What are the main changes?

Microsoft has made improvements to the search functionality of Live Search and added more personalized elements, focusing on social networks. New features have been added such as Windows Live translator. They also want to change the way results are brought to the consumers, also delivering multimedia results like its biggest competitor Google does .

Marc Bressel, regional sales director for EMEA at Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, said “We want to bring a totally different search results experience to what we have in the market”.

These innovations are following the launch of AdCenter in the UK last summer. A paid search platform to compete with Google Adwords but Microsoft didn’t achieve to be a serious thread to the market leader just yet. To be successful in this market Microsoft needs to win back its slice of the search engine market share in order to make the AdCenter platform work, one step to reach this goal is to bring more users to Live Search with their new version of Live Search .

But will it work? Time will tell …. so watch out for more news.

What are the main changes?

Microsoft has made improvements to the search functionality of Live Search and added more personalized elements, focusing on social networks. New features have been added such as Windows Live translator. They also want to change the way results are brought to the consumers, also delivering multimedia results like its biggest competitor Google does .

Marc Bressel, regional sales director for EMEA at Microsoft Digital Advertising Solutions, said “We want to bring a totally different search results experience to what we have in the market”.

These innovations are following the launch of AdCenter in the UK last summer. A paid search platform to compete with Google Adwords but Microsoft didn’t achieve to be a serious thread to the market leader just yet. To be successful in this market Microsoft needs to win back its slice of the search engine market share in order to make the AdCenter platform work, one step to reach this goal is to bring more users to Live Search with their new version of Live Search .

But will it work? Time will tell …. so watch out for more news.

For the last 2 and a half decades Microsoft had been ruling the scene of the computer world without any serious competition.

Actually competition was always there, but people can hardly remember it.

At one time they called it Netscape Navigator
Another time it was Mac which although still exists, seems as if it keeps its portion in the market without real threat to the BIG GIANT from Richmond.
But no matter who it was, where and when Microsoft, directed by the strict guide of Bill Gates had always managed to overcome and win an even larger piece of crowd and add some more joy to its’ share holders.
I’ll tell some old story now that some of you might have already heard:
Microsoft at the beginning, before launching windows 3.11 had bumped into some financial difficulties and in order to help them go through it, they offered their employees to either choose to keep the high paying salary or to cut it down to a bare minimum and get shares in Microsoft in return.
Now, you can guess who made the right choice, but image an offer like that had come across you? Would you risk your paycheck? Just to make it clear one of the guys that decided to go with the shares hade purchase the USA Bowling League Control simply because he likes bowling.

But about 5 years ago started the change, Microsoft which was all satisfied with herself and with the new OS Windows XP had let her guards down and allow the largest competition she’ll ever face grow without proportion and easily take control over the WEB, thinking that web is just a fashion and networks is what’s really important. At one time Steve Ballmer even said that Google is just a bubble that is about to burst.
Well if it’s about to burst Stevey, why is it your company making so many efforts to follow its footprints?
Never in her existence had Microsoft gone to so much efforts to try to copy and overcome 1 company.
Now, with a better search engine, better look, improved online services, that includes:
Free Domain Name & Hosting Office Live
Q & A a copy to yahoo Q&A
Image search which is by far the most convenient image search today.
And starting November 7th a new Local Live search which copies Google Local services

MSN is still not close to get her share of surfers and users that were taken away by Google 5 years ago & All these services had taken their focus from 1 major thing their search engine which his bots are lagging way behind and hardly has the time to go over all the pages in time like they used to.

If you’ll search for Cpayscom2 Online Casino in Google, MSN and Yahoo and take a look at the cache dates of the 1st top 6 users you will see the differences and understand what I mean.

Learn How Microsoft Is Balancing Information Communication Technology at the 2008 Government Technologies Conference and Expo

March 25, 2008 - Toronto, Canada - John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada, will be keynoting at the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo, taking place April 15 -16, 2008 at the Design Exchange in Toronto Ontario.

John Weigelt will discuss the fundamental issues facing government and healthcare today - achieving the right balance between ICT and the growing demands of the technically savvy citizen and business and the critical needs of patients and healthcare workers.

Microsoft believes that the time has come for a serious re-examination of the ICT options facing government and healthcare organizations, with a tide of increasing expectation and massively more technical capability, the trick is to ensure that our governments and hospitals are waving and not drowning in the turbulent mix.

So, register now to learn more about the Microsoft Solutions and Strategies for government and healthcare to embrace technology to meet the needs of patients and citizens alike while improving internal efficiencies and the jobs of your employees. This strategies and solutions are built with research driven data, market-proven Microsoft infrastructure components, uses open standards, and includes a set of common transactions that enable critical functions to be rapidly provided to citizens, patients, businesses and your employees.

This session is designed specifically for Microsoft Canada to gain insight from our strategic Municipal Government Chief Information Officers and Senior IT decision makers around its CGF and its key building blocks impacting Municipalities: Solution Oriented Architecture and Enterprise Application Integration, Communication and Collaboration, Security, Compliance and Privacy, as well as overall management.

