Posted by Steve Schwartz on Thu, Feb 24, 2011
We have been focused on delivering the Microsoft platform for hosting, including Exchange, Office Communications Server (now Lync Server 2010), SharePoint, and Dynamics CRM for as long as these products and markets have existed. Our first efforts started in 1999 when we helped Microsoft put together the first formal guidance for hosting on Exchange 2000. In the nascent world of cloud computing, this makes us pioneers. Our work has been a combination of helping Microsoft as a vendor and member of its solution team that has developed guidance for hosters and also as a consultant to the service providers deploying solutions and technology for hosting Microsoft products. As a vendor and member of the teams that developed solutions including the HMC platforms, we have very deep expertise in this solution.
Our approach has always encompassed deep technical expertise across the disciplines of Systems Engineering and Software Developing; a true Systems Integrator. An additional critical service that complements our Systems Integration expertise is our Content Services practice, which includes Technical Writing, Graphic Design, Instructional Design, Online Training, and Editing.
Since many Systems Integration projects require extensive documentation and training, our approach has always been to have the experts focus on where there expertise lies; Engineers focus on Systems Engineering, Developers focus on Software Development and Design, Technical Writers focus on writing documentation and Graphic Designers focus on diagrams and graphical elements.
The basic premise to produce the highest quality deliverables across our scope of deliverables and it is surprising how effective this approach is but how infrequently many companies embrace it. We see many technical white papers that clearly had the Engineer not only do the Systems Engineering but also the writing and graphics, usually not a great result.
Our documentation is not only high quality technically, but also excels in the disciplines of writing, graphics, and editing. This makes it far easier for the reader to comprehend and digest the content and is why our approach is fundamental to our value proposition of delivering Thought Leadership while Exceeding Customer Expectations.
Because our headquarters is located in Seattle, Washington, we are a very short distance to Microsoft’s Redmond campus. This allows us the ability to be on campus frequently to work on projects with the various Microsoft teams. This proximity fosters ad hoc collaboration and business development simply by walking the halls to and from meetings.
Part of our history from the very beginning is based on expertise around large scale service provider email migrations. implement.com has migrated more than ten million mailboxes onto hosted Exchange since 1999. Through these years of experience, we have developed our own intellectual property in the form of best practices and tools. Most notably, our Content Migration Service (CMS), which automates the migration and provisioning of users onto hosted Exchange. Additionally, our CMS tools and best practices have been updated to include recommendations for two significant endeavors:
- For service providers that want to migrate their consumer POP users onto the Windows Live platform
- For customers or partners that want automated high scale migration support when migrating to the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) platform (soon to be Office 365)
As a vendor, we assisted in the development of BPOS and documentation and guidance for BPOS customers and partners. As a partner, we now assist Microsoft with the development of guidance and tools on how to complete Office 365 Syndication (available 2nd half 2011) projects. This entails a service provider reselling Office 365 under their own brand and involves integration of the service provider’s order handling, billing, and provisioning systems with the Microsoft Online Syndication Interface (MOSI), and additionally, with the migration of any existing users and content from the service providers legacy systems onto Office 365.
When we started our hosting operation in 2006, Chinook Hosting (now Chinook Communications), we intentionally started it to deliver hosted unified communications, including hosted unified messaging. We were a little early from a market adoption standpoint. However, that early entry allowed us to amass critical experience on how to deliver hosted unified communications. It wasn't easy, but working through the technical challenges paid off for us when we launched the very first hosted unified messaging offering based on Microsoft Exchange 2007 unified messaging at the 2008 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference. We have continued to expand our hosting services, which now include SharePoint (both Windows SharePoint Services and dedicated Microsoft Office SharePoint Server) and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0.
With the release of Lync Server 2010 and its promise for replacing traditional on premise PBX systems with hosted Unified Communications, implement.com is once again at the forefront and in a position of thought leadership as we work with Microsoft and its customers on the opportunities for deploying a hosted Lync Server 2010 platform.
The hosting industry as a whole is experiencing a time of transition. Hosting service providers that have traditionally relied on Microsoft to provide comprehensive technical guidance and automation tools in the form of solutions such as the Hosting Messaging and Collaboration (HMC) platform are now reliant on a base level of automation functionality within individual Microsoft products.
But beyond the base level, there exists a gap that needs to be filled – and it is the role of service providers to address it. We think it is most effective to address this gap with the help of a systems integrator such as implement.com and potentially, the use of a third party provisioning and control panel platform.
As a systems integrator with close ties to the major provisioning and automation independent software vendors, implement.com can help service providers fill these gaps. Because of our industry experience, proximity to Microsoft, and most importantly, the leadership, credibility, and trust we foster between our clients, Microsoft, and partners, we are frequently requested to provide guidance. Microsoft has previously turned to implement.com to help guide the industry with technical direction of how to migrate from HMC to Exchange 2010 SP1.
As cloud computing gains ground in 2011, hosted Unified Communications services will be one of the key areas of focus for the successful service provider.