For the last few years’ software as a service (SAAS) has become more common with many software organizations offering their software applications which are hosted and maintained on remote servers. Software as a Service (SAAS) is the term used for letting customers use software applications using the Internet. The SAAS model is being used to provide a wide range of software applications. Services can be inventory control, database processing, human resources, accounting, procurement, billing, customer relationship management (CRM), sales and marketing, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and business intelligence (BI). Because the service provider hosts both the application and the data, the end user is free to use the service from anywhere. Marked improvement in server virtualization, distributed computing and high-speed internet have contributed to the birth of this cloud computing technology.

Benefits of SAAS service model are:

Subscription based payments – SAAS is priced as a subscription model. Businesses only pay for the users who have benefited from the software during each month. This eliminates large initial payments and annual license, support and maintenance charges.

Third party hosted – Investing in expensive infrastructure is no longer required since SAAS software applications are now hosted by the provider. There are no capital costs for hardware, licenses, databases or IT support staff or software and hardware maintenance and upgrades. Software applications are accessed via a web browser or a mobile device via a wireless network connection keeping customer’s IT requirements simple and low cost.

Predefined costs – SAAS provides agreed predefined fixed charges. This helps to project and predict the annual costs while planning for the annual budget.

Multi-Tenant Efficiency – Some SAAS solutions use multi-tenant architecture. The cost of all software and infrastructure is shared by a large number of customers. This makes the solution more cost effective.

Location-independent Accessibility – Being Internet based, SAAS applications are accessible not only in the office but from any location with an internet link.

Flexibility and Scalability – SAAS provides businesses with a high level of flexibility and scalability. Since, the software solution is delivered via the Internet; SAAS requires the minimum of infrastructure at the customer’s end. Also as the business grows you can request your service provider to add more users.

Availability and Security – SAAS providers ensure uninterrupted reliable services with regular data backups, and information security. Redundant networks stand-by power, up-to-date security and intrusion detection necessary factors provided by SAAS services.

In today’s business world, a significant portion of business communication use email as its media. Associated with email are other interpersonal communication applications such as calendars, contacts, and tasks. As business emails contain critical and important information, such mails should be properly managed with sophisticated messaging tools. Such tools provide almost instant and efficient access, so that these can be recalled at a moment’s notice. While email has become a critical component of business communication, it brings with it a plethora of new problems, ranging from storage limits, spam and virus filtering to access to old emails for regulatory compliance or eDiscovery requests. All of these must be properly addressed to avoid adverse consequences.

Exchange Server is the world’s most popular email and messaging solution. “Exchange” is a computer server that centrally stores a business’s email, files, task lists, and calendar and contact information. People in the organization can access all these through Microsoft Outlook or Outlook Web Access on any internet-enabled office PC, laptop, or mobile device. Exchange as a messaging tool increases business efficiency and productivity. Deployment of an Exchange Server in an organization entails high implementation and maintenance costs. This constraint puts off most companies except enterprise-level businesses with mission critical data, to benefit from its use. With the advent of Hosted Exchange this scenario has changed so that even the smallest of businesses can enjoy an enterprise-class service. Hosted Exchange is a solution in which the Exchange Server hardware and software are hosted as a service and made available to any business over the Internet. The solution is fully managed and maintained by a third-party hosted Exchange provider. The cost-effectiveness of a hosted Exchange can be ascribed to factors such as elimination of capital expenses of hardware and software costs, no investment in IT staff for monitoring and maintenance, guaranteed uptime for access to data 24 X 7 and redeployment of existing IT staff to more productive issues.

Perhaps the prime advantages of hosted Exchange are administrative simplicity and peace of mind. With hosted Exchange, all the messaging functionality can be availed of with none of the administrative burden.

