Web Hosting Provider The Planet Announces the Addition of the New Hosted Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS)
August 29, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Web hosting provider The Planet (http://www.theplanet.com/) plans to deliver the new hosted Microsoft Small Business Server (SBS) solution to its suite of offerings in September 2007, the company announced yesterday. With the launch of this new offering, the company, who bills itself as “the world’s largest privately held dedicated hosting company”, will provide hosted email and collaboration for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs).
The Planet offers a complete enterprise-class “IT portfolio-in-a-box” that includes Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and Microsoft SQL Server, bundled with anti-virus and spam protection, and a comprehensive data backup solution.
In a white paper from Frost & Sullivan’s Stratecast Partners – titled “The Planet’s Hosted Microsoft SBS Service: An Attractive IT Outsourcing Solution for Small Businesses” – analyst Michael Suby offers a powerful evaluation of the new solution. According to Suby: “The bottom-line conclusion is that a three-year cost of the The Planet’s hosted Microsoft SBS service is available at less than half the cost a small business would incur in a do-it-yourself approach, and exceeds in features and capabilities.”
“System integrators play a unique trusted-advisor role with their customers, who increasingly look to outsource management of their IT infrastructure,” said The Planet’s Vice President of Marketing and Product Management Steve Kahan. “Customers are looking to reduce complexity and focus instead on their core businesses. Working through this specialized channel, The Planet provides the great equalizer. IT integrators can customize hosted solutions for their clients and provide rapid deployment in days – not weeks – using our world-class data centers. This powerful combination of products and services enables them to increase revenues by turning one-time projects into more profitable recurring revenue relationships, while providing more options to their SMB customers for e-mail and collaboration.”
“Hosted Microsoft Small Business Server provides SMB customers with the core IT functions they require, in a cost-effective model designed expressly to meet their business needs,” said John Zanni, managing director of Worldwide Hosting in the Communications Sector at Microsoft Corp. “Backed by The Planet’s data centers and around-the-clock support, customers gain access to powerful Microsoft solutions through their trusted IT advisors in a hosted environment, allowing them to focus on their core business requirements.”
The Planet is committed to the success of its channel partners. Leads for the new solution will be passed along to The Planet’s integrator community, since their core competency is in providing these specialized, on-site services. The combination of The Planet and the expertise of the integrator channel provides an extraordinary opportunity for customers, who get the best of both technology and service.”
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