce costs and improve the user experience. A public beta of the server is available for download starting today at http://www.microsoft.com/exchange/2010.

Exchange Server 2010 will become available in the second half of 2009. Microsoft Office 2010 and related products will enter technical preview in the third quarter of 2009 and become available in the first half of 2010.

“Exchange 2010 ushers in the next generation of Microsoft unified communications software as the first server designed from inception to work both on-premises and as an online service,” said Rajesh Jha, corporate vice president of Exchange at Microsoft. “This release raises the bar with new archiving and end-user innovations that will help companies save money and employees save time.”

Exchange 2010 will help organizations reduce costs, protect communications and delight e-mail users with capabilities to do the following:

• Lower costs with more flexible deployment and management options. Exchange 2010 provides organizations with the same enterprise-grade capabilities whether deployed on-premises or as a service from Microsoft or partners — or as a mix of both. Further, for customers deploying the server, the new release simplifies the way organizations provide always-on communications and disaster recovery, meaning administrators spend less time managing their e-mail system. Exchange 2010 further improves performance running on lower-cost direct-attached storage, enabling organizations to dramatically reduce storage costs by up to 85 percent without sacrificing performance or reliability.
  
• Protect information and meet compliance requirements with the new e-mail archive. As e-mail volume grows, companies must address increasing compliance, legal and e-discovery concerns, but today, according to Osterman Research, only 28 percent of organizations currently archive their e-mail content (Osterman Research, 2008). Exchange 2010 introduces an integrated e-mail archive. The new solution makes it easier to store and query e-mail across the organization using the Exchange software that organizations already know and use.
  
• Improve user productivity with the ultimate inbox experience. Basex Inc. recently estimated that the average number of corporate e-mail messages received per person per day is expected to reach more than 93 by 2010. In addition, businesses lose $650 billion annually in productivity due to unnecessary interruptions including those from e-mail (Basex, 2008). Exchange 2010, together with Microsoft Outlook 2010, will give people more control over their communications with features such as these:
• MailTips. Warn users before they commit an e-mail faux pas such as sending mail to large distribution groups, to recipients who are out of the office or to recipients outside the organization, helping protect against information leaks and reduce unnecessary e-mail messages.
• Voice Mail Preview. See text previews of voice mail directly in Outlook.
• Ignore Conversation. This e-mail “mute button” allows people to remove themselves from an irrelevant e-mail string, reducing unwanted e-mail and runaway reply-all threads.
• Conversation View. Combine related e-mail messages in a single conversation to reduce inbox clutter.
• Call Answering Rules. Create customized “Press 1 for …” call-routing menus with Exchange voice mail.
• Consistent Experience. Use Outlook on the PC, a mobile phone or a browser for the same experience with enhancements in Outlook Mobile and Outlook Web Access.

Source : Microsoft PressPass

Exchange 2010 Beta Web site

Quest : Simplify Your Migration From Notes to Microsoft

Live Demo Series: Simplify Your Migration From Notes to Microsoft

For organizations looking to migrate from the Notes platform, Quest offers a complete set of solutions for seamless and cost-effective migration of mailboxes and calendar data to Microsoft Exchange/Exchange Online and application content to SharePoint/SharePoint Online.

Attend one or all of the live demonstrations in our Notes migration demo series and discover how these innovative tools can ensure you a faster and more accurate Notes migration. During these eye-opening presentations, you will also learn how these solutions can help establish coexistence between the Notes and Microsoft environments.

• Free Application Discovery and Analysis Tool

Tuesday. April 14 at 2 p.m. ET



• Speed and Simplify Your Migration to Microsoft Exchange Online

Tuesday, April 21 at 2 p.m. ET


• Ensure Seamless Coexistence Between Notes and Exchange
Tuesday, April 28 at 11 a.m. ET


• Simplify Your Migration of Complex Notes Applications to SharePoint
Tuesday, May 5 at 11 a.m. ET


• Enjoy a Smooth, Cost-effective Migration to Exchange
May 14 at 9 a.m. ET


• Migrate Notes Application Content to SharePoint Without Data Loss
May 19 at 9 a.m. ET

 

On-Demand Webcasts and Product Demos

 

• Product Demo
  Migrate from Lotus Notes to Exchange and Exchange Online
  Watch the Demo
  

• Product Demo
  Migrate from Lotus Notes to SharePoint
  Watch the Demo
  

• On-Demand Webcast
  Migrate with Ease from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange
  Watch the Webcast
  

• On-Demand Webcast
  Migrate to SharePoint without Data Loss
  Watch the Webcast
  

• On-Demand Webcast
  Simplify Your Transition to Exchange and SharePoint
  Watch the Webcast

http://www.quest.com/notesdemos/

Lotus Notes in the red

The Messaging is The Medium: survey results are in

Different survey same result. Lotus Notes is heavily losing marketshare. This time around The Register published survey results :

… The research examined preferences and activities by organisation size: corporate (over 5,000 employees); mid-market (250-5,000 employees) and SMB (up to 249 employees). Each segment has its characteristics but while the corporate and mid-market are closely aligned, the SMB sector marches to a slightly different drummer.

Corporates

The survey asked respondents what email and messaging platforms they were using and how committed they were to them. Among corporates, the story is pretty clear; Microsoft is the platform of choice for over eighty pe rcent of respondents while a large proportion of Lotus Notes/Domino customers regard their own choice as a legacy system. (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: The relative importance of various email/messaging platforms to corporates

Despite attempts to refresh the Lotus brand with a combination of new Notes and Domino releases as well as a plethora of related products such as Sametime, Quickr, Connections and Symphony, it looks as if the ‘legacy’ tag is still hanging round IBM’s neck like a millstone. Compared with Microsoft, it also happens to score very low on the ‘becoming important to us’ rating as, indeed, do GroupWise and ‘other’. It’s dangerous to draw conclusions from such slight signals, but the signs at the moment bode ill for anyone other than Microsoft. …

…The responses to the survey from mid-market companies were very similar to the corporate responses. But, among SMBs, the ‘other’ category garners a greater share of the vote, with 'committed use' and 'becoming important' taking it to a forty per cent slice. Lotus Notes/Domino and GroupWise are almost ‘no shows’ at this level of the market. (Figure 2) …

 

Figure 2: Relative importance of email/messaging platforms to SMBs.

Microsoft Exchange, at 57 per cent is still in the lead but, among SMBs, it's clearly far from the 'de facto' choice. This could be for a number of reasons, but the most likely is that a high percentage are not really ‘platform aware’ in the same way that larger organisations are. Only 56 percent claimed to be using an email/messaging platform. Many of the remainder will have their email and their web presence hosted by their ISP and they are unlikely to be aware of the underpinning architecture …

Amazing Only 56% of the SMB companies claimed to be using an email platform. what a great opportunity for Microsoft Online Services. Business Productivity Online Services brings Microsoft Exchange Online. “ Implementing Microsoft Exchange has never been this easy; the whole organsiation on Exchange in a couple of hours at predictable, low monthly cost.

Microsoft Live@EDU vs Google Apps for Education … student preference …

The Australian Catholic University has implemented a new Emailsystem based on on Microsoft Outlook Live.

Some background and most interesting the selection of this email system is based on experience with pilots of Google Apps for Education vs Microsoft Outlook Live (part of Microsoft Live @EDU). The is the student feedback based on actual use and not just some functions and features evaluation …

… In Semester 1, 2009, ACU National introduced a new Web-based email system for students, based on Microsoft Exchange and Windows (Outlook) Live Mail.

Features

This new, modern and more user-friendly system will feature:

• A Microsoft Outlook WebMail user interface including access to calendars, contacts lists and collaboration tools
• Improved SPAM filtering
• 10 GB of online mailbox storage space (100 times the previous 100Mb limit and double the standard Live Mail quota)
• 20 Mb message size support (including file attachments)
• Ability to share address book contacts and calendar information
• No banner advertising – unlike ordinary free email accounts.
• Web-based administrative tools
• Support for 25 languages
• "Email for Life" – ACU student email accounts will continue to be available for use after graduation, making it easier to stay in contact with classmates, colleagues and teaching staff. ….

source : Webmail Survey Results

Australian Catholic University is not the only university / school to recently implement Microsoft Live@EDU. Check out the recent press release on other institutions that recently implemented the service:

Adoption of Microsoft Live@edu Continues to Grow With Universities Worldwide

Education institutions worldwide embrace Microsoft Live@edu to enrich student experience, enhance learning outcomes and fuel productivity; new Microsoft Outlook Live delivers new e-mail functionality based on the popular Outlook interface. …

InfoWorld : Test Center: E-mail security services square off

InfoWorld tested 6 Hosted filtering vendors; Microsoft came in second in this test with a score of 8.6:

… From spam-busting to content management, we test the limits of hosted e-mail security offerings from AppRiver, MessageLabs, Microsoft, MX Logic, SECNAP, and Trend Micro

E-mail is the primary conduit of information for many organizations, both internally and with the outside world. Unfortunately, e-mail is also a prime channel for annoyances such as spam, as well as security threats in the form of viruses, spyware, phishing attacks, and more. Some companies choose to defend their e-mail systems in-house by deploying e-mail security products. Others, however, look to outside assistance in the form of hosted e-mail security services.

As a follow-up to my review of nine e-mail security appliances, I looked at six hosted e-mail security solutions from AppRiver, MessageLabs (now owned by Symantec), Microsoft, MX Logic, SECNAP Network Security, and Trend Micro. Postini (now owned by Google), another major player in the hosted e-mail security space, declined to participate …

Interesting Google did not participate …

Very good result for Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services :

Formerly Frontbridge (long a leader in anti-spam services), Exchange Hosted Filtering Services (EHFS) is available in typical Microsoft fashion: The service offers great features, including anti-virus, using multiple engines, encryption, and disaster recovery. It's adept at stopping spam, preventing 97.5 percent of unwanted messages from coming through, while stumbling on 11 false positives and one critical false positive (see test results). Moreover, it's easy to set up, manage, and use -- especially with Windows-based e-mail systems. On the other hand, pricing is hard to nail down, though large customers get great price breaks. Also, as one might expect from Microsoft, using the service with the Firefox 3.0 browser did not work well, although Firefox 2.0 was OK.

Source : InfoWorld.com

Notes-to-Exchange migration tool gets Microsoft Exchange Online support

Next to Quest also Binary Tree has now released tooling to facilitate the on-premise Lotus Notes mail migration to Microsoft Exchange Online.

Binary Tree has now updated its widely used systems administration tool for migrating users from IBM Lotus Notes to the more prevalent Microsoft Exchange messaging system. The new CMT Universal 2.7.1 supports not just on-premises editions of Exchange, but also Exchange Online, a component of the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS).

The new version of CMT Universal was pre-released for some specific customer engagements, including a migration by Goldleaf Financial Solutions. The update has already been used to migrate more than 100,000 users to BPOS. The latest release of the software also brings refinements to the e-mail and calendaring systems, such as a new capability that lets users tell the difference between calendar entries created in Microsoft Outlook and migrated calendar items.

Source: BetaNews.com

Microsoft Exchange to grow with 100 Million + mailboxes in the coming years

People who regulary visit my blog (or RSS feed) know I like statistics … Some new insights into Microsoft Exchange and the projected growth (100 Million Mailboxes) for the coming 4 years :

… The Radicati Group, Inc.'s latest study, "Microsoft Exchange Server and Outlook Market Analysis, 2009-2013," provides an in-depth analysis of the market for Microsoft Exchange Server and Microsoft Outlook, including market share, installed base by version, as well as breakouts by business size, and region.

According to the report, Microsoft Exchange Server will have a total installed base of 241 million on-premises and hosted mailboxes by year-end 2009, and is expected to grow to a total of 347 million by 2013. This represents an average annual growth rate of 11%.

The report provides extensive breakout information for Microsoft Exchange Server penetration by version, business size and region in North America, EMEA, Asia/Pacific, and Rest of World. In addition, it also provides installed base and breakout information for Microsoft Outlook, including Outlook Web Access (OWA), and Hosted Microsoft Exchange Server.

Microsoft's recently released Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) is also analyzed, and strengths and weaknesses are discussed for all current Microsoft Messaging and Collaboration products. …

Source: Radicati group

Ovum: Microsoft goes online and worldwide

Ovum gives a brief analysis on Microsoft’s international launch of BPOS. Unlike some other analysis I’ve seen trying to compare Google Apps to Microsoft BPOS, this highlights one of the main differences … Choice …

…Microsoft's recently announced Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) is much more than a challenge to Google Apps, playing as it does to organisations from five persons to millions, and allowing a combination of in-house and hosted deployment - the so-called 'software plus services' model. The release of BPOS is very timely, offering guaranteed availability and with well thought out functionality. However, there is still some work to do on the product that might make it appear like a beta release in the eyes of a CIO.

 

Mix 'n' match for customers and partners

The BPOS hosted products are: Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Server and LiveMeeting. This package is priced at $15 per seat per month and organisations can subscribe to additional facilities such as archiving.

But this is not just cloud-based services like Google Apps, although that offering is definitely a threat that Microsoft wants to see off. Rather it is a software plus service offering that gives organisations that have the IT support infrastructure and wish to retain in-house capability the option to have their BPOS services linked to the corporate servers to provide an anywhere information service for employees, partners or customers. …

Continue at source : Ovum.com

Microsoft “Office SaaS”

De titel vat kernachtig samen waar Microsoft Online Services niet voor staat ..

• De online diensten van Microsoft bevatten geen Microsoft Office als dienst.
• Het is niet per definitie een SaaS oplossing; het is een combinatie van software + diensten die rijke functionaliteit, performance en offline functionaliteit biedt.

In het artikel ‘Microsoft SaaS Office per april in Nederland’ besteden InfoWorld, Webwereld en TechWorld aandacht aan de Internationale launch van Microsoft Online Services, van 2 maart jl tijdens de Cebit.

Die aandacht is natuurlijk super. Ik zag in de artikelen wel een paar zaken die door de auteur anders zijn geïnterpreteerd. een korte reactie daarop:

Het online Office-abonnement van Microsoft, waaronder hosted Exchange, Sharepoint en Office Communications, is per 1 april in Nederland verkrijgbaar.

Per direct is tegenhanger van Google Apps als trial uit te proberen. Microsofts software Exchange en Sharepoint is in de Verenigde Staten al als online-service af te nemen. Nu brengt de softwareproducent zijn SaaS-aanbod, waarbij het software combineert met services, ook naar Europa. Dat gebeurt per 1 april.

Het betreft geen Office abonnement. De dienst heet Business Productivity Online Services, een onderdeel van Microsoft Online Services en bestaat uit de volgende oplossingen :

• Exchange Online
• SharePoint Online
• Office Communications Online
• LiveMeeting.
• Optionele diensten, waaronder archivering van email, extra encyptie (beveiliging) van email en BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
  
  Microsoft Office wordt niet aangeboden als dienst en maakt ook geen deel uit van Microsoft Online Services zoals deze is aangekondigd.

Net als Google garandeert Microsoft 99,9 procent uptime per maand voor z'n online software. De prijs van het SaaS-pakket is echter niet concurrerend met Google Apps. Google rekent 40 euro per gebruiker per jaar, Microsoft 12,78 euro per maand, oftewel 153 euro per jaar, bijna vier keer zo duur als Google.

Organisaties die een Online oplossing overwegen doen er goed aan om hun huidige platform (daar is kennis van), eisen en wensen,  voor de korte en middellange termijn heel helder te hebben.

De prijs is natuurlijk belangrijk, zeker in deze tijd. Maar prijzen zijn relatief …

Microsoft Online Services is niet 1:1 te vergelijken met Google Apps. In de bovenstaande conclusie rondom jaarlijkse kosten word daar wel van uitgegaan. Het strekt te ver om alle verschillen uiteen te gaan zetten, maar als ik 3 punten zou moeten noemen waarin die verschillen tot uiting komen zijn dat:

• Microsoft biedt rijkere functionaliteit door o.a. Offline werken, enterprise functionaliteit als Enterprise Content management, Business Intelligence, workflow, geïntegreerde presence en instant messaging.
  
• Klanten hebben de keuze hoe zij Microsoft oplossingen willen implementeren: in eigen datacenter, gehost door een van de 800 Microsoft hosting partners wereldwijd, gehost door Microsoft (Microsoft Online Services), of een combinatie van de eerder genoemde mogelijkheden.
  
• Bewezen technologie die op internet en enterprise schaal al jaren wordt toegepast. Voorbeelden zijn Microsoft Exchange met een marktaandeel van 65% - 85% afhankelijk van markt en analist. Ook worden SharePoint en Exchange al jaren als Hosted dienst aangeboden in de markt, zo past KPN deze toe voor meer dan 1,5 Miljoen gebruikers bijvoorbeeld.

SLA
Er zijn ook verschillen in de SLA. Microsoft biedt een 99,9% beschikbaarheid op alle diensten, daar waar Google Apps alleen 99,9% beschikbaarheid op Gmail biedt; niet dus op de andere producten. Hiervoor verwijzen de servicesvoorwaarden van Google Apps Professional naar de Gmail SLA.

Support
Voor ondersteuning biedt Google een online helpcentrum, maar geen telefonische ondersteuning. De speciale support dienst voor Administrators van de klant is alleen beschikbaar op werkdagen via internet.

In een artikel op ZDnet.com staat ook een korte visie van Google vs Microsoft door Ron Markezich

Multinationals

Er komt een standaard versie en een op maat gesneden, dedicated variant voor bedrijven met meer dan 5000 werknemers. De leverancier mikt hiermee niet alleen op bedrijven in die landen, maar ook op multinationals. Die kunnen dan grootschalig overstappen naar Microsofts 'software plus services'-aanbod.

De internationale lancering betreft specifiek de Standard variant. De dedicated variant is al meer dan een jaar wereldwijd operationeel. Dit is in september 2007 aangekondigd en hier zijn al veel multinational mee aan de slag.

Het feit dat de dedicated variant al veel langer internationaal beschikbaar is verklaard ook wellicht de vraag sommige sceptici op webwereld hoe het kan dat er al zoveel betalende klanten / gebruikers op deze dienst zitten.

Klanten voor Online Services hebben drie keuzes voor het draaien van de gehoste software. Dat kunnen ze doen in een eigen datacenter, in dat van een Microsoft-partner, of in een Europees datacenter van de aanbieder zelf. Het is nog onbekend of dit prijs- of serviceverschillen met zich meebrengt.

De klant heeft de keuze op welke manier zij de Microsoft software wil implementeren :

1. In huis, in het eigen datacenter
   Hier geldt dan ook de SLA van de IT afdeling van de klant.
   De kosten zijn hier de Microsoft licenties, hardware, software van derden en diensten / personele kosten.
   
2. Gehost door een Microsoft Hosting Partner
   Hier geldt de SLA van de Microsoft Hosting Partner.
   De kosten voor de dienst zijn over het algemeen kosten per gebruiker per maand voor de totale dienst.
   