Major features of a hosted Exchange are centrally stored data, mobile access for handhelds like BlackBerry, iPhone, or other mobile devices., shared Calendars, shared Task Lists, shared Contacts, Outlook Web Access for “Anywhere/Anytime” access to full Outlook mailbox from any web browser – at home or on move, server, network, and infrastructure security features,

Software upgrades and security patches and support for virtual environments. It is no wonder that more and more businesses are opting for hosted Exchange.

Windows Small Business Server (SBS) (formerly Microsoft Small Business Server) is an integrated server suite from Microsoft designed for running network infrastructure (both intranet management and Internet access) of small and medium enterprises having no more than 75 workstations or users. Application server technologies are tightly integrated to enable small businesses with targeted solutions such as the Remote Web Workplace, and offer management benefits such as integrated setup, enhanced monitoring, a unified management console, and remote access.

The main reasons for small scale industries to use Small business server 2008 are:

• Newest releases of all the SBS 2008 technology components, designed together      for an optimal experience for small businesses
• Vastly improved support for line-of-business applications for your favorite CRM (customer relationship marketing), accounting, or manufacturing database      software, and designed to sit on a second server (SBS 2008 Premium)
• Updated, easier-to-use management console now organized by business tasks.
• Streamlined setup and deployment to reduce the cost of deploying and maintaining your network
• Updated anti spam protection for improved security
• New disaster recovery capabilities with PC and server backup and recovery
• Redesigned monitoring and reporting features for PC, server, and even antivirus status
• Streamlined interface for remote access capabilities to easily access e-mail,     contacts, calendar, desktop resources, and now even Microsoft SharePoint files     from one easy-to-use location
• Improved internal company Web site capabilities for better list management, plus wikis and blogs
• Integration with new Microsoft Office Live Small Business 2 for everything you     need to take, promote, and manage a business on the Internet

SBS 2008 also reduces the operation cost of the business. With a dedicated hosted SBS server, there’s no need to store your critical e-mail and business data on a system shared with other companies. You can configure and customize the solutions to meet your unique business requirements.

In this age of globalization we need to travel from one place to another regularly. It is impossible to carry all the vital information with us. So anytime anywhere access of our data is the key for success. This is the main advantage of hosted SBS 2008. With SBS 2008 one can connect to critical e-mail, calendar and contact information from any Windows XP Pro or Vista PC, MAC 10.4+, Windows 7, Windows Mobile 5.0+, Blackberry 4.0+,iPhone, or any device with Microsoft Active Sync to Exchange through the Internet.

In a customer-oriented business the customer is the single most important entity. In the olden days when business deals were conducted across tables, vendors and customers often established a relationship which went beyond the normal business domain. Considering the global reach and competitive nature of most businesses, companies need the most efficient and effective ways to market, sell, and service clients. With an effective Customer Relationship Management (CRM) program in place, customer satisfaction can be improved thereby maximizing sales revenue and lessening operational cost. CRM, or Customer Relationship Management, is the business processes and software that provides automated functions for Account and Contact Management, Sales, Marketing, Customer Service.

One of the pioneers and leaders in CRM solutions is the Maximizer CRM. Opting for hosted Maximizer CRM is the best way to efficiently manage customer relation. Like other hosted services it eliminates the capital cost of hardware and software purchase, reduces IT staff requirement, can be implemented immediately without any hassle, and has simple monthly payment plan. Developed as a web-based application, hosted Maximizer CRM offers several access options including web, desk top application (terminal services), and mobile access. CRM software consolidates all customer information and processes into one, consolidated view of each customer. This enables employees in sales, marketing and customer service, to arrive at quick, effective decisions on marketing strategies and problem resolution. It seamlessly integrates with existing business tools like Microsoft Outlook and Office, and other popular accounting applications. Maximizer CRM is highly configurable and can be adapted to meet the specific needs of the client’s business and enables business managers and executives to review the business performance with the use of dashboards and reports. Some of the more critical modules of hosted Maximizer CRM are sales opportunity management, communication, scheduling, reporting, document management, marketing campaign management, customer service, etc.

