Further improvements include the addition of role-based access with five different administrator categories, as shown in Table 2. Furthermore, ADFS supports two-factor authentication. ADFS 2. Outlook Web Access OWA benefits from a cleaner layout that some users will no doubt prefer to the full Outlook desktop application.
Some self-management features, such as group management and the ability to wipe mobile devices, are available to users under Options with shortcuts to wizards that expedite common tasks.
The web apps allow users to work with documents on a variety of different devices thanks to multibrowser support including Firefox and Safari. Workspaces can be synced to the desktop for offline access using SharePoint Workspace, a new stand-alone application that debuted in Office Sync is also available for Windows 7 Phone. As the place where users spend most of their time, bidirectional synchronization of SharePoint task lists, contacts and calendars to Outlook is also provided.
Service Connector Enhancements in Office that simplifies desktop management, update and patch management along with login process management are not present in BPOS. SharePoint Online in BPOS was more or less considered as just a document repository for document sharing, while SharePoint Online in Office has evolved as a true collaboration tool that simplifies enterprise wide application delivery through cloud delivery platform.
Cloud functionality was not the building block of BPOS while Office was designed from grass roots as a cloud delivery platform. Microsoft officials were referring to this concept as CCS, or communications and collaboration services. While the product teams were launching their fledgling hosted offerings, things also were happening internally -- on the Microsoft Information Technology MSIT side of the house.
By , explorations had begun around the idea of Microsoft running multiple services for large customers , including Microsoft itself. Ozzie joined Microsoft in , and his subsequent "Internet Services Disruption" memo "was wind in our sails," Kelly said. By the time rolled around, Microsoft quietly was offering Microsoft-hosted versions of Exchange, SharePoint and Live Meeting the result of Microsoft's Placeware acquisition to the first few paying customers, which included Energizer, XL Capital and a handful of other enterprise accounts.
It wasn't until late , however, that Microsoft officially launched BPOS , its bundle of these services, as a package. The company was still leading with software, not services. And no one was talking yet about being "all in" with the cloud.
The Microsoft product teams delivered its on-premises versions of Exchange, SharePoint and Communications Server to its Online Services teams and those teams then began work on bringing a subset of the services in these products to customers who were willing to try using them in the form of Microsoft-hosted services.
The lag time between the time a software feature was available as a service feature was and still is, at this point , substantial. The majority of current BPOS customers don't have access to the features Microsoft rolled out months ago with Exchange and SharePoint , for example. Those features are now slated to debut when Office launches next year.
Going forward, however, the plan is to develop software and hosted services in tandem, Kelly said. How is Microsoft planning to speed up its delivery schedule? I'll tackle these questions and more in tomorrow's installment of this series.
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