Discover the future of software with hostedcommunication and collaboration services

Free your IT with Software-plus-Services

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The PC has quietly moved from our desks to our laps to our mobile phones and entertainment centres – taking the Web with it each step of the way.

Software-plus-Services is the next logical step in the evolution of computing. It represents an industry shift toward a design approach that is neither exclusively software-centric nor browser-centric. By deeply and genuinely combining the best aspects of software with the best aspects of cloud-based services, we can deliver more compelling solutions for consumers, developers and businesses.

Microsoft envisions a world where rich, highly-functional and elegant experiences extend from the PC, to the Web, to the devices people use every day.

Ray Ozzie, Microsoft Chief Software Architect

Table of ContentsI. What is Software-plus-Services and how can it help control IT costs?

II. How can Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite help make your organisation more competitive?

III. How can Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite address your primary business concerns?

IV. How will Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite benefit people in your organisation?

V. What are the main points to consider when choosing a provider for Software-plus-Services?

VI. How can you learn more?

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I. What is Software-plus-Services and how can it help control IT costs?

Beyond the challenges of cost cutting, volatile markets, and unpredictable customer demand, forward-thinking organisations are looking to IT and innovative technologies to build a competitive advantage.

As with all expenditure, the costs involved with acquiring new IT solutions are coming under increased scrutiny. Yet, by making intelligent and targeted IT investments, these businesses are still driving meaningful performance gains that are helping to increase productivity and save money.

SMALL AND MID-SIZED BUSINESS PRIORITIESA recent survey of nearly 500 small and mid-sized business owners and managers found they are seeking to use IT to improve customer responsiveness, increase productivity, and reduce costs; in essence, for IT investments to positively impact both revenue and expenses.

IT INVESTMENT CAN HELPSoftware-plus-Services (S+S) is emerging as a model that can effectively balance the demands for both greater productivity and rapid return on investment. It allows businesses to enhance their IT resources by supplementing existing on-premise software with services that are hosted on the Web.

Traditionally, businesses have been completely reliant on software which is installed on their PCs and servers. This approach offers secure software that can be adapted to a company’s specific needs. But it can also be very restrictive; employees are tied to the office, and the organisation is tied to its IT infrastructure.

With the rise of the Internet, other companies have found they are able to meet many of their software needs with services that are accessed via the Web. This approach, often referred to as ‘cloud computing’, offers greater mobility for employees and greater flexibility for the organisation. But it can be restrictive too, needing a constant connection to the Internet, and making it more difficult for a company to tailor software to their unique needs.

S+S brings these two approaches together, blending the security and power of on-premise software with the flexibility and mobility of Web-hosted services – creating a more flexible solution that sees online and offline applications work together. And because hosted software is charged on a subscription basis, its pricing brings advanced IT-enabled capabilities within reach of almost every business looking to increase competitiveness with the help of technology.

Source: MSFT Primary Research, Oct 2008, 462 respondents from 20 countries (80% US, 20% WW; primarily Canada, UK and Australia); 74.5% Business Decision Makers, 25.8% IT Pros, 64.1% small organisations, 35.9% medium organisations

WW Small and Mid-Sized Business Survey (October 2008)

In order to compete…my company must:

1. Improve customer experiences.2. Stay focused on our original strategy.3. Invest in customer acquisition and retention.4. Improve processes to increase employee productivity.If my company was to make one significant technology investment to help us compete in the next six months, we’d focus on:

1. Making employees more productive.2. Improving data management.What business actions, if any, are you either currently taking, or planning to take…:

1. Use technology to become more energy efficient. 2. Reduce travel (use phone, Internet etc. instead). 3. Take steps to reduce time/expense associated with systems

management.4. Improve customer experience or management through IT.

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KEEPING THE PURSE STRINGS TIGHTSubscribing to Web-hosted services doesn’t require an investment in new hardware or the full-time expertise required to deploy, run and maintain a growing infrastructure. All you need to pay is a low, per user monthly subscription charge, so the cost of entry is considerably lower than with on-premise solutions.

MAKING THE MOST OF RESOURCESAs online services are hosted by a third party, day-to-day maintenance is taken care of by the supplier. This frees IT staff to spend less time on repetitive tasks such as patch maintenance, and focus more attention and resources on projects that add incremental value to the business.

A simple deployment process also ensures organisations can realise the advantages of new tools quickly and simply, making an immediate difference to their competitiveness and profitability.

ADAPTING TO THE NEW BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTWith the current unpredictability in the marketplace, businesses need to be able to respond quickly to shifts in customer behaviour. The S+S approach is bringing a greater degree of agility to businesses that previously relied solely on on-premise software. By adding hosted services to locally installed software, companies can adapt their IT systems more easily than ever to changes in the way they operate.

