Microsoft Gold Certified Partner London

Microsoft channel hails arrival of Office 365

The launch of Microsoft's cloud-based productivity suite Office 365 has been welcomed by the software giant's channel partners.

The product suite, which is being ushered in to replace Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), was launched in 40 countries yesterday.

It provides subscribers with online access to the latest versions of Microsoft Office, Exchange, Sharepoint and Lync.

At the Office 365 launch event in London, Microsoft's UK managing director Gordon Frazer said the vendor had been heartened by the channel's response to the product.

"We have had over 200,000 organisations across the globe on the beta programme, which has been very exciting," he added.

Tim Wallis, chief executive of Microsoft Gold Partner Content and Code , said his firm has 5,000 customers signed up to BPOS, but 100,000 wanting to move across to Office 365.

"The key thing for the channel is that it should increase sales velocity because you can set this up in days, rather than months [compared to the on-premises version], which is a very appealing proposition for customers," he explained.

The new release should also put paid to comparisons between Microsoft's cloud proposition and Google Apps, he added.

"A lot of the Google stuff is very good, but it is very basic," said Wallis. "Gmail, for example, is not really an enterprise-standard email system."

Mark Herbert, business development director at Microsoft BPOS Syndication Partner intY, said Office 365 makes Google's cloud portfolio look "Fisher Price in comparison".

"The release date for Office 365 has been rather fluid, so we are glad it has finally been released," he added. "Especially as there are a lot of people using Microsoft Office 2003 who want to upgrade to the newest version, but cannot afford the boxed product."

However, Steven Hennessey, sales manager at Microsoft Gold Partner Computerworld Business Solutions , fears the product could pose business continuity problems for some SMEs.

"If you are a small business and your broadband connection fails, your staff lose access to email and the internet, but can still access documents and work," he explained.

"If they are using Office 365 and that happens, the problems could potentially be a lot bigger because of how reliant their business processes are on the cloud.

e-Zest, Microsoft Gold Certified Partner gains ... - openPR.com

E-Zest realizes the benefits of handheld and wireless technologies, particularly the most recent generation of products from Microsoft and its partners. e-Zest is committed to the Microsoft Mobility platform, possess the ability to add value to Microsoft products, expert team members, and a focus on latest mobile/wireless technologies. Some of the key Microsoft Mobility assignments handled by e-Zest includes point of care healthcare PocketPC application & Mobile communication framework on PocketPC based smart clients. “Solutions competencies such as Mobility Solutions make it easier for partners to position their skills to customers, better align their business with Microsoft’s marketing initiatives and form closer relationships with other partners,” said John Traynor, director of business and partner marketing at Microsoft Corp. “By ensuring that our partners are proficient in delivering Windows Mobile-based solutions and applications more quickly and easily, we are able to help our partners provide solutions that enable customers to access information on the go, increasing employee productivity and customer response rates while reducing business cycles and, ultimately, costs.” The Mobility Solutions Competency is designed to enhance the efforts of partners who deliver Windows Mobile based solutions, applications and services using Microsoft tools and technologies, including, but not limited to Systems Integrators, Custom Application developers, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs), Consultants & Solutions Resellers. Also Being as a Mobility Solutions competency partner, e-Zest will get up-front access to information about latest Windows Mobile product releases, roadmaps, and related resources on an ongoing basis directly from Microsoft. e-Zest Solutions Ltd. ( www.e-zest.net ) is an ISO 9001:2000 certified offshore software outsourcing company with expertise and focus on outsourced product development / product engineering solutions and enterprise custom software development. e-Zest has served 80+ industry leader clients in four continents about a decade with 150+ software professionals on board. e-Zest offers its services to ISVs/IT Services, Healthcare, Finance, Manufacturing, Legal, Education, Sports, HR & Travel business verticals with focus on CRM, BI and ERP solutions. e-Zest has dedicated Microsoft & Sun Competency Centers which focus on solutions and services based on Microsoft .NET (2.0/3.0) and Sun Java EE (2.0/5.0) respectively.

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