Web services: Microsoft putting communications applications online

CBC News -- Manufacturing Business Technology, 3/3/2008 6:43:00 PM

Microsoft announced Monday it plans to offer some of its collaborative business applications as online services, marking the software company's latest effort to move its business from the desktop to the Internet.
Microsoft Online Services, which launched Monday in a limited trial, will allow business customers to access four Microsoft applications as stand-alone Web-based services or in combination with existing software, the company said.
The new services are expected to be widely available to businesses in the second half of this year, Microsoft said.
The applications to be made available as Web-based services are:
- Exchange e-mail server software;
- Online document management software SharePoint;
- Web conferencing software LiveMeeting; and
- Office Communications Server, which allows audio-video conferencing, instant messaging, and other communication tools.
"In the future, customers and partners should expect to see this kind of choice and flexibility for all of Microsoft's software and server products," said Microsoft chair Bill Gates in a statement before an appearance to detail the expanded services at the Microsoft Office SharePoint Conference on Monday in Seattle.
The company's shift to software as a service comes as Google Inc. and other competitors are beginning to offer similar services to compete with Microsoft products.
Last week, Google launched Google Sites, an online application that allows multiple users to create and edit Web sites, as part of its Google Apps package. The application was widely seen as Google's attempt to move into the software niche inhabited by Microsoft's SharePoint.
Google and Microsoft have been competing in a number of arenas, including Web-based applications. Last year, Google introduced a premier edition Google Apps as an alternative to Microsoft's market-leading Office suite.
Microsoft has also made moves to enter the world of online search, most notably its attempt to purchase Yahoo! Inc. for more than (U.S.)$40 billion.

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