£10 a month for hosted Exchange and Sharepoint

 

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By Nicole Kobie

Posted on 2 Mar 2009 at 15:51

Microsoft is bringing the hosted versions of Exchange and Sharepoint to the UK, in a move which pits it against Google's Enterprise Apps.

The Business Productivity Online Suite is now being trialled in 19 countries, including the UK.

It offers Exchange Online and SharePoint Online as well as a package called Office Communications Online, which offers instant messaging and presence. It will be available for purchase from April.

Businesses can subscribe to the entire Business Productivity Online Suite for £10.04 a month per user, or pick and choose between Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online and Office Live Meeting. Buying the whole package offers a savings of 38% versus buying them individually.

Microsoft also announced the Online Deskless Worker Suite, which includes email, calendar and collaboration tools, at a rate of £2.01 per month per user.

The software giant first announced the online package last autumn, calling it "software plus services", rather than the standard "software as a service".

The massive pharmaceutical firm GlaxoSmithKline had already signed its 100,000 employees up for the Business Productivity Online Suite. The company claims it will cut operational costs by up to 30%.