The Microsoft Connected Government Framework is designed to assist municipalities to develop corporate infrastructure environments that will support the transformational technology projects across the breadth of their organization. The CGF helps ensure that value invested in current legacy applications continues to be realized while municipalities improve and update their solutions to deliver superior value to the constituents.

To register for Early-Bird Passes please visit http://gov.wowgao.com/registration OR call (416) 292-0038 Ext. 812.

About Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.

Microsoft Canada Co. was founded in 1985. As the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington, the company provides sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in French and English. Microsoft Canada has grown from five people in 1985 to more than 900 employees. It also has strong relationships with more than 24,000 partners across Canada. More than 1,100 of these are Microsoft Certified Partners, and over 200 are Gold Certified Partners. Headquartered in Mississauga, Microsoft Canada has regional offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax.

About the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference & Expo:

The 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo will focus on the latest IT products and solutions being developed and sought after in the healthcare and public service sector, including Web 2.0, Patient Monitoring Systems, Document Management, Business Intelligence, Mobile Data Systems, RFID Solutions, Biometrics and much more.

As one of Canada’s leading annual IT conference and exposition, the event features ground breaking IT applications that aim to educate key IT professionals, Government officials, developers, architects, engineers and medical professionals with the necessary tools and techniques for the reliable, effective management of all public information services across Canada. For more information about the event, please visit http://gov.wowgao.com

About WowGao Inc.

WowGao Inc. is an award winning leading event management company that produces, since 2003, internationally renowned conferences and expositions that address the latest innovations and developments in the information technology industry. Our featured events include:

Government & Health Technologies Conference and Expo, April 15 & 16, 2008

Wireless & Mobile Expo and Conference, July 15 & 16, 2008

RFID Forum, July 15 & 16, 2008

Financial Services Technology Forum, October 2008

For more information about the events, please visit http://www.wowgao.com/

For conference inquiries:

Conference Producer

(416) 292 - 0038 ext. 840 | conference@wowgao.com

WowGao Inc. | www.wowgao.com
Learn How Microsoft Is Balancing Information Communication Technology at the 2008 Government Technologies Conference and Expo

March 25, 2008 - Toronto, Canada - John Weigelt, National Technology Officer, Microsoft Canada, will be keynoting at the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo, taking place April 15 -16, 2008 at the Design Exchange in Toronto Ontario.

John Weigelt will discuss the fundamental issues facing government and healthcare today - achieving the right balance between ICT and the growing demands of the technically savvy citizen and business and the critical needs of patients and healthcare workers.

Microsoft believes that the time has come for a serious re-examination of the ICT options facing government and healthcare organizations, with a tide of increasing expectation and massively more technical capability, the trick is to ensure that our governments and hospitals are waving and not drowning in the turbulent mix.

So, register now to learn more about the Microsoft Solutions and Strategies for government and healthcare to embrace technology to meet the needs of patients and citizens alike while improving internal efficiencies and the jobs of your employees. This strategies and solutions are built with research driven data, market-proven Microsoft infrastructure components, uses open standards, and includes a set of common transactions that enable critical functions to be rapidly provided to citizens, patients, businesses and your employees.

This session is designed specifically for Microsoft Canada to gain insight from our strategic Municipal Government Chief Information Officers and Senior IT decision makers around its CGF and its key building blocks impacting Municipalities: Solution Oriented Architecture and Enterprise Application Integration, Communication and Collaboration, Security, Compliance and Privacy, as well as overall management.

The Microsoft Connected Government Framework is designed to assist municipalities to develop corporate infrastructure environments that will support the transformational technology projects across the breadth of their organization. The CGF helps ensure that value invested in current legacy applications continues to be realized while municipalities improve and update their solutions to deliver superior value to the constituents.

To register for Early-Bird Passes please visit http://gov.wowgao.com/registration OR call (416) 292-0038 Ext. 812.

About Microsoft Corporation

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing.

Microsoft Canada Co. was founded in 1985. As the Canadian subsidiary of Microsoft Corporation in Redmond, Washington, the company provides sales, marketing, consulting and local support services in French and English. Microsoft Canada has grown from five people in 1985 to more than 900 employees. It also has strong relationships with more than 24,000 partners across Canada. More than 1,100 of these are Microsoft Certified Partners, and over 200 are Gold Certified Partners. Headquartered in Mississauga, Microsoft Canada has regional offices in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec and Halifax.

About the 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference & Expo:

The 2008 Government and Health Technologies Conference and Expo will focus on the latest IT products and solutions being developed and sought after in the healthcare and public service sector, including Web 2.0, Patient Monitoring Systems, Document Management, Business Intelligence, Mobile Data Systems, RFID Solutions, Biometrics and much more.

As one of Canada’s leading annual IT conference and exposition, the event features ground breaking IT applications that aim to educate key IT professionals, Government officials, developers, architects, engineers and medical professionals with the necessary tools and techniques for the reliable, effective management of all public information services across Canada. For more information about the event, please visit http://gov.wowgao.com

About WowGao Inc.