TOP PERFORMERS WILL CONTINUE TO INVESTAnalysts predict that top-performing companies will continue to make meaningful gains in business performance to stay ahead of the competition and expand their market share. And the fundamental role that IT plays in establishing and maintaining a competitive advantage will be central to determining the success of a business’ strategy.

So while it is critical that businesses continue to scrutiniseinvestments and streamline costs, it is equally imperativethat these cost-saving measures do not come at the expense of competitiveness in the marketplace.

“CEOs [now] view IT as a critical part of growing a business. [In the near future] IT‘s contribution will be cited in the top three success factors by at least half of top-performing businesses; IT barriers will be cited in the top three failure factors by at least half of the lowest performers.”

– John Mahoney and Tom Berg of Gartner, ‘IT Strategies for Uncertain Economic Times’, December 2008

“Interest in strategic infrastructure improvements speaks to the desire [to make] …meaningful performance gains. Major overhauls and forklift upgrades are less attractive…[this] is where online services and cloud computing can make an important difference…”

– IDC, December 2008, ‘Impact of the Changing Economy on SMB IT Spending: Who Is Being Affected and How?’

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II. How can Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite help make your organisation more competitive?

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) is the embodiment of Microsoft’s Software-plus-Services (S+S) strategy, providing businesses with the best of both the online and the offline worlds.

Comprising hosted communication and collaboration services from Microsoft, BPOS includes Microsoft® Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint® Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting, and Microsoft Office Communications Online.

These tools, whether bought as a set or individually, enhance the capabilities of an organisation’s existing IT infrastructure, helping to increase employee productivity by driving greater collaboration and responsiveness.

Increased Productivity on Business-class Tools• Your end users have a unified experience and consistent look and feel from virtually

any device, in almost any location• Users can securely access the service anywhere without the need for a virtual private

network (VPN) connection

Easy to deploy and manage• Quickly and easily extend new capabilities

to your organisation, from one centralcontrol panel

• Centralised management lets you add new users and manage them all from one place

Monitoring and reporting tools• Monitoring and reporting consoles keep you

in control of the services you offer end users

How it works

Blend and shiftas needed• Adjust your

deployment modelbetween on-premise and hosted solutionsas your businessneeds change

IT professional Admin interface

Remote worker Mobile worker On-premise worker

On-premisedata centre

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Streamlined IT costs / Improved IT agility

Add new services without having to deploy new • hardware and software Free your valuable IT resources from routine • management tasks, to focus on core business initiatives

Business-class security and reliability

Secure Internet protocols • Disaster recovery: redundant network architecture • and data centresMultiple layers of security•

Benefits of Business Productivity Online

Save time• with shared, up-to-date calendars, contacts and task listsImprove information flow• with integrated access across multiple devices

Make it easier to find information• with a central location for documents and data Improve collaboration• with online places to share information

Reduce costs• with multi-party video and audio over existing broadband connection Improve remote meeting • effectiveness with online, real-time presentations and updates

Speed up response time• by getting answers fast – knowing who is online and connecting with them instantly

Value of Capabilities

Office Communications OnlineMicrosoft®

SharePoint® OnlineMicrosoft®

Office Live MeetingMicrosoft®

Exchange OnlineMicrosoft®

SECURE COLLABORATION ON TAPBPOS gives employees improved access to information, providing the tools they need to work on the go – promoting productivity and generating additional revenue. Mobile workers can access services securely anywhere with an Internet connection, through any popular mobile device, laptop or Web café computer.

As well as having access to the very latest in business-class e-mail, employees can also get the most from Web conferencing, instant messaging, document collaboration and workflow. And with ‘presence’ awareness, everyone is available when they want to be, and left in peace when they don’t.

BPOS provides a selection of tools that enable organisations to improve operational efficiency by adopting an S+S approach.

MESSAGING (E-MAIL AND CALENDAR)– EXCHANGE ONLINEExchange Online is a hosted enterprise messaging service that gives organisations secure business-class e-mail, anywhere access for employees and ease of management for IT staff.

COLLABORATION – SHAREPOINT ONLINESharePoint Online is a hosted enterprise collaboration service that gives businesses a highly secure, central location where employees can share information and collaborate with other team members, helping them work smarter and make better-informed decisions.

CONFERENCING – OFFICE LIVE MEETINGOffice Live Meeting is a hosted Web-conferencing service that enables businesses to stay in touch with clients and mobile workers. Employees can connect internally and also engage customers and partners externally through real-time meetings, training sessions and events, using only a PC with an Internet connection and basic software.

