The Wireless Wars: Exchange Hosting is the Neutral Zone is a free recorded webcast sponsored by USA.NET.

Overview: Today, mobility in business isn’t just a luxury, it’s a necessity. Achieving mobility, however, may be easier said than done when confronted with the growing arsenal of devices, ever-evolving technology and woefully inadequate budgets. The release of the iPhone 3G with Active Sync has heated up the wireless wars within the corporate world where users are now demanding integration and support for the device.

In this webinar, Bob Melk, Publisher of CIO and Steve O’Brien, VP at USA.NET explore the Wireless Wars - from the latest intelligence to much-needed battle plans. It’s a must see event for anyone ready to reign victorious on the wireless battleground.

Milford, CT - July 15, 2008 – Top rated hosted eMessaging service provider and Perimeter eSecurity subsidiary, USA.NET, announced today their Unified Mobility Platform (UMP) now also includes the latest iPhone 2.0 SDK to deliver secure, device agnostic mobile messaging services to enterprises on-demand. Enterprise employees are now free to select the device of their choice and have it fully integrated with their Hosted Microsoft Exchange implementation, making it easy to accommodate business and personal needs via a single device. With UMP enterprises can now satisfy technology populists without the costs associated with deploying new platforms, service upgrades, employee certifications and providing 24X7 support for multiple devices. Unlike in-house business email systems that often need to limit mobility choices to reduce the total cost of ownership and minimize complexity, USA.NET’s email hosting customers enjoy the ability to select the device that best suits their business needs and lifestyle, and do so on a user-by-user basis.

“With all of the challenges IT organizations face supporting mobility there isn’t a one size fits all device or platform,” Doug Howard, Chief Strategy Officer, Perimeter eSecurity and President, USA.NET. “Gone are the days when enterprises could dictate what platform their employees will use. CIO’s are feeling pressure to support numerous devices such as the iPhone and at the same time to apply consistent governance policies across the enterprise. UMP facilitates this by applying an audit trail for archiving emessaging, ediscovery, patch management, etc. within an industry leading environment of layered security and regulatory compliance.”

Up until now CIOs have had to grapple with a myriad of devices that generate platform conflicts, security issues and support nightmares while facing a user population of device evangelists who refuse to standardize. USA.NET’s UMP eliminates the need to understand intricacies of different messaging architectures such as, ActiveSync, Good™ Mobile Messaging and BlackBerry® Enterprise Server. This SaaS offering is supported by 50 pre-integrated IT security and eMessaging archiving services from parent company, Perimeter eSecurity, and implements corporate governance and security policies compliant with the Federal regulations such as Sarbanes Oxley, GLBA and HIPAA.

According to Michele Pelino’s July 2008 report titled Demand Insights: Enterprise Mobility 2008 from Forrester Research, “82% of firms report that they support more than one device type — and it’s only going to get worse. With Technology Populism — the phenomena of employees bringing consumer technology to work and demanding to use it — employees are already asking, and will continue to ask, to use their favorite personal device, such as the iPhone, at work to access email and other corporate information.”

“Few hosted emessaging service providers possess the years of experience in supporting multiple devices on a unified platform or the ability to leverage direct partnerships with Microsoft and BlackBerry/RIM to offer best of breed integrated services, all within the context of a comprehensive security environment,” said Sara Radicati, President & CEO, Radicati Group. “A cost effective software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution such as UMP enables IT Depts. to benefit from the latest upgrades and integrations without impact to their IT infrastructure, risk profile or support framework.”

UMP integrates the newly released iPhone 2.0 SDK with ActiveSync® for Windows Mobile® devices and with BlackBerry® Enterprise Server, Good Mobile Messaging, and other leading handheld device management software. All handheld devices will be able to access all of Microsoft Exchange’s rich, productive and secure mobile features, including always-synched wireless email, calendars, contacts and more. All of this comes with USA.NET’s award winning 24X7X365 support and with the ability to remote kill a device anywhere and at any time. The latest features include:

• Secure Push email, contacts, calendar events and more
• Global Address List (GAL) support
• More security than IMAP / POP3 functionality
• Ability to view Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, PDF, JPEG, and iWork attachments exactly as designed

About USA.NET
Cited as the “Top Player” for the hosted business email market by The Radicati Group, Inc., USA.NET, The Global Secure eMessaging Service Provider®, is the only hosting provider that is SAS 70 Type II Audited, Microsoft Gold Certified, a member of the Microsoft Technology Adoption Program for Exchange, and winner of the 2006 Microsoft Excellence Award for Exchange Hosting Solutions. USA.NET eMessaging solutions are modular and infinitely scalable to ensure customers can grow their business without having to invest additional resources, time or capital into their mission-critical messaging infrastructure. USA.NET is a wholly owned subsidiary of Perimeter eSecurity. More information about USA.NET visit www.usa.net.

For Further Information Contact:

Cathy Clarke
CNC Associates
508-833-8533
cathy@cncassocs.com

123Together.com – a mindSHIFT company and the leading provider of hosted enterprise-class messaging and collaboration solutions such as hosted Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 and Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, today announced its immediate support of hosted Exchange for Apple’s new iPhone 3G.

