Microsoft Corp. today announced Microsoft® Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 3.0, a next-generation hosted service that addresses the requirements of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). The new offering, which is made available through Microsoft's service provider and hosting partners, builds on the strengths of Microsoft Solution for Hosted Exchange 2003 by adding support for hosted versions of Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005 and Windows® SharePoint® Services. With this cost-effective solution, SMBs can enjoy the robust, enterprise-class e-mail, shared calendaring, contacts, document collaboration and instant messaging capabilities typically used by larger companies.

Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration is a hosted version of Microsoft's family of productivity server products: Microsoft Exchange 2003, Live Communications Server 2005 and Windows SharePoint Services. For service providers, the solution offers a scalable, multiservice platform through which they can deliver a rich set of productivity services to small and medium-sized businesses, as well as enterprises and consumers. The solution also provides proactive monitoring, provisioning automation, delegated administration and centralized management, which allows service providers to consolidate their existing e-mail systems onto a single platform and reduce the cost of deployment, ongoing operation and support. Moreover, Microsoft Solution for Hosted Messaging and Collaboration enables service providers of all sizes to expand their product portfolio to generate additional revenue streams.