Concentric and Microsoft Launch Hosted E-Mail Service for SMEs
Monday June 16, 9:00 am ET
Concentric expands its product offerings with Microsoft Hosted Exchange.
LAS VEGAS, June 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Today at NXTcomm08, Microsoft Corp. and Concentric announced new hosted e-mail service offerings for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Concentric, a large-scale e-mail service provider, is deploying Microsoft Hosted Exchange to combine the productivity benefits of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Microsoft Office Outlook with its enterprise-class applications hosting platform.
Concentric will market the new services to its existing customers as an additional e-mail option as well as to new customers as a stand-alone or packaged Exchange solution. Concentric's business customers will be able to add Hosted Exchange mailboxes to their Concentric account and easily manage all Hosted Exchange services and add-ons via a single convenient online control panel and have access to Concentric Customer Support and Professional Services.
Many SMEs have not yet been able to benefit from the productivity gains offered through Microsoft Exchange and Outlook because of high startup costs for purchasing hardware and software, as well as the need to hire technical staff to manage and operate e-mail servers. Concentric's Hosted Exchange service enables productivity gains, platform reliability and security features, and support at affordable prices with no startup costs. With Outlook Web Access also available, the solution fits closely with Concentric's target market of online, mobile businesses. In addition, access to e-mail via Windows Mobile-based devices using built-in Microsoft ActiveSync makes this service a rich enhancement to Concentric's product suite.
"Our long history of providing security-enhanced and reliable e-mail solutions enables us to deliver Microsoft's industry-leading messaging and collaboration software on one of the most secure and reliable applications hosting platforms available today," said Barbara Branaman, president at Concentric. "SMEs can now enjoy the same level of functionality that large enterprises have, with the added productivity gains from the robust collaboration tools in Hosted Exchange. And if an SME needs additional assistance, our Professional Services team serves as a 'pay-as-you-go' IT department."
"There are more than 30 million SMEs in the U.S., according to the U.S. Small Business Administration and Internal Revenue Service," said Martha Bejar, corporate vice president for the Communications Sector at Microsoft. "The SME market is moving toward hosted IT solutions to decrease costs and increase security, reliability and employee productivity. With more than 10 years as a reliable provider of e-mail and Web hosting services, the addition of Microsoft Hosted Exchange is a natural fit for Concentric as it helps round out the company's offerings for SMEs."
Concentric is offering four Hosted Exchange mailbox types, and customers can mix and match mailbox types depending on their specific requirements.
The Concentric Hosted Exchange e-mail packages will be available starting July 15, 2008. More information can be found at concentric.com.
About Concentric
Concentric, founded in 1997, is a business unit of XO Communications. Concentric provides enterprise-class hosted applications, including Web site hosting, business email, corporate domain management and perimeter email protection. Concentric delivers superior performance, reliability, and security and is the only Web hosting service to hold a patent for its Clustered Hosting architecture. Concentric accounts are backed by a three month Satisfaction Guarantee, 24x7 customer support, and a 99.9% SLA. For more information, visit concentric.com or call (866) 500-9696.
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