Comments on: Microsoft Online Services: SaaS Pricing, Partner Strategy Announced

By: Tom

Tom — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:53:36 +0000

what ms is offering is SAAS for big business. the productivity suite is not suitable for small businesses because all of its components are unintegerated and will need implementation and management effort. alternative solutions to exchange and sharepoint are more viable for this segment because they offer all the features relevant to this segment, and are integrated and ready to use from day one.

By: mcooch

mcooch — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:23:44 +0000

Agreed. I think custom hosting situations will provide a lot of opportunity, but reselling basic services such as these just don’t cut it.

Mike

By: Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:39:30 +0000

I hear you, Mike.

I’m not an MSP (and I don’t play one on the Internet). But if I was in the MSP game, I’d skip the low-end commodity stuff that Microsoft is selling at $3 to $15 per seat per month. Let Microsoft compete — alone and directly — against Google Apps for that low-end market.

On the other hand, I do think MSPs can add value and make money hosting Exchange Server, Dynamics CRM and/or SharePoint. (Though it seems like the Exchange and SharePoint hosting markets are getting crowded fast.) But that’s just an educated guess from a guy who doesn’t actually have to build and deploy this stuff…

By: Mike Cooch

Mike Cooch — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 04:30:54 +0000

I haven’t looked into the details yet, but I struggle to find a way that any partner could make a business out of selling these services at such low prices and with such low margins.

Mike Cooch
http://www.smbitpros.com
http://www.everonit.com