Hosted Maximizer CRM enables businesses to: Create improved relationships with customers through more effective target marketing, increase customer loyalty thereby ensuring repeat business, automate business processes and repetitive tasks, helps corporate decision making by providing information and analysis of staff and business performance.

Using hosted Maximizer CRM benefits businesses in the form of: Increased revenue, higher ROI, increased productivity, improved service response time,  more number of successful deals, better internal communications, more accurate sales forecasts, improved level of customer service, ability to create comprehensive customer profiles, fast account history access, etc.

Deploying hosted Maximizer CRM in your business can be one of the wisest corporate decisions by you.

Until now, the full recovery of a server after a catastrophic failure could take several hours. Bare Metal Recovery technology is able to quickly recover an unusable system. It can restore both system and data in a single pass, eliminating the need for multiple backups and significantly reducing downtimes.

Bare-metal restore is a technique where the backed up data is available in a form which allows one to restore a computer system from “bare metal”, i.e. without any requirements as to previously installed software or operating system. Typically, the backed up data include the necessary operating system, applications and data components to rebuild or restore the backed up system to an entirely separate piece of hardware. Bare-metal restore differs from simple data backups where application data, but neither the applications nor the operating system are backed up or restored as a unit. It also differs from the local disk image restore. The local disk image restores from a copy of the disk image and the software performing the restore is invoked by booting the server with the setup/installation disk. Such server backup application supplied with the OS is not designed to be an enterprise-level solution. Bare metal restore for rebuilding a server from ground up is offered by many disaster recovery solution providers.

Vendors offer an optional “bare metal” restoration for rebuilding a computer or server from scratch. Using a separate storage device, the vendor creates a mirror image of the client’s complete system. The device is then shipped to the data center and stored. In case of a system crash, the system can be restored to its original configuration.

The virtual machine technology enables multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single machine. Virtualization increases the efficiency and the effectiveness of the disaster recovery process and offers cost-savings opportunities. Virtualization is hardware-agnostic; systems can be restored without identical or near-identical hardware. This creates flexibility and expands options regarding the type of hardware one can recover to in case of hardware failure. The virtual server software creates a generic hardware platform that’s consistent, regardless of the physical hardware used to host the virtual servers. This simplifies the “bare metal” restore process, because it is possible to perform a bare metal install on dissimilar hardware.

Outsourcing the disaster recovery solution to a vendor that specializes in

Virtual machine technology along with integrated bare metal restore is the best possible DR solution for an enterprise dealing in mission-critical data.

The business today is no longer solely operating within the confines of their buildings. Today many businesses have employees who travel, who work in different geographic areas, or who occasionally work from home. These remote workers need access to the same type of data and voice services that their fellow internal employees have, and in some cases need it faster.
Hosted terminal service (also known as Remote Desktop Computing) enables businesses, software publishers and others to deploy applications across the Internet using Microsoft Terminal Services.
The protocol used for communications between the client and server is called Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) and includes encryption capabilities up to 128-bit. This allows administrators to provide secure access to applications and administration tools over even low-bandwidth connections.

Terminal Services can be enabled in one of two modes: “Terminal Server” mode, that allows multiple remote clients to simultaneously access windows applications running on the server, and Remote Desktop for Administration” mode, which is used to remotely manage Windows based servers.

One advantage of hosted terminal server is that instead of installing programs individually on each user desktop, applications are installed once on central servers. End-users connect to these applications using Microsoft Terminal Services. For example, end-users that use Windows XP desktops run the “Remote Desktop Connection” program which is included with all copies of Windows XP to connect to your application programs.

When they connect they are presented with a remote desktop that displays a list of available programs and users simply click and execute the programs they wish to execute as normal.

Remote Desktop sessions are available to the employees no matter where they are, and no matter what time of the day or night they need to connect. Employees from multiple office locations can connect to the hosted service, with each obtaining the same levels of support and availability. Employees that work from home can access the business applications they need to do their job, whether full time or part time.