WowGao Inc. is an award winning leading event management company that produces, since 2003, internationally renowned conferences and expositions that address the latest innovations and developments in the information technology industry. Our featured events include:

Government & Health Technologies Conference and Expo, April 15 & 16, 2008

Wireless & Mobile Expo and Conference, July 15 & 16, 2008

RFID Forum, July 15 & 16, 2008

Financial Services Technology Forum, October 2008

For more information about the events, please visit http://www.wowgao.com/

For conference inquiries:

Conference Producer

(416) 292 - 0038 ext. 840 | conference@wowgao.com

WowGao Inc. | www.wowgao.com

There is no denying that currently, Microsoft Corporation is the world’s biggest and most popular developer, designer, and maker of the most reliable computer programs and applications. Since its launch and the initial introduction of its first software, the company has never left the focus and minds of computer owners. Thus, Microsoft business software programs are considered, the most useful and reliable computer programs fitted and specifically created for certain types and functions of businesses.

Whatever your needs and requirements, name it and for sure there is an appropriate Microsoft business software program for you. The software maker has made sure its portfolio and line up of Microsoft business software would be comprehensible and effective enough to cater to different types of consumers and computer users. The company’s Business Division is constantly coming up with different computer programs to suit users’ needs. What’s more, every Microsoft business software program has been made to be user friendly and easier to access and navigate.

To be able to demonstrate the usefulness and reliability of Microsoft business software, it would help if you would have a refresher of the most popular of such computer programs. Looking at the lineup of popular Microsoft business software, you would surely realize that they are indeed the most useful software programs available in the market.

The Microsoft Office

This Microsoft business software program is actually a package containing interrelated and equally useful desktop applications. The computer program is often referred to as the office suite, because everything you may need and use in your office setting can be found in the program.

The Microsoft Office is undoubtedly the banner and flagship of all Microsoft business software programs. Among the specific and sought-after applications included in this Microsoft business software package are the MS Word (the most popular word processing application in the globe), Outlook (also referred as a groupware), Publisher (an effective and easy-to-use desktop publishing application and PowerPoint (made for business presentations). Not mentioned is Excel, which can be considered the best tool for simple accounting in the office environment today.

The Microsoft Groove

Because office settings are now made geographically distant from each other, there is a need for a computer program to link users no mater where they are. The Microsoft Groove is an effective Microsoft business software program that facilitates the working together of people and employees in a single network connection. Microsoft Groove is a Microsoft business software program made to bond the team regardless of time zones and geographic indifferences.

A unit of this Microsoft business software program comes with a complete package of Office Ultimate. The software is also fairly priced in most markets.

The Microsoft Accounting

Obviously, this Microsoft business software is designed to help assume the actual roles of accountants. Now, you and your business would not have to hire and pay for salaries of certified public accountants. By investing in the Microsoft Accounting, you would be able to save on costs for finance management and other business functions.

This Microsoft business software comes in small business accounting versions for home-based and minor operations. If you are enterprising enough to startup your own small business, it would not hurt to invest in the Microsoft Accounting.

The Microsoft Data Analyzer

If financial analysis is a cause of stress for you, perhaps, you need to buy the Microsoft Data Analyzer. This Microsoft business software program is designed and developed to help you identify trends, possible issues, and opportunities. Take note that such areas of concerns are very much significant and pertinent to cause any impact on your business.

The Microsoft Data Analyzer is surely one of the best and most effective Microsoft business software programs. If you find it is disruptive to analyze, understand and much more interpret financial data, it is time you buy a tool to help you do so.

The world on online radio stations has many different selections that you can look through. Of these many channels you may enjoy the experience of listening to music on MSN Radio. This particular music channel is a part of the Microsoft Company. While it used to operate as a separate entity the powering of this online radio was turned over to MSN Radio. The separate section of MSN Radio was soon phased out.

You can still however access the MSN Radio station. All that is required is that you go to their music homepage. Once you are at the station you can listen to any music that you want top free for 20 minutes. After this period of time you will need to register. This registration is a necessary part of the listening experience.

To register for the MSN Radio is not that difficult. What you will need to do is to give an Email address. This address will enable MSN Music to find you and allow you to play music from your account. You may be required to give a password as well. In this case you should think about using a password that is easy to remember and use.

While the use of MSN Radio is still known to us the station itself has been placed in the hands of new operators. These people will provide you with the services to access the MSN Radio station. Once you have logged onto your account you can choose the services listed.

The MSN Radio has many interesting features which are easy to use even for those who are technologically challenged. When you look at the many choices that are given you can look to see if there are other musical items which look the same as the one that you have chosen. Now the term looks the same in the case of music means songs which have many of the same characteristics of the song that you have chosen.

Another feature which you can find in MSN Radio is the ability of creating a number of different playlists. These playlists will feature all of the songs that you like. This way when you log onto the online radio station you will be able to hear the songs that you have chosen and look for others which are like these ones.

With Pandora MSN Radio you will find that you listening pleasure is enriched. The many wonderful songs and music that you will hear on this station is one of the reasons why this radio station is so popular.

Do you feel more secure when a certified mechanic works on your car?

Do your taxes get done by a professional certified Accountant?

If you are sick or injured, do you visit a certified, qualified Doctor?

