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Well it looks as though we may be entering the doldrums of a long hot summer with no exciting news to spark our interest. And then Stuart J. Johnston’s article in Small Business Computing.com entitled “Microsoft Launches Office 365 for SMB Markets” and its companion article in Small Business Computing.com entitled “Is a Low-cost Calling Plan in the Works for Office 365” comes to save the day. Actually, I think we have to give Microsoft a bit of the credit as well, because after all it was their recent announcement that the cloud applications suite known as “Office 365” was ready for GA (“General Availability”) to the SMB market place.

The enterprise suite will contain the following applications in the CLOUD:

·         Exchange Online for email

·         SharePoint Online for collaboration

·         Lync Online for unified communications

·         Web versions of its Office applications -- called the Office Web Apps

The price is right. Microsoft will be offering an optional monthly subscription fee for those SMB’s without a full-time or even part-time IT department. A Microsoft Spokesman stated:

“With Office 365 for small businesses, customers can be up and running with Office Web Apps, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and an external website in minutes, for $6 per user, per month. These tools put enterprise-grade email, shared documents, instant messaging, video and Web conferencing, portals and more at everyone’s fingertips.”

Microsoft is building an infrastructure of service providers to help service the SMB market place which include: AppRiver, Intuit, Premier Global Services, CDW, Bell Canada, Telefonica, Telstra, and Vodafone. Microsoft Spokesman stated:

“These companies will package Office 365 with their own services -- from Web hosting and broadband to finance solutions and mobile services -- and bring those new offerings to millions of small and midsize businesses globally"

Is Skype Next?

Back in May 2011 Microsoft announced its purchase of the low-cost calling service Skype for $8.5 billion. Microsoft’s purchase has obtained US Regulatory approval. What remains is obtaining such approval globally. Sharon Pian Chen, technology reporter for the Seattle Times, quotes Kurt Delbene, president of Microsoft’s Business Division:

“Office 365 will be the first place Skype will be added to a Microsoft product when Microsoft closes its purchase of Skype"

The cloud version of Lync 2010, Lync Online, a key component of Office 365, provides instant messaging, voice, and video calling. Microsoft’s CEO, Steve Ballmer, envisions huge benefits to be obtained by combining the Lync’s unified communications server and Skype.

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First I would like to define what we mean by Unified Communications (“UC”).  Unified Communications encompasses email, instant messaging, texting, phones, and other networking and mobility applications.  In short Unified Communications “ … lets users access people and resources, no matter the location or communication channel, spurring productivity and boosting business processes at an economical cost.”  For an in-depth discussion on this topic see UC Will Prove Challenging to Buyers And Sellers by Judy Mottl.

Initially SMB’s have found it a daunting task to try and pull all these various applications together into one cohesive platform.  The lack of funds and the lack of familiarity with these tools have hindered their move to UC.  The familiarity issue is evaporating as more people are using these communication tools in their non-work life and begin to demand these tools in the workplace.  For further discussion on the capabilities and uses of the newest wireless devices and the coming of the Mobile Web see the following posts in this blog:

• Blackberry Bold RIMs Next 3G High Speed Wireless Handset

• 4G and The Mobile Web: WiMAX v LTE

SaaS may be the way that SMB’s can overcome the budgetary constraints as well as the integration problems that have acted as a barrier for these enterprises.  SaaS provides a faster deployment and the right provider can pull all the telephony tools and applications together into one unified and interconnected unit.  Judy Mottl has written an excellent article that details in the ins and outs for those SMB’s considering this next step into UC.  In her article SaaS Best Path for SMB Unified Communications: Service strategy lets small companies enjoy technology benefits without the headaches she interviews Simon Edwards, UC project director, British Telecom (“BT”), who cautions not to get locked into one particular platform:

"SMBs have to make sure they stick to an agnostic platform," said Edwards, adding that the best approach is an open standards platform that allows emerging technologies from different tool makers

Mottl concludes her article with a quote from Mat Taylor, a senior software architect with BT:

"The ability to get things done faster, get workers more engaged in business scenario, provide better customer service, are all big productivity wins that benefit the bottom line"

For more on the coming of age of handheld devices for the UC revolution see the following posts in this blog:

• Future of Wireless Devices

• SAP Sapphire 2008

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