Individuals that travel can connect to their office applications from just about anywhere. Employees can even connect using local dial-up connections while still seeing having similar performance to high speed connections.

This unique service provides businesses of all sizes with a secure, cost effective solution for deploying windows applications to their employees, no matter where they are located.

One of the prime objectives of every business is to reduce cost. Cost reduction in a business is synonymous to profit. Finding ways to cut cost is an ongoing process in every organization. It has become even more significant in the present scenario of global economic recession. How can the IT department in a company be run in a more cost-effective manner? It is quite possible that the department is struggling with technologies that are facing obsolescence. The servers are old, maintenance costs are on the rise. Software upgrades are costlier. To achieve higher business productivity, one of these business systems like CRM or ERP should be used. So where is the option to cut down your IT costs? Luckily, there is a solution – the CLOUD. You may have heard about cloud based services which offer all sorts of business applications on lease. But you may have a muddled view about it and there are issues which need to be clarified before one can accept it as a viable and cost-effective option.

Some of the ongoing myths about cloud-based services are that these are diluted versions and are less reliable and less secure than those that can be deployed at your data center. There are also apprehensions about the negative views of the in-house IT professionals, who may be loath to relinquish control. In truth opting for cloud based services is a great way to improve your IT infrastructure. With cloud hosted services, the job of installing an application and maintaining from day to day like installing patches and upgrades, monitoring reliability, ensuring high availability, etc., are all handled by the provider. Installation of large business-critical software systems, such as ERP and CRM applications, can cost significant amount of money in hardware, licensing and recruitment of a large number of IT personnel. Cloud-based services can be inventory control, database processing, human resources, accounting, procurement, billing, customer relationship management (CRM), sales and marketing, enterprise resource planning (ERP), and business intelligence (BI). All applications offered are complete and latest versions, regularly patched and upgraded. Data and your application reside on servers under your control. Backup needs are already addressed as your data is replicated in data repositories into the cloud storage. To meet increased needs, you simply add more virtual servers. Cloud computing is the solution to increase IT capacity or use new applications without investing, training new personnel, or paying for new software license. Cloud service is a subscription-based or pay-per-use service that can greatly extend your IT infrastructure as well as cut down the costs.

Small Business Server is a term coined by Microsoft to hide the seriously crippled software that first appears to be a cheaper option for small business users looking to roll out their first

Windows Small Business Server 2008 also includes Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, SharePoint and Microsoft SQL Server, bundled with anti-virus, spam protection and a comprehensive data backup service.

The main reasons because of which the hosted SBS is beneficiary to small scale business are:

• Affordable, All-in-One Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint® Services, SQL Server and more.
• Now you can get a fully managed enterprise-class e-mail and messaging solution
• Small business price
• Totally customized to your business.
• Easy migration path from a premise Windows servers to a hosted SBS 2008 system.
• Your licensed software or SPLA (rented) licenses

Today in the age of globalization we need to travel from one place to another at a regular frequency. It is not possible to carry all the vital information with us. So anytime anywhere access of our data is the key for success. This is the main advantage of hosted SBS 2008. With SBS 2008 one can connect to critical e-mail, calendar and contact information from any Windows XP Pro or Vista PC, MAC 10.4+, Windows 7, Windows Mobile 5.0+, Blackberry 4.0+,iPhone, or any device with Microsoft Active Sync to Exchange through the Internet. The only limitation being the speed of the internet connection.

Another advantage of SBS 2008 is that it is always up and running. All SBS servers are backed by an ironclad SLA that guarantees continuous availability. So there is minimum chance of lose of data due to any reasons.

SBS 2008 also reduces the operation cost of the business. With a dedicated hosted SBS server, there’s no need to store your critical e-mail and business data on a system shared with other companies. You can configure and customize the solutions to meet your unique business requirements.

