Microsoft broadens online business services

Microsoft is planning to offer its online services for email and collaboration software to more companies, in an effort to stop its business customers moving to rivals.

Microsoft launched subscription-based online services in 2007. It offers services to run the Microsoft Exchange corporate email program and SharePoint collaboration software on its own computer systems.

This provides customers with a cost-effective alternative to buying and maintaining their own servers to run licensed software. It also avoids them being tied to long-term agreements.

Microsoft originally offered hosted web services to companies with more than 5,000 workers, but in the second half of 2008 they will be made available to companies of all sizes.

Search Server 2008 Express software will also be made available as a free download. This allows companies to search files and documents inside their network, and competes with Google’s Search Appliance.

Microsoft will announce the news at a conference for SharePoint, an application which allows workers to share documents and plan projects on secure websites.

The market for hosted web services is expanding rapidly, with Microsoft competing with Google, Salesforce.com and a growing number of start-up companies.

Story link: Microsoft broadens online business services