If you answered “Yes” to any of these questions, it is because you value service from someone you know is qualified and certified to do the job right. In the IT field that qualification comes in the form of Microsoft Certification. So if you want a qualified and certified professional giving you service in their field (Mechanic, Accountant, Doctor), would not an IT Company want to know that you are the best in your field and certified,qualified for the IT job/service. That is what Microsoft Certification does for you. It proves that you are among the “BEST” in your field and capable of doing the job or providing the service-competently.

You may think that Microsoft Certification is not important, and it is true. You can probably get a job anyway in the IT field without Certification, but when you do have Microsoft Certification, you have “PROOF” that you have the skills and the knowledge to work in the IT field on Microsoft Product/s. Today many IT Companies require Microsoft Certification as proof of your skills and competency. And in order to offer you a job they require you to be Microsoft Certified. Microsoft Certifications ensure that you are the first choice of IT Companies for jobs or the first choice for promotions if you are already employed.

What is Microsoft Certification?

This is a recognition that Microsoft gives you which proves you have special skills to get the job done. Microsoft Certifications recognize and validate your real-world IT skills, and offer a life-long career path of IT skills development.

How do You Get Certified?

Actually Microsoft Certification is not that complicated, but it is tough. You have to learn / self-study for the required course through course books available at Bookstores / Online Bookstores, or join a Training Institute which provide Training and Certification Guidance courses. After the course is completed, you have to Register and appear for the Online Exam conducted by Prometric and VUE testing centres authorized by Microsoft to conduct the Exams. You need to prepare thoroughly for the Exam, because there is a fee for taking the Online Exam, and if you fail, well there goes your money.

How to Prepare for Certification?

As you can see the certification you get will depend on the job you hold and where you want to go in the future. Often your employer will suggest certain certifications, and will sometimes pay for the certification. If you need to find out how to prepare for certification, you can do that online. The benefit of preparing for certification online, is that you get the practice tests you need, and you can study whenever and however often you want. Each certified test has a certain price that is why you need to be sure that you are well prepared for the certification test.

Microsoft Certification assures your current/future employer or future clients that they have someone that really knows what they are doing, and it gives you self confidence in yourself and security - knowing that you are fully trained in Microsoft product/products.

MSN, Google, and Yahoo are three of the top search engines on the Net. The search engines focus on SEO styles and strategies. MSN and other search engines will provide you with useful tools as well as help guides so that it makes your SEO marketing campaign easier.

MSN currently is holding a candle to Google’s search engine. In fact, MSN is taking the lead. These engines however offer alike tools that help you to promote your web pages, SEO style.

Through SEO developmental stages, you want to make sure that you pass MSN, Google, and other search engine crawlers.

Crawlers are leading tools that focus on web page content. The ratio of your web sites content then is important. Major search engines focus on quality links. To reach the Page ranking systems setup by Google and other major search engines you want to keep relevancy, accuracy, and quality in mind. Web keyword and content are imperative key points that determine if you reach pass through the Page Rank search engine algorithms.

The Holistic strategies in SEO marketing places great emphasis on the techniques you use. Well-informed codes, such as HTML for example will get some attention.

All tags in your web page should be closed so that you do not have broken links. Design your pages, refreshing them monthly and adding updated meaningful, relevant content to grab your audience attention.

Make sure that you practice SEO marketing strategies, i.e. make sure your theme is relevant and your topics appear within your web site so that it is clear.

You want visible text on your pages so that users can find your site easy. Make sure you add sensible text as far as size. The keywords need to show in your links and tags.

MSN and other search engines focus on SEO accurate tags, including your Meta tags, header-HX, title, etc. Dust your tags properly.

SEO marketing focuses on quality. Quality includes content, incoming links, link anchors to text, etc. Build your back links, and URL in simple, basic static links. Use the shorter URL so that you pass MSN’s BOT.

Be sure to add site maps to your pages. The BOT system will pickup links that you embed in your menus and list box. Add at least one static link. Place the link at least 3-clicks distance from your Home page.

SEO strategies are detrimental to your search engine results. Practice honest strategies to reach the top ranks. Avoid cramming or stuffing keywords into your web pages. You will not reach the top ranks by doing so.

Uphold honest SEO practices and you are on your way to the top ranks at the online search engines.

Each time you key in keywords or terms in search fields, whether it is in Google, Yahoo or MSN, you will be presented with the so-called pages of results. These pages have undergone a process called “SEO” and have earned their respective page rankings.

What is SEO, you ask? SEO or search engine optimization refers to the process of increasing the number of visitor that a website gets by ranking high in the search results of a search engine. Ranking high in the results of a search increases a website’s chance of being visited by a user.

How so? Well, it is common knowledge that most Internet users tend to simply visit the first website in the results instead of browsing through pages and pages of search results. Therefore, it is same to conclude that where a site ranks in a search is crucial in garnering more traffic for the site.

Most people assume that SEO is a very complicated process that is simply too much to comprehend. Meanwhile, others believed that ranking high at the search engine is simply a matter of luck. Both statements are fallacies.

Ranking high at search engines has nothing to do with luck nor is it impossible to understand. All you need is a couple of simple things in order for your web pages to do well at the search engines.

