Propona is Microsoft Online Services Authorised Partner having successfully completed the necessary training and assessment activities and provides Microsoft Online Services consultancy services.
What are Microsoft Online Services?
Microsoft says ‘Microsoft Online Services are enterprise-class communications and collaboration software delivered as subscription services to businesses of all sizes, hosted by Microsoft and sold with partners. The offering, designed for customers with managed IT needs, includes Microsoft Exchange Online with Microsoft Exchange Hosted Filtering, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Office Communications Online, Microsoft Office Live Meeting and Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online.’
Translating a little: buying (and then managing) hardware and software licenses for the high end Microsoft software products is expensive. Many companies are looking at hosted options for certain services, which is where another company hosts the service and makes it available to the original company's users. Microsoft has relatively recently targeted the hosted service space with Microsoft Online Services and is now offering some of their server products on a service based model where Microsoft is responsible for the provision and management of the necessary IT infrastructure and the client company pays on a subscription basis per user for those services. The client company would normally do this via a Microsoft Partner, such as Propona, whose task it is to optimise the benefit of the services to the client company.
A little more detail on the products involved as well, in the context of functional area:
Communications
Web Conferencing (Office Live Meeting) Conference with colleagues and engage with your customers through real-time meetings, training session and events.
Email & shared calendars, contacts (Exchange Online) Quickly launch email messaging online that allows employees online access to shared calendars and contacts.
Collaboration
Centralised resources & workflow management (SharePoint Online) Highly secure, central location where employees can efficiently collaborate on writing documents, find organisation resources, manage content and workflow.
Compliance
Protection & preservation for email (Exchange Hosted Services). Protect your electronic communication and email using our services to filter viruses, worms, denial of service attacks and spam, to encrypt data, to satisfy retention requirements for compliance and to preserve access to email during and after an emergency.
Dynamics Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Online should also be shortly available in the UK.
For more information see Microsoft's portal site or contact us.