INSTANT MESSAGING AND PRESENCE– OFFICE COMMUNICATIONS ONLINEOffice Communications Online is a hosted instant messaging and presence solution that gives businesses a more secure environment than public instant messaging tools – but with all the benefits of being able to send and receive immediate communications.

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III. How can Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite address your primary business concerns?

Organisations that use Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) to enhance their messaging and collaboration facilities can see beneficial impacts in almost every department, addressing many seeminglyunrelated issues.

What you may be experiencingToo much time spent on admin tasks

Difficulty scheduling meetings• Always looking for information / files•

Productivity low while away from the office

Varying experiences by type of device • (computer, phone)Limited access to information•

What the Business Productivity Online Suite can deliverAnywhere, anytime access to up-to-the-second information

Shared calendars, contacts, task lists• Seamless access across devices• Online and offline access – synchronised • when you reconnect

Improved collaborationStreamlined and dynamic choice of • communications (voice, video, messaging)Secure, central, virtual workspace •

Give your employees the tools to be more productive

What you may be experiencingSystem downtime

Periodic outages during business hours • Lost or compromised data•

Exposure Vulnerability to ‘attack’ • (e.g. e-mail SPAM, firewall updates) Risk of sensitive data being lost •

What the Business Productivity Online Suite can deliverSecure, reliable operations

Redundancy in systems and data • (99.9% SLA)Enterprise-class virus protection •

Secure access and complianceSecure Internet protocols including HTTPS • and HTTP over SSLCompliance with Sarbanes Oxley and • SAS70

Ensure your business is secure and running

Build confidence with a reliable IT services provider

What you may be experiencingHigh IT costs

Too many conditions to evaluate the real price• Disconnected standalone applications and • services

Uncertain IT futureNiche service providers • Fear of being locked into online solutions•

Enhance your team’s ability to respond to customers

What you may be experiencingSlow customer turnaround time

Inefficient version control on proposals• Slow turnaround time to customers’ requests•

High travel costsHigh touch process• Low meeting productivity •

What the Business Productivity Online Suite can deliverRapid customer response

Robust information sharing, e.g. external-facing team site • (customer and company) for team membersRapid, organised collaboration (for remote users as well)•

Improved customer insightMore frequent communication, e.g. ad hoc video conferencing• Improved customer management, e.g. secure storage of key • ‘project’ documents, externally accessible

Customer

Sales and Marketing

Production

Customer Service Finance

What you may be experiencingUnpredictable costs

Periodic major expenses in new systems, upgrades • and fixesHigh and unforseen support costs•

Slow to respond to usersTroubleshooting yesterday’s problems• Maintaining software and hardware•

What the Business Productivity Online Suite can deliverReduced costs

Lower total cost of ownership• Shifting large capital investments to flexible, low • monthly operating expenses

Strategic focus for IT Shifting of non-strategic IT operations functions to an • online service providerSimplified IT management: minimising hardware • planning and server deployment

What the Business Productivity Online Suite can deliverCommitted Service Provider

Integrated solution ‘out of the box’• Commitment to SMB and adding new capabilities over time •

The POWER OF CHOICE The same application, on-premise or online• Flexible deployment options•

Focus limited IT resources on strategic business improvement

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IV. How will Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite benefit people in your organisation?

Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) can benefit employees at every level of an organisation, from the CEO down.

Employee effectiveness

Customer responsiveness

“…making investments so my top talent has the best IT tools to help drive the business.”

“…helps us to work together more effectively on key customer issues, ensuring we meet their requirements.”

CEO

BPOS helps to maximise the effectiveness of the company’s employees by providing better access to real-time information and reducing time spent on non-value administrative activities (e.g. looking for files, etc).

The result is more effective company-wide communication and collaboration, whether on theroad or in the office. The organisation can also respondmore rapidly to customers, partners and suppliers.

CFO

BPOS helps the company to deliver better results by using advanced collaboration and communication to reduce the time it takes to turn projects around. For example, teams can streamline core processes like monthly reporting or client project management.

At the same time, moving online helps with the bottom line. With less up-front investment, lower operating costs, and predictable monthly expenses, the solution can deliver return on investment even in the first month.

IT Manager

BPOS enables IT managers to re-allocate resources from running and maintaining IT hardware to projects that focus on core business value. It also provides anorganisation with enterprise-class security and reliabilitythat previously was only available to large companies.

Sales and Marketing

BPOS helps companies respond to customers more rapidly and professionally to help win new deals and grow existing relationships. Advanced communication capabilities can increase the quality of customer-facing interactions, while the collaboration features can helpteams to turn around customer proposals faster –managing campaigns and other projects more efficiently than before.