Search engine rankings play a significant role in Internet marketing campaign, which is why it is important that you understand the basics in SEO. Good search engine ranking is not an overnight phenomenon, therefore you must be patient.

There are a lot of search engines out there; some even offers specialized categories that utilize multiple search engine results to compile an outline of listed results, rather than taking results from its own databases.

However, if your main goal is to be successful on the net, then optimization for MSN search engine is a must. MSN is definitely one of the leading search engines on the net today. What separates it from other search engine giants? Well, MSN place great importance in using page optimization techniques, whereas Google and Yahoo concentrates on incoming link anchor text alone. What this means for you is that MSN indexes more pages than other search engines, consequently allowing your pages to rank higher and faster.

Moreover, the search engine giant has recently undergone a major change. What kind of change, you ask? MSN Search has incorporated “neural networks” into its search engine algorithm, or what is now referred to as “RankNet.” This monumental change took place last June. This algorithm is indeed a breakthrough, and is fast becoming a matter of great consideration among search optimizers.

Just what is RankNet and how does it work? Basically, RankNet is a “learning machine” which considers the patterns of human searches and then learns from them thus, providing a more relevant result not only on the current searches but for future searches as well.

Since SEO is not a matter of chance but of strategy, there are certain steps that you could undertake in order for your pages or site to have good rankings at MSN. MSN Search highly advised that you remember two important things. One is to use well-formed HTML code and the other is not to have any broken links in your pages.

There are other steps that you might also consider. For starters, it might be a good idea to use a robots.txt file to control how MSNBot indexes your site. This is also vital for other crawlers.

Keep in mind that MSN is all about content. So, what do you do? Limit all pages to a reasonable size and drop pictures that are lower than 150 KB. Adding a site map would also be beneficial since, it will allow MSNBot to locate all of your pages without difficulty. Remember also to pick one topic for each page.

Avoid putting words that are not relevant just to increase a page’s keyword density. Hidden text or links are also a bad idea, this usually indicates spam, and thus, MSN may remove you from their index.

Another thing you can do is place a descriptive content at the top of each web page. Make sure that each page has a clear topic and purpose. You can also add a website description at the Description meta tag. Now, if you ever you change your content, make sure that you update your website description.

One of the most important factors in page optimization, particularly RankNet is the keywords. Placing keywords in a strong paragraph at the beginning, in link text, and repeating it near the end of a page might not be new ideas. As a matter of fact, this has been part of good optimization practice for quite a while now. Moreover, it also makes logical sense when it comes to providing solid information for website users. It is the importance on these elements in the new MSN search engine that is interesting.

Remember that MSN is quite a very content and keyword sensitive search engine. If you give extra care with the use and placing of your keywords as well as great consideration on your content, then you can be assure that all your efforts will not go to waste because MSN Search will reward your site with good search engine rankings.

MSN offers various features and services; MSN Search is just one of them. Optimization for this search engine can very well mean success on the web, what’s more is that it can be accomplished quite easily (provided that your site features a lot of original content). Page optimization is important not only at MSN Search but for other search engines as well. Good optimization of your page will certainly improve your ranking not only at MSN but in other search engines as well.

So what are you waiting for? Why not try it out and see for yourself if you can pull your pages up and do well not only in the MSN search engine but in others as well.