With Apple’s integration of Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and its new iPhone 3G, 123Together.com hosted Exchange Server customers and iPhone users can now have anywhere, anytime access to their business email with two-way wireless synchronization. This enormously popular consumer smartphone can now be used by business owners, sales executives and other mobile employees as a leading business tool.  Email, calendars and contacts are wirelessly “pushed” from123Together.com’s hosted Exchange Server to the users’ iPhone, giving them immediate and secure access to workplace resources, increasing productivity and communication with their co-workers and customers. In addition, IT staff members can remotely “wipe” a user’s device if lost or stolen so that the user’s corporate and personal data cannot fall into the wrong hands.

Support for Apple’s iPhone 3G is the latest addition to 123Together.com’s Hosted Exchange Mobile Services offering which, along with ActiveSync, provides full synchronization support for mobile devices compatible with BlackBerry Enterprise Server and Good Messaging Server, enabling mobile users to take advantage of enterprise-class messaging and collaboration solutions such as hosted Exchange and hosted SharePoint.

“Mobile employees who currently use their iPhone to watch videos, take photos, listen to music and check stock prices can now also take advantage of the power of Microsoft Exchange Server as a hosted service to keep them connected with their office 24×7,” said Ravi Agarwal, founder and senior executive officer of 123Together.com, a mindSHIFT company. “Our current 123Together.com hosted Exchange customers can quickly and easily add their iPhone 3G to their existing hosted Exchange mailbox and new iPhone 3G users can set up a hosted Exchange account in minutes, enabling them to start using this industry-leading enterprise-class messaging and collaboration tool for a small monthly fee.”

Mobilizing businesses increases corporate productivity and enables employees to remain connected wherever they may be.  123Together.com’s hosted Exchange service provides small and mid-size businesses with immediate access to enterprise-class messaging and collaboration solutions at a price they can easily absorb.  123Together.com’s live 24 x 7 technical support also ensures that their questions will be answered any time of the day or night by Exchange experts based at the corporation’s headquarters in the United States.

About 123Together.com

Headquartered in Burlington, Massachusetts, 123Together.com, a mindSHIFT company, is the leading provider of hosted enterprise-class messaging and collaboration solutions including hosted Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows SharePoint Services and Dynamics CRM.  These hosted services are offered on shared and dedicated servers to small and mid-size businesses and can be resold as a completely white labeled service. Full mobile access is also offered for BlackBerry, Treo, iPhone, PocketPC, and Windows Mobile handheld devices. Exchange hosting customers receive free Outlook 2007, live 24×7 U.S.-based technical support, advanced spam and virus filtering and a 100% uptime guarantee on dedicated servers.  A 30-day no-obligation trial is available for shared customers.  www.123Together.com

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Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Unified Communication is emerging…And Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) taken its place to address this area. Microsoft has also been testing this offering online which enables you to enjoy leading collaboration functionalities without the hassle of managing your own infrastructure, hardware, network, data enter etc. Also, hiring the subject matter experts to setup and operate the unified communication systems is no simple effort.

Why Microsoft Office Communications Server when there are many free tools available in the market, sounds obvious question! Microsoft OCS online is all about providing a secure environment for employees to collaborate for sharing intellectual property (IP) than using public collaboration tools. Collaborating through Office Communication Server is nothing but the basic use of instant messaging (IM) and presence service in an organization, including the support for live meeting, whiteboard, desktop sharing, file transfer, voice and video communication.

So, how organization benefits from Office Communications Online solution? Yes, this service ensures people in the organization be more productive by enabling them to communicate easily with others in different locations or time zones using a range of different communication options mentioned above. Specifically, text based instant messaging, voice, and video. Integration with programs across the Microsoft Office system-including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Groove, and SharePoint Server-gives information workers many different ways to communicate with each other via a consistent and simple user experience.

Is Unified Communications a mission critical application?

Earlier days, Email was a nice to have feature in the organization and later became mission critical application. Now it’s the turn for Unified communications; it’s very nice to have application for information & knowledge workers. In future, the increasing mobile workforce in a decentralized businesses location will be a common environment where Unified communications facilitates the business eco system on-the-go & always-available fashion for communication, finally call it “Mission Critical”

What are the benefits ?

• You can have instant messaging via your intranet and the Internet.
• SLA (Service Level Agreements) is not for the service along with server level.
• Enjoy the technology refresh as Microsoft evolves through various upgrades to new Office Communications Online release versions. This is done at no additional charge as per Microsoft site.
• Disaster recovery (DR) services that provide full instant messaging and presence capability in an alternate and geographically diverse data center within 72 hours.

How to get started as a solution provider?

Get enrolled and start selling the solution to your customers. As per Microsoft Site, “Microsoft Online Services are a set of enterprise-class software offerings delivered as subscription services hosted by Microsoft and sold by you-provide the rich interactivity of on-premises client and server applications-and the flexibility and scalability of Web-based services. You can generate predictable recurring revenue streams through new managed services, business-process consulting, tier-one end-user support, and your own value-added services. And efficiently expand your customer base and serve new segments-without adding infrastructure or head count.”

