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Image #1095874 ‘desktop’ by jazza at sxc.hu
In an effort to slow down Google’s world domination of cloud computing and its destruction of Microsoft’s revenue base, Microsoft and Telstra quietly announced a cool new deal for Australia while Barack Obama was preparing to barnstorm America.
Courtesy of a tweet from Microsoftie and ace Aussie blogger @FrankArr, a press release from Telstra slipped into my radar.
Whilst they haven’t finalised all the details,
Services contemplated under the alliance include -
- Hosted business applications: through Telstra’s T Suite portal, it is contemplated that businesses will have access to popular Microsoft business software, known as Microsoft Online Services, which will be hosted by Microsoft in the cloud and delivered as a subscription service.
- Mobile services and devices: an all-in-one mobile email, calendar, contacts, web browser, business software and phone solution including security features, automatic software upgrades, support and data plan is envisaged. Advanced mobile phone fleet management and a new user-interface developed by Telstra giving users one-click access to their frequently used business applications on Windows Mobile phones is contemplated.
- Unified Communications: Integrating Telstra’s premium hosted IP Telephony service (TIPT) with Microsoft Office applications, including Office Communicator is proposed, creating a set of solutions that makes it easier to control the way businesses communicate.
This, they say, will allow SMEs (Small to Medium sized Enterprises) to compete with the ‘big boys’ when it comes to IT infrastructure.
"In particular, the planned alliance would provide small and medium sized businesses, of which there are over 1.8 million in Australia, access to products and services that were formerly only available to large companies with well-resourced IT budgets and infrastructure."
Read more on Telstra & Microsoft’s alliance media release. Personally, I’ve long been interested in unified comms — one number that gets everything to me: phone, fax, voice and email…
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