Microsoft Goes SAASy
Flashback
Used to being the unchallenged leader during the early days of information technology, Microsoft never had it as easy since the advent of the internet. No matter the hot new internet technology, Microsoft was forever caught napping. It was never the innovator and forever a laggard in terms of success. Google trounced it at search and online advertising, Yahoo at instant messaging and consumer mail, Blogger, Wordpress and Typepad were far better at blogging software, it never even appeared on the battle ground of social networking with MySpace and Facebook ruling the roost.
But there were certain markets, especially corporate markets, in which Microsoft continued at have a strangle-hold, which kept its cash registers clinking, and at a frantic pace at that. These were the PC OS market with its Windows series, MS Office for Office suites, and its prize cash cows - MS Exchange and MS Sharepoint for enterprise messaging and collaboration.
Now, the above mentioned software are essential for every enterprise, and 5 to 10 years back, Microsoft did undoubtedly offer the most robust solutions available. In those days, since every body was eyeing the juicy big business enterprise segment, with their thousands of users implementations and IT budgets bursting at the seams, it was for that audience these software were developed. So although Exchange and Sharepoint required dedicated servers, complicated implementations and dedicated IT to man and maintain the system, nobody really minded, because these mega enterprises had the money and staff to spare.
The Present
But there was a segment which minded it, the small to medium size business (SMB), segment which had neither the staff, nor resources, nor the inclination. Since not many alternatives were available, they either had to bear the burden, or do without these technologies altogether. But in recent times, things have started to change. In the past 3 years or so, a new approach has emerged, spurred on by technology improvements and increased bandwidth - the software as a service approach. And its primary market is the small to mid sized business segment.
In a recent SaaS survey conducted by Cutter Consortium, nearly three-quarters (72%) of the people who responded reported that they are using Web-based solutions to fill unmet needs. More than a quarter of the respondents (28%) are hoping that these solutions will cut their costs by 20%-30%.
It is true that there was some initial skepticism initially about the viability of SAAS solutions, in that it involves letting go of some control and allowing the organization’s critical data lie on a third party SAAS vendor’s servers. But the benefits of this approach have been so overwhelming, and due to providers like salesforce.com and HyperOffice providing SAAS solutions effectively over the years, that organizations across the board, from small to mega enterprises, have been converted.
Microsoft Plays Catchup
With the enterprise market saturated, Microsoft has also been eyeing the relatively untapped small to mid sized business market in the past few years. Considering the success of SAAS with this segment, Microsoft has introduced offered a succession of software offered as a service in recent times, under the Microsoft Office Live banner. But the real success story with this segment was “hosted Exchange” and “hosted Sharepoint” solutions offered by independent vendors; many of them certified Microsoft partners. First, a little refresher:
What is Hosted Exchange (and how it differs from Exchange Server)?
Every company needs dedicated company email for its employees, as well as some basic productivity solutions to lubricate everyday working (task management, calendars, address books). To cater to these universal needs, Microsoft developed Exchange Server whose major features consist of electronic mail, calendaring, contacts and tasks. The front end client for Exchange through which employees access all this information is usually Outlook, but Exchange also supports mobile and web based access (called Outlook web access or OWA for short). But implementing Exchange is hardly easy, as it includes setting up a dedicated server, undertaking a complex Exchange implementation, in addition to additional anti spam and anti virus implementations for the security of the server. Also, dedicated staff needs to be hired to monitor the system and keep it running, and to manage a myriad of complexities that may arise, since Exchange is a vast solution.
Under hosted Exchange however, all aspects of implementation and maintenance of the Exchange implementation are outsourced to the servers of a specialized “hosted services” provider. Customers still get the most of the features of Exchange - dedicated email, shared calendars/contacts/tasks, and premium features like mobile and web access to information (typically at an extra cost). But unlike an in house implementation, where everybody accesses Exchange over the local network, in this case it is accessed over the internet. This approach is especially beneficial for small to medium businesses which are saved the huge costs of in house implementation and instead have to pay a reasonable monthly subscription.
What is Hosted Sharepoint (and how it differs from Sharepoint Server)?
Apart from basic email capabilities, companies also need the ability to manage the company’s information, stored in documents, and the ability for employees to work together on this information. This is what SharePoint, Microsoft’s browser-based collaboration and document management platform does. It can be used to host and create a company’s web site that includes shared workspaces and documents, as well as specialized applications like to do lists, discussion boards, wikis and blogs. But Sharepoint’s power is coupled with its complexity. It’s implementation is no less cumbersome and costly than Exchange. Moreover, it is not end user friendly. Subject matter experts cannot share their knowledge directly; they always have to either go through IT intermediaries, or undergo specialized training which consumes time and diverts attention from competencies.  Knowledge is not dispersed freely through the organization, but is choked by having to pass through the IT bottleneck.
As with hosted Exchange, under hosted Sharepoint, all aspects of a company’s Sharepoint implementation and management are outsourced to third party vendors. Customers can still access all of Sharepoint’s features over the internet, but for a reasonable monthly fee.
Microsoft Takes the Big Services Plunge
As long as the hosted market was not sizable, Microsoft was content selling Exchange and Sharepoint as software products, and let its partners and independent vendors do the hosting. But considering the bourgeoning of the SAAS market lately, and its future outlook, coupled with tough competition from “alternative” collaboration and messaging offerings like Google Apps, Gmail and HyperOffice, MS finally In Oct. 2007, Microsoft finally took the plunge when it announced hosted Sharepoint and Exchange for enterprises with more than 5,000 seats - titled Exchange Online and Sharepoint Online. In Feb 2008, it went one step further by opening these services to all organizations, irrespective of size.
The Hot News - Microsoft’s “Hosted Service Bundles”
Keeping with its recent rapid movement, on July 8, 2008, Microsoft made another announcement, introducing a novel, if not controversial strategy. In addition to offering its hosted services as single offerings, it announced that early in 2009, it would also offer them as “bundles”, a combination of services at a reduced total cost.
Microsoft has introduced two “bundles”, titled the Deskless Worker suite and Information Worker suite. The deskless worker suite is priced at just $3 per user per month, and will include Exchange Online services as well as read only access to Sharepoint Online services. This is supposedly targeted at workers who typically spend only a very small part of their day in front of the computer. The information worker suite is priced $15 per user per month and includes a full range of offerings including Exchange Online, Share Online and Live Meeting, Microsoft’s web conferencing software.
An Assessment
Great Solution?
At first view, it would seem that Microsoft has come out with a great offering. The entire range of Microsoft’s best of breed enterprise applications, rolled into one, available at a very affordable monthly fee. Exchange online for email, calendars, address books, task management and access over the web and mobile; Sharepoint Online for collaboration and customized portals for teams and partners; and LiveMeeting to conduct audio and video conferencing with multiple participants no matter where they are. All at the customers disposal, in a single offering, at an imminently reachable $15.
A good opportunity to validate the parts - as in they have the right idea messagin, project collaboration, document management, Outlook sharing, couple with online meetings.
Think Again
Whenever something seems so perfect, it always makes sense to bring ones guard up, and look closer. The first phrase to reconsider is - “rolled into one” or “all in one”. Does it mean that all of Microsoft’s great offerings have been integrated into a single, seamless solution, with all aspects communicating with each other? Or does it mean something else.
Well, it means something else. All in one refers more to “all in one pricing”. The services remain exactly as they were; only they will cost less when purchased jointly. Individually, Microsoft sells hosted Exchange Online for $10; SharePoint Online for $7.25; Office Communications Online for $2.50; and Office Live Meeting Online for $4.50. So a joint pricing of $15 means a saving of $ 9.50 per user per month.
Moreover, even the separate components of Microsoft’s new offerings are bare bones solutions, requiring implementation and configuration, before a workable solution is set up. This is effort most small to mid sized businesses are not equipped to make, nor do they want to make. Although the pricing of Microsoft’s bundles may be very tempting, a major reason companies go to “hosted service” providers in the first place is that in addition to hosting they also offer “managed services”. All aspects of configuration, integration and maintenance are their hassle. If all the components - Exchange, Sharepoint, LiveMeeting and Office Communications; are to be integrated into a single seamless solution, that will require massive implementation.
So, although Microsoft’s offering looks enticing from a distance, it is hardly the end to end, ready to use solution businesses are really looking for. Microsoft offers all pieces of the puzzle, but they remain separate pieces that don’t fit together. Even the measly priced Deskless worker suite has attracted a lot of flak. The verdict is that it caters to an imaginary class of worker who needs only read only access to company information. Although real life workers of this class don’t access the company’s information systems as much, they often interact with the system in critical ways. An example is a nurse who may need to keep the hospital’s drug stock updated.
Hosted Service Provider’s Perspective
With Microsoft jumping into the fray, and at very competitive prices at that, traditional providers (Microsoft Solution Providers) of Exchange and Sharepoint hosting are certainly feeling the heat. Setting up Microsoft infrastructure on their servers, and further selling it as a service offered them a steady and ongoing revenue stream. But Microsoft offering such services directly will certainly cut into their pockets as they can hardly hope to compete with Microsoft’s pricing.
Microsoft was well aware that the latest announcement would pinch hosted service partners bad, and not intending to cut them out of the picture completely, it made another announcement intended to keep them interested. Partners can resell Microsoft’s new hosted service offering and pocket a percentage of the ongoing revenue. Partners will receive 12 percent per user, per month, up front for a first-year contract, and 6 percent per user, per month, of the ongoing subscription fee. So in the first year, resellers of hosted services will receive 18 percent margins on the subscription value, and 6 percent for subsequent years. But in spite of this carrot, partners are still smarting, because reselling Microsoft services won’t be nearly as profitable as letting out on premise implementations. 
Some Microsoft solution providers are worried that this puts them in the feast-or-famine mode of trying to find the next project to generate consulting revenue as opposed to recurring revenue streams associated with keeping Exhange and SharePoint servers running.
There is Hope
Although hosted service providers who provide bare bones hosted Microsoft products will feel the competition from Microsoft’s new offerings, but there barely are any vendors who do just that. A vital part of what these companies do has always been adding value by offering integration, consulting and management services on top of the basic Microsoft products they host for their customers. And this need for integration, management and consulting still remains because Microsoft will merely offer basic hosting of its products, while end customers need ready to use products, without the hassle of implementing and managing the application.
So, these companies can continue to do what they’ve been doing all along and still attract customers - host Exchange and Sharepoint on their servers, and build solutions on top of that and offer them to customers as services. Alternatively they can resell Microsoft’s hosted services by adding value added services on top of that, and attract a premium price. One example could be offering support for email on iPhone and Blackberry that stripped down hosted Exchange does not. Or a company could integrate all the components of Microsoft’s bundle - Sharepoint, Exchange, LiveMeeting and Office Communications, into a single seamless solution with a centralized console.
The Search for Truly “Complete” Solutions
Although with this announcement, Microsoft didn’t quite deliver what it seemed to offer, the need it sought to address is nonetheless very pertinent. The need for a truly end to end, integrated messaging, collaboration and web conferencing solution, with each component fitting seamlessly into the whole and communicating with every other component. Solutions which don’t require any hardware, downloads or maintenance and are ready to use from day one. Solutions which come at an affordable monthly subscription.
