Information about SharePoint, Microsoft 365, Azure, Mobility and Productivity from the Computer Information Agency
Although this webinar comes from the UK it provides a pretty good overview of what BPOS is and how resellers can go about incorporating it into their suite of products. You’ll find the download at:
it runs for about an hour and is particularly worthwhile if you are considering Microsoft Business Online Productivity Suite (BPOS).
I see BPOS as being the early days of the way things are now heading. Most encouraging is that it allows me to sell solutions to customers without the constraints of geography anymore. In a few recent presentations I’ve given I’ve told other resellers they should be afraid of something like BPOS because it means that I’m coming to their market and their customers. I say this with the full knowledge that exactly the same is possible in my market space because this is what the new world order of cloud computing brings. It means a completely new business model. It means you face a greater number of competitors but it also provides you with greater opportunities to reach new markets as well. The only question is whether you will exploit the opportunities presented or simply react when the competition arrives on your shores.
As I have said before I believe the killer app for BPOS will be Live Meeting, simply because it is something that is going to provide real benefits for most customers who have never had access to technology like this. They will be able to conduct remote meetings, present sales demonstrations and importantly record them for repeat use. How powerful is that going to be to a business to provide a video presentation of their products and allow people to view it on demand?
Of course the other huge potential I see is for SharePoint, given that so few people are aware of the benefits it can provide. Another great opportunity will be the ability of SharePoint to provide templated solutions, that can be developed and then resold many times over. Combine that with something like OneNote and you have a really great collaboration solution as the Pfizer case study demonstrates.
Perhaps another benefit that BPOS provides resellers is environment standardization. This means that every BPOS implementation of SharePoint say is identical. Everything is always in the same place, the software is always at the same version and so on. How many times is this the case between different client sites? Almost never. Having a completely standard environment not only makes it much easier to support but means that I can develop standards and procedures that allow others to easily implement the administration while I can concentrate on the higher return work.
As I have detailed in a previous blog post I am always encouraged when other resellers ignore or are hostile to SharePoint because it simply means more opportunity for my business. It provides me an opening with their clients that I can now exploit no matter where they are in the world. In the end I see BPOS not only providing greater opportunities but also simplifying the ability to deploy and support solutions for customers. Isn’t that what we’re all really after?
Here’s a worthwhile review of Microsoft’s Business Online Productivity Suite (BPOS). Called “Microsoft’s BPOS: Cloud Computing’s Silver Lining?”, it concludes:
“We couldn’t think of a single reason why an average person under real-world circumstances wouldn’t be better off with software as a service provided the look, feel, and functionality of the cloud app was identical to its packaged counterpart…except one.”
That one reason is simply if you have an old line of business application (like an accounting program).
One of the interesting points the article does raise is that the standard desktop software we currently use is only licensed. We don’t own it, even though we pay big dollars for it. So, licensing a package across the Internet is essentially very similar to way it has always been done, with some major benefits. You only pay per month, per user and you get access to the latest updates of the package rather than having to apply updates or install new versions.
Everyone agrees there are challenges for online software however as the article again says:
“If Microsoft doesn’t carry this service model to fruition, someone else, Google being first in line, will.”
As the article also highlights, we seem to believe that small businesses won’t make use of things like SharePoint and Live Meeting, where in fact quite the opposite will be true. They are going to embrace these tools since they allow them to run their business more efficiently. I feel these are businesses that are going to shed their existing infrastructure first (bye, bye SBS) and move en masse to online applications.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – the world is changing. Are you?
Here are some handy Microsoft Business Productivity Online Service (BPOS) links that I have found and reviewed lately:
– Microsoft Online Services FAQs: covers some of the most technical questions asked about BPOS.
– Migrate to Microsoft Online Services: This document describes how to migrate your on-premise Exchange Server mailboxes and POP3 and IMAP4 mailboxes to Exchange Online.
– About Using Your Domain with Microsoft Online Services: If your company has registered an Internet domain name, you can add that domain to Microsoft Online Services.
– Microsoft Online Services Trial Guide: Step-by-step instructions for setting up and using a trial account for the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite from Microsoft Online Services.
– Microsoft Online Services Team Blog
There is plenty of information out there and in some cases probably too much. As I work through what I find I’ll post up what I think has the most value.
The first is the Single Sign On (SSO) tool that comes with BPOS. Basically, you install it on your workstation, log into it once and it logs you into all your BPOS applications. Not only that it will configure the local applications for your use automatically. Things like Outlook get configured to allow seamless access to Exchange in the cloud. That is nice and it is going to make it real easy for users on their desktops but that isn’t the killer app.
Next there is SharePoint. There are some limitations around exactly what can be done with BPOS SharePoint but it is more than most customers require anyway. I tested out the ability to index PDF documents, for example, and that works fine, which is great since they are not normally indexed by default (see www.wssops.com for more info). SharePoint in the cloud is going to be huge boon for users since it is going to give them so much more functionality that what they currently have with traditional file shares. Yet that is still not the killer app in my books.
The real killer app for the small to medium business is going to be Web Conferencing (aka Live Meeting). As part of the BPOS package they are going to be able to conduct meetings, conferences, presentations all via the web. This is not only going to save them time and money, it is going to make them appear more professional as well as greener (i.e. less travel). Once you appreciate that you can do so much more business with web conferencing you being to understand that even though the other BPOS stuff is great (and it is), Web conferencing I believe is going to tip most people in its favour.
I can just hear it now – “Wow, you get all that – email, collaboration (SharePoint) AND web conferencing for a low monthly fee? Where do I sign?”
If you are new to what Microsoft is planning to offer then start with:
http://www.microsoft.com/online
If you are a Microsoft Partner then I’d suggest you take a look at:
http://www.discoveronlineservices.com
There you’ll get a better idea of how much Microsoft is going to invest in cloud based services.
To get a better idea of what these services actually look like have a look at the following video presentation:
http://www.microsoft.com/online/demo/v2/demo.aspx
The training was very interesting in that it gave you direct hands on with the product as the following screen shots show:
The Home page includes overview of the services available, tasks and actions.
User management screen displays what products user have as well as actions that can be performed on these users.
Service settings page – showing the applications (Exchange and SharePoint in this case) and how resources are devoted to each. Along the top you’ll see Live Meeting and Office Communications Online are another 2 applications.
If you now click on the SharePoint Online from the menu you’ll see the information about the SharePoint application. You can easily create a new site (via the New button) or administer the existing site via the Site settings button.
Here’s the Migration tab that allows you to configure synchronization with an existing Windows network.
Now BPOS will have its challenges, some of these being unique to Australia, but in general I believe this is the way things are going. Sure it may seen immature now but it is only going to improve.
I’ll spend some time in some upcoming blogs going into a bit more detail of what I’ve found but if you are at all interested in online services from Microsoft I’d suggest that you starting looking at it now!
I’m beginning to get up to speed what will be offered via Microsoft Online Services here in Australia.
Microsoft has created a site www.discoveronlineservices.com which has a huge amount of information and resources about the offerings. If you are a Microsoft partner and you are considering offering online services then you should take a look. Even if you aren’t then I still recommend you take a look to understand the huge investment that Microsoft is making in this area.
Microsoft Online Services will be offered here through Telstra (Why? Not a good idea I reckon but that’s the way it is) and you can find more information of this via the Telstra T-Suite site. Interestingly, I can’t find any links to actual pricing here (early days perhaps?) Given that T-Suite has been around for a while you will find the pricing elsewhere in the T-Suite store site.
Microsoft Online Services is still in its infancy here but can only be expected to grow once the dual marketing monoliths of Telstra and Microsoft get going. A recent webinar I attended certainly indicated that Microsoft expected the greatest uptake of the service to be in the 5-50 user seat arena, in other words prime SBS territory. We are also starting to see documents like “Integrating Windows Small Business Server 2008 with Exchange Online”, which confirm the push for online services in the SMB space.
As I have said before (almost 12 months ago now), SBS 2008, I believe, will be the very last version of Small Business Server. Why? I simply believe that online services in some shape or form is going to gobble up the SMB market and the primary reason doesn’t have anything to do with technology or security. In fact it is all about price. Mainly around the ability to pay per month, per user.
Like it or lump it online services are going to have an impact on the SMB market and I reckon now is the time to get in early and be ahead of the pack.
Microsoft announcement 31 October 2008
“As part of a strategic companywide shift toward embracing web-based solutions, Microsoft today announced plans to deliver Office Web applications – lightweight versions of Office – through web browsers.”
and
“Microsoft will deliver Office Web applications – lightweight versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote – through a browser. With these new applications, people can use a browser to create, edit, and collaborate on Office documents.”
and
“we will offer Office Web applications as a hosted subscription service and through existing volume licensing agreements.”
and
“Together, these new tools enable new styles of community-based collaboration where multiple people can contribute simultaneously to various work through the internet.”
So there you have it. Before long Office will be available from the cloud as subscription from Microsoft. Interestingly, it is my understanding that the same web technology will be available to be deployed inside an organization. Thus, instead of Office on every workstation, you’ll have a server providing Office Web products. Won’t know until the product ships but that wouldn’t be half bad I reckon.
If Microsoft are making a “strategic companywide shift toward web-based solutions” are you? Even if you are only dipping your toe in the water, that’s better than nothing! If you need assistance with what’s available or what suits your business then just contact me.
CIAOPS 