3. Gehost door Microsoft
   Hier geldt een SLA van 99,9% beschikbaarheid.|
   De kosten zijn per gebruiker per maand.

Bronnen:  InfoWorld, Webwereld, TechWorld

GlaxoSmithKline deal highlights Microsoft's overseas launch of hosted collaboration software

Duffbert posted a response to the Microsoft / GSK announcement, which in my opinion is a good assessment on IBM / Lotus’ position ..

… Regardless of how you might want to spin this (shortsighted company, didn't consider other costs, what if the online cloud is down), the fact remains that Microsoft is gaining traction *and* mindshare in this area and offering.  And personally, I don't see Lotus having much of an overall response at this particular point in time.  I know that LotusLive is supposed to answer this, but I'm not seeing any major announcements of Exchange shops moving to hosted Notes (or hosted IBM anything, for that matter).  …

Source: GlaxoSmithKline deal highlights Microsoft's overseas launch of hosted collaboration software

Nederlandstalige Microsoft Online Services Portal live

Met de internationale aankondiging rondom Microsoft Online Services is ook de Nederlandstalige portal live gegaan. Op de portal kun je ook de Euro prijzen vinden.

Microsoft Online Services Portal

Microsoft Online Services Available Worldwide

Microsoft today announced the worldwide availability of Microsoft Online Services. Some highlights from the press release :

 

… Furthering its commitment to deliver communications and collaboration software as enterprise-class services, today at CeBIT 2009 Microsoft Corp. announced that the Business Productivity Online Suite, part of Microsoft Online Services, is now available for trial to businesses of all sizes in 19 countries. In addition, Microsoft will release Microsoft Office Communications Online, for instant messaging and presence, and the Business Productivity Online Deskless Worker Suite, an extremely economical e-mail, calendaring and collaboration service for the occasional user.

“These services open up new possibilities for businesses to control costs while continuing to enhance the productivity of their employees,” said Stephen Elop, president of the Microsoft Business Division. “Customers can save between 10 percent and 50 percent in IT-related expenditures as a result of deploying Microsoft Online Services.”

Software-Plus-Services Strategy Reaches Worldwide

Exchange Online and SharePoint Online are available for trial in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. Organizations worldwide will be able to trial and purchase the entire Business Productivity Online Suite, including Office Communications Online, in April.

In addition, Microsoft is committed to providing opportunity for a global ecosystem of partners that will sell, customize and provide consulting, migration and managed services for Microsoft Online Services customers around the world.

Solutions for Occasional Users

The Deskless Worker Suite, including Exchange Online Deskless Worker and SharePoint Online Deskless Worker, will also be available to organizations in the 19 countries. The Deskless Worker Suite is a low-cost solution designed for users who don’t have access to messaging and collaboration capabilities today.

The worldwide availability of the Deskless Worker Suite will offer customers an affordable e-mail and collaboration solution for occasional users. By providing a cost-effective subscription rate (currently listed at 2.56 euros or 2.01 pounds per month per user), the Deskless Worker Suite will make it possible for organizations to give all employees access to the same messaging and collaboration systems. Today, in organizations that have deployed e-mail, more than 40 percent of employees do not have e-mail.*

The Deskless Worker Suite will be available for trial and for purchase worldwide in April.

Global Customer Adoption

A growing number of companies across the globe, from small businesses to large enterprises, are already adopting Microsoft Online Services, which were first released in the U.S. last fall. Today, Microsoft announced that pharmaceutical multinational GlaxoSmithKline will deploy the Business Productivity Online Suite, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online, Office Live Meeting and the Deskless Worker Suite, to its employees worldwide.