So, do end customers have to wait for a couple of years before somebody else takes up this challenge? The answer is a resounding “certainly not!”. Although Microsoft may make it seem like it was the first to serve this compelling need (not that it really did serve the need), it was for the precise reason of pressure from rival products that Microsoft took the “bundled hosting” plunge. Google for one offers many compelling alternatives to Microsoft’s Exchange and Sharepoint with Google Apps, Google Pages, Gmail et all. But even Google’s star products are piece meal, and it hasn’t so far come up with a truly integrated end to end solution. Moreover, it doesn’t have a web conferencing solution at all, which would be vital in a totally complete solution.
But there is a another category of solution providers, who may not be as big as Google and Microsoft, or get that kind of frenzied airtime, but they have for years offered very compelling solutions to small and mid sized businesses. Many of these solutions would put the biggies to shame, and are in intimate touch with the real needs of the small to mid sized business segment. To present my case, I shall discuss the web based application HyperOffice. HyperOffice has been operating in the “Exchange and SharePoint Alternative” domain for years, and they’ve built their solution bottom up, based on experience. It would not be wrong to say, that they’ve been doing for years what Microsoft promised to do just now, and did not do even that.
Now to assess HyperOffice on the basis of the parameters we have defined for a truly end to end solution.
Exchange Features
HyperOffice includes business email, shared contact management, shared calendars and shared task management. It also includes Outlook integration and can be used to power the Outlook accounts of your employees as if Exchange were running in the background, only that its not. Users can access their accounts on their desktops using Outlook or online using any Mac or PC browser and all information is automatically kept in synch. Moreover users can also access and synch their accounts from mobile devices like iPhone, Blackberry etc.
Sharepoint Features
As an alternative to Sharepoint, HyperOffice includes a publisher tool which can be used to set up dedicated intranet and extranet workspaces for employees, departments, partners or clients. The publisher allows for deep customization of the workspaces according to user needs. Users can finely manage the appearance, layout, pages, interlinking of these workspaces. In addition they can choose from a range of collaboration tools to add to each workspace - document management, calendars, address books, to do lists, task management, forums, IM, polls etc.
HyperOffice also includes a rich online document management tool. It allows for easy online storage and organization of all file types and allows people to collaborate on documents using features like versioning, notifications, locking, overwrite protection etc.
Web Conferencing
Keeping with growing travel prices and increasing openness of companies to web conferencing as a mode of communication, HyperOffice has recently introduced HyperMeeting, its web conferencing tool. It is as robust as any web conferencing solution, with the ability to conference with upto 125 participants, file distribution, presentations, application and desktop sharing, whiteboard etc.
Integratedness
The best thing about a solution like HyperOffice is that all parts fit perfectly into the whole. This makes sense, because even in a business, all parts are forever interacting with each other, and so it should be with a collaboration solution. Consider the following scenario - A web conference needs to be set up. Since it is a meeting, invites need to be sent out to all the participants. So an automatic invitation tool will be involved. The invitation tool will need to talk to address books so that the right recipients are selected. Moreover, to ensure that participants don’t have clashing schedules, calendars will need to be compared. Before the meeting is undertaken some documents may need to be distributed to the participants, and collaborated on. So the document management tool would be involved. The conference may relate to an important milestone in a project. So the project management tool would be involved. This is only one situation in which one can envision different parts of the system having to interact with each other; there may be a myriad of other such situations. The synergies that are to be had in such a system are tremendous.
In HyperOffice, different parts of the system come together simply, logically and effectively. It’s no wonder that it’s been nominated for many awards under the “design” category. The solution allows users to set up workspaces for individuals with tools like email, personal document libraries, address books, calendars, to do lists, links, reminders etc. On the second level workspaces can be set up for groups with looks like document management and collaboration, shared calendars, shared address books, group tasks, web conferencing, forums, polls, chat etc. This is a great example of the coming together of messaging, collaboration and web conferencing features.
Moreover, HyperOffice includes a myriad of other features which can only come after years of experience working with clients. These are the ability to integrate the solution with Outlook, mobile access for devices like iPhone and Blackberry, and the ability to manage documents and drag and drop upload documents directly from the desktop.
Another great aspect from an administration point of view is the ability to manage everything from a central console. All aspects of collaboration are contained within HyperOffice and users don’t have to look in different directions and learn a myriad of software for different uses.
Tailored for SMBs
Big names like Microsoft and Google always eye the bigger customers of the range of around 5000 seats because of the juicer profits to be gotten from those clients. So both the products and the services offered around these products take shape with that segment in mind. Smaller companies like HyperOffice, however have been developed specifically for the small to mid sized business segment, and refined through years of experience. The onus is on developing ready to use products with easy “push button” functionality.
HyperOffice just needs a signup and can be set up almost instantly. It is an end-user’s tool, as just about anybody can get on the system and publish information or use the tools. No technical expertise is required to implement or use it. Moreover, they also offer free training and support services to assist companies along the way. If a customer chooses, they can easily scale down the solution, and choose only a subset of the tools offered based on its needs and comfort level, rather than the entire suite.
Conclusion
In conclusion, although Microsoft has opened its hosted solutions to all, they still remain suitable for organizations which are largish if not large. Vendors could also resell Microsoft’s bundles by throwing in integration and management services, but then they will ask for a premium price and the low price tags won’t remain. Frankly, even in their hosted avatar, Microsoft tools are still not suitable for small businesses because they never were developed for this segment, and the effect will always be of trying to squeeze a big foot in a small shoe.
Clearly, the lesson for growing organizations is that although Microsoft and other big names have rather belatedly gotten on the “Small to medium sized business” bandwagon, one has to cut through the hype, and look in all directions for the best solution. And more often than not, the most compelling solutions will come from elsewhere.