Telecoms Get on Board for Hosted Servers

Selling hosted Microsoft servers through telecommunications companies is expanding Microsoft’s penetration into small firms that lack IT expertise. Recent improvements in tools and applications that permit running Microsoft’s Exchange, SharePoint, and Communications Servers in virtual and multitenant environments, where a single physical server can serve dozens of customers, drive down the cost per customer and boost their appeal as subscription services. These offerings are particularly important for telecommunications companies that want to sell higher-end business applications that add significant value to commodity voice and broadband services.

Expanding the Hosting Channel

As “cloud computing” enters popular vernacular, Microsoft is hedging its bets by offering its products as hosted applications. Although hosted Exchange Server has been popular with small companies for many years, and Microsoft has built a Hosted Messaging and Collaboration platform to assist hosters in managing hosted Exchange and SharePoint, these services were usually offered on dedicated servers and were relatively expensive. Beginning with managed-services pilots in 2005, Microsoft began tuning these products and developing tools for their operation in multitenant environments, where their cost per customer is lower.