I'll See Your 50% Saving and Raise You

Steve posted about the newly available (well soon and only if you’re
in the US) online versions of Exchange and SharePoint. It seems the Microsoft boffins have worked
out that the change could see small businesses access a level of functionality
recently only available to massive corporates (say oh ah please) like Coca Cola and Phillips. Steve recounted that;

In a nutshell, this is Microsoft offering to host Exchange and SharePoint in
our datacenters for customers of all sizes. Previously available only to big
businesses like Phillips, Coca Cola and others with many thousands of users, the
door as now open for business (in the US at least) for all businesses.

As Ina
Fried reports, Elop told the crowd that Microsoft estimates that
companies can save at least 10% (and up to 50%) by letting
Microsoft run their messaging and collaboration software for them.

Microsoft waxes poetic about the advantages saying that;

Some of the customers quoted today were Lotus Notes users who have chosen to move to Exchange using
this Online option and for those scenarios there are potential big savings in
the move from capital expenditure on hardware (CAPEX)
to operating expenditure on software and services (OPEX). You don’t need to know
much about the current economic climate to know that is music to the finance
directors ears.

You don’t say – haven’t us SaaS evangelists been spouting OPEX vs CAPEX for
years – all the time shouted down by the MS crew claiming that installed is the
way of the past, present and future?

Anyway – enough sour grapes. I’ll see your 10% ( yeah OK 10% and up
to 50%) and raise you a little. It’s called Google Applications
Enterprise Edition and it costs $50 per user per year.

Worried that, contrary to its motto, Google is in fact evil? (And no – I don’t concur with that view).

Cool – go Zoho (disclosure – Zoho sponsors CloudAve) the services comparable with the Microsoft offerings (Zoho
docs/wiki/mail) are free for a sub 10 person company. Thereafter $50 a year per
person sees you sorted.

Royal flush anyone?