There are optional services also which the business unit can opt for. The optional services are:

• Advanced Backup Solution for Microsoft Exchange and SQL
• Server Additional Backup Storage
• Blackberry Exchange Plug-in
• Terminal Server and Office Professional 2007
• Firewall Appliance
• Remote SBS Administration
• Remote PC Management
• Remote Mobile Device Sync to Exchange (Blackberry, iPhone, Nokia, Windows Mobile)

SAAS refers to Software as a Service. It is also referred as On-demand Applications, and On-Demand Software, which are referring to a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over a network, typically the Internet.

The current slowdown has pushed a large number of enterprises to look at more cost-effective IT models such as SAAS (software as a service). According to a research SAAS-based ERP and CRM applications are likely to see highest demand.

In today’s complex environment, one must use fully-integrated accounting and management systems to operate the business effectively. Unfortunately, the in house models of SME’s are either too complex and expensive, or too simple minded and/or disconnected to cater to individual needs.

Currently, growth for SAAS is largely driven by the mid-sized companies compared to large enterprises, and makes up a major chunk of the market for on-demand players. SAAS and cloud computing is enabling a new class of entrepreneurs who are all looking for easy to use, reliable and scalable applications that enable good business growth.

Having one business management system that efficiently integrates all core operational functions allows you, your employees and your business advisors to work seamlessly together is the motto of current business.

It is no longer efficient to have a bookkeeper, keying in data received from other departments as is the case of in house accounting model. Instead, data needs to be entered where and when it is generated and integrated to provide the management information needed to support ongoing decision-making. Here comes the need for SAAS based accounting system.

The main advantages of SAAS based accountancy system over in house models of SMEs are:

• Faster and less expensive implementation makes the new systems more digestible.
• A total business management solution for small business needs
• Powerful enough to run your whole business, yet simple enough that everyone in your company can use it
• Multi-platform for either Windows of Mac applications
• Fully redundant, continuous data back-up
• Security equal to that in place by leading banking institutions
• Free support, upgrades and training
• Affordable, fixed pricing guaranteed
• Full control over who accesses what
• Avoid time and costs associated with maintaining in-house software solutions
• Improve profits while maximizing decision making capabilities and minimizing costs.

Some of the common causes of data loss are hardware failure, human error and natural calamities. Data loss due to a natural disaster can be recovered by storing backup data in a physically separate location. File system corruption can frequently be repaired by the system administrator with proper software tools. Deleted files in most occasions can be successfully recovered. Data loss due to hardware failure can never be foreseen and forestalled and can spell a major disaster for business continuity. The cost of a data loss event is directly proportional to the value of the data and the length of time of unavailability when required, and results in financial loss, tarnished business image and in an extreme case can stop all business activities. Businesses nowadays have to protect data at all costs.

When backing up data from a computer system, there are many different methods available, some more reliable than others. The most common method is to copy the files on the system, to the archive device, a file- backup. File-backup has many variations depending on the volume of backed up data, such as, incremental, differential, full, grandfather – father – child, etc. Another backup method is based on the process of mirroring the entire contents of a disk volume. This creates the backup by copying each sector on the disk volume as raw data, creating an Image of the entire disk. This last method is referred to as image-based backup.

Though both these backup processes have their pros and cons, image-based backups are the choice for businesses handling mission-critical data or for enterprise-level organizations. The image can actually be mounted as a virtual drive and can be used as a regular physical drive.

Another use of an image-based backup is while performing a bare-metal recovery. Bare Metal Recovery technology is able to quickly recover an unusable system. It can restore both system and data in a single pass, eliminating the need for multiple backups and significantly reducing downtimes. Bare-metal restore is a technique where the backed up data is available in a form which allows one to restore a computer system from “bare metal”, i.e. without any requirements as to previously installed software or operating system. For such restoration the image includes the necessary operating system, applications and data components to rebuild or restore the backed up system to an entirely separate piece of hardware. Image-based backup of servers or server imaging is an essential ingredient in a disaster recovery solution.