Additionally, online digital meeting capabilities enable companies to deliver more professional client presentations, while saving travel costs.

Employee effectiveness

Saves money

“…putting IT to work on business issues that have an immediate bottom-line impact.”

“…enterprise-class reliability and security without having the expense of building and managing it.”

Employee effectiveness

Customer responsiveness

“…a more collaborative approach to help us WIN against the competition.”

“…we spend less time coordinating customer feedback and controlling document versions.”

Employee effectiveness

Saves money

“…an investment where I can see the benefits quickly paying back.”

“…helps us to plan – removing large and somewhat unpredictable capital expenses to a predictable operating expense.”

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V. What are the main points to consider when choosing a provider for Software-plus-Services?

Every organisation’s IT requirements are unique, as are the offerings of every Software-plus-Services (S+S) vendor. As an evolution of our industry-leading range of business software, Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) has the unique advantage of providing both the flexibility of S+S, and the familiarity of popular Microsoft software.

To simplify the process of choosing a vendor for your online services, we have broken down key considerations in to four sections.

HOW TO BUYYou can start adding value to your organisation today with hosted communication and collaboration tools, by purchasing a subscription to BPOS online. For additional assistance developing a bespoke solution to meet your specific business needs, or for help integrating online services with on-premise systems, our partner community offers all the expertise you need.

For more information on how to buy BPOS, visit www.microsoft.com/online/en-gb/buy.mspx ●

To explore the benefits of BPOS with a free trial, visit www.microsoft.com/online/en-gb/products.mspx ●

Or, to find a partner to assist you with online services, visit https://solutionfinder.microsoft.com ●

Choice of delivery

Organisations have told us they need software with the scalability to adapt to the changing needs oftheir company.

Microsoft enables businesses to choose the delivery method that best suits their needs, while simultaneously planning for the future with scalable technology.

Licensing

Businesses have told us they would like software and tools that complement their IT infrastructure and adapt to long-term business needs.

Microsoft provides a variety of packages and software editions, allowing organisations to choose the optimal solution for their business.

Deployment and maintenance

Enterprises have asked us for deployment and maintenance options in order to successfully implement solutions and streamline management.

Microsoft provides flexible options to help ensure a smooth deployment transition and simplified maintenance. Customers also benefit from comprehensive support and training, and a financially backed service level agreement with 99.9 per cent uptime guaranteed.

Security

Minimising risk from external threats and ensuring that information is secure are essential tasks for any organisation. Businesses want transparency and validation of security tools, and the ability to control security policies.

Microsoft software provides flexibility, allowing businesses to set security policies tailored to theirspecific requirements, enabling compliance. Customers also receive disaster recovery data protection.

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VI. How can you learn more?

If you want more information on the Business Productivity Online Suite, find it here: ●www.microsoft.com/online/en-gb/products.mspx

If you have an IT provider, ask them about Microsoft’s Online Services ●

If you don’t have an IT provider, find one here: ●https://solutionfinder.microsoft.com

If you are ready to try or buy the Business Productivity Online Suite, visit: ●www.microsoft.com/online/en-gb/buy.mspx

The information contained in this document represents the current view of Microsoft Corporation on the issues discussed as of the date of publication. Because Microsoft must respond to changing market conditions, it should not be interpreted to be a commitment on the part of Microsoft, and Microsoft cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information presented after the date of publication.This White Paper is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, AS TO THE INFORMATION IN THIS DOCUMENT.Complying with all applicable copyright laws is the responsibility of the user. Without limiting the rights under copyright, no part of this document may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), or for any purpose, without the express written permission of Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft may have patents, patent applications, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property rights covering subject matter in this document. Except as expressly provided in any written licence agreement from Microsoft, the furnishing of this document does not give you any licence to these patents, trademarks, copyrights, or other intellectual property.Unless otherwise noted, the example companies, organisations, products, domain names, e-mail addresses, logos, people, places and events depicted herein are fictitious, and no association with any real company, organisation, product, domain name, e-mail address, logo, person, place or event is intended or should be inferred©2009 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.All Microsoft trademarks are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information on Exchange go to www.microsoft.com/EXCHANGE/default.mspx For more information on Microsoft SharePoint go to www.microsoft.com/Sharepoint/default.mspx For more information on Microsoft Office Communications go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/communicationsserver/default.aspx For more information on Microsoft Office Live Meeting go to http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/livemeeting/default.aspx For more information on Business Productivity Online Suite go to www.microsoft.com/online/business-productivity.mspx