“GlaxoSmithKline has more than 100,000 employees, hundreds of business partners, and locations around the world, so effective collaboration is critical to our business,” said Bill Louv, chief information officer, GlaxoSmithKline. “We have chosen Microsoft Online Services because it promises to deliver a simple intuitive Information Workplace that should not only value to the company through simplification, but provide an improved user experience and ultimately create a more productive GSK.”

“The move to Microsoft Online Services will help GlaxoSmithKline cut operational costs by an estimated 30 percent and create a variable cost model that will provide increased flexibility in the future,” said Ingo Elfering, vice president of Information Technology Strategy, GlaxoSmithKline.

An executive Q&A video with GlaxoSmithKline’s CIO is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/Officesoftwareplusservices/default.mspx.

A GlaxoSmithKline executive blog is available on the Microsoft Online Services team blog at http://blogs.technet.com/msonline/default.aspx.

Worldwide Pricing Model

Worldwide pricing for Microsoft Online Services is flexible and predictable. Businesses will have the option to subscribe to Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online and Office Live Meeting individually or together as a suite. The Business Productivity Online Suite is currently listed at 12.78 euros or 10.04 pounds per month per user, which offers businesses a 38 percent discount, compared with subscribing separately to the individual services.

Additional information on Microsoft Online Services is available at http://www.microsoft.com/online.

Source: Microsoft Online Services Available Worldwide

GlaxoSmithKline standardizes on Microsoft Online Services; service upgrades coming soon.

I just posted about the GSK decision to migrate to Microsoft Online.  The MS Online blog contains much more detail on this great win for Microsoft .. read all about it .

This is Erik Gunvaldson, Service Program Manager for Microsoft Online. We are excited to be launching in the very near future an upgrade of Microsoft Online Services in 19 new countries and 4 new languages. As part of this upgrade, we’re introducing instant messaging and presence awareness with Office Communications Online as well as streamlined, low-cost email and collaboration with the Deskless Worker Suite. If you are interested in access to this upgrade before general availability in early April, let me know through our feedback form or the comments below.

In the spirit of this international upgrade, I wanted to share comments from GlaxoSmithKline, a recent customer who decided to standardize on Microsoft Online Services for their more-than 100,000 employees worldwide. Below GlaxoSmithKline’s Vice President of Information Technology Strategy, Ingo Elfering, shares his experience deciding to make a platform change and provides advice for other companies considering a similar path. It is fascinating to hear this perspective from an industry leader like GSK, and a leader like Ingo who has such a significant global role in GSK’s IT organization. …

Continue at source: GlaxoSmithKline standardizes on Microsoft Online Services; service upgrades coming soon.

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) reduces collaboration tools costs by migrating t0 Microsoft Online Services

 

On February 5th GSK presented their 2008 year end results.

The presentation contains a very interesting statement about their migration from their current collaboration platform (I believe this is Lotus Notes Domino) to Microsoft Online Services.

On slide 43 they state :

Innovative partnership with Microsoft Online: 30% decrease in collaborative tool costs …

This illustrates quite clearly how Microsoft Online Services can contribute to substantial cost saving / cost predictability for organisations …

Source : GSK 2008 Year End Presentation

Vodafone to offer Microsoft online services (Reuters)

According to this newsitems, Vodafone has become a BPOS Partner

LONDON (Reuters) - Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone network operator by revenue, is to offer Microsoft online services to small and medium-sized businesses through the computer, phone and browser, it said on Thursday.

The group said it would sell and manage Microsoft products such as e-mail, calendars, portals, instant messaging and web conferencing tools.

Vodafone said Microsoft Online Services are now available in the United States and would be available in other markets in the first half of 2009.

"The demands on our customers are changing dramatically in today's complex business and economic environment," said Tom Craig, Global Business Services Director of Vodafone Group.

"By combining Vodafone's fixed and mobile communication services with Microsoft Online Services we can provide all the elements of a fully hosted communications solution."

The two companies said they also intended to continue growing the partnership through future collaboration and development.

Source: Vodafone to offer Microsoft online services (Reuters)