Burlington, MA – July 7, 2008 – groupSPARK — a mindSHIFT company, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and the leading provider of private label hosted Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions including hosted Exchange Server 2007, hosted SharePoint Services 3.0, and hosted Dynamics CRM — announced today that groupSPARK’s founder and senior executive officer, Ravi Agarwal, will speak at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC), held in Houston, Texas, July 7-10, 2008.  Agarwal will draw upon groupSPARK’s success as a leader in the SaaS industry and will address the benefits and opportunities available for resellers through private-label hosted services.  groupSPARK was named 2008 Microsoft Partner of the Year, in the Advanced Infrastructure, Hosting Solutions category.

The Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference brings together 10,000 Microsoft Partners to gain insight into business growth opportunities and Microsoft product innovation.  Through a series of presentations and events, partners will also share insights and experiences on the latest industry issues and strategies on business success.  groupSPARK was invited to join Microsoft in speaking on a number of topics including how to build a steady stream of recurring revenue through private-label hosted software services and the pros and cons of deploying an in-house SaaS solution vs. partnering with a private label provider.   groupSPARK’s presentation schedule follows:

• Monday, July7^th 10:45 AM – 12:00 PM, 2:30 – 3:35 PM, 310 BCEF
  Small Business Symposium: Transformation To Software Plus Services: Expand Your Business By Selling Hosted Services With Your Brand
  Speakers: Greg Olsby, Microsoft, and Ravi Agarwal, groupSPARK
  Do you want to add new revenue streams to your existing portfolio? Are you working to retain existing customers and attract new ones to your software-plus-services offerings? Hear how other Microsoft partners are successfully evolving their businesses to offer private-label hosted services.
  

• Monday, July 7^th 1:00 PM - 2:00 PM, 351 E
  Industry Partner Forum: Hosting and Delivering Your Online Services
  Speakers: Greg Olsby, Microsoft, and Ravi Agarwal, groupSPARK
  Learn about the revenue opportunity in targeting other Microsoft partners — including value-added resellers, independent software vendors, and systems integrators — for private-label hosting. Discover how Microsoft partners like groupSPARK can help you capitalize on this vast opportunity.

• Tuesday, July 8^th 4:30 PM - 5:30 PM, 352 EF
  Build a Recurring Revenue Stream: Resell Branded Hosted Services
  Speakers: Michael van Dijken, Microsoft, and Ravi Agarwal, groupSPARK
  With more companies looking to outsource IT to a service provider, there is tremendous opportunity for you to build a hosting business with minimal risk. Grow your business by reselling branded hosted services from a Microsoft hosting partner. Learn about this opportunity, hear from successful partners such as groupSPARK, and sign up today.

• Tuesday, July 8^th 2:00 – 2:30 PM, 5:30 – 6:00 PM - Microsoft Hosting Pavilion
  Build vs. Partner:  When Is It Better to Partner With A Private Label Provider vs. Rolling Out Your Own SaaS Solution?
  Speaker: Ravi Agarwal, groupSPARK
  Interest in SaaS is exploding as SMBs demand anytime, anywhere access to their mission- critical data.  Service providers see the potential revenue and customer retention benefits of selling SaaS solutions.  The question is whether it is more advantageous to build your own in-house infrastructure or partner with a private label provider?  Time and cost of deployment, quantity of hardware, software, and training involved and need for experienced personnel are just a few of the many issues to consider.  This session will weigh the benefits and drawbacks to rolling out your own SaaS solution vs. partnering with a private label provider.

“The SaaS market continues to grow at a rapid pace as small and mid-size businesses discover that they can take immediate advantage of industry-leading Fortune-500 messaging and collaboration tools as hosted services at a price they can easily absorb.  Therefore, resellers are searching for a way to offer these services to their customers under their own brand, increasing customer retention and recurring revenue per user,” says Ravi Agarwal, founder and senior executive director of groupSPARK, a mindSHIFT company.

“Through these sessions we will discuss how Microsoft partners can begin reselling private label hosted services to their customers in as little as 30 minutes, with no risk, and capitalize on this significant business opportunity. The ability to resell hosted Exchange Server 2007, hosted SharePoint Services, hosted Dynamics CRM and provide support for mobile devices under their own brand gives resellers a significant advantage over their competitors,” Agarwal said.

Worldwide Partner Conference attendees can visit with groupSPARK personnel on the Expo floor at booth #1070 as well as inside the Microsoft hosting pavilion.  Additionally, the company will be accepting the 2008 Microsoft Partner of the Year Award in the Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Hosting Solutions category for its demonstration of both technical and business marketing innovation.  The award was announced on June 16, 2008 and will be officially presented to groupSPARK at an Executive Luncheon on Wednesday, July 9, 2008 at the Worldwide Partner Conference.

About groupSPARK

Located in Burlington, Massachusetts, groupSPARK, a mindSHIFT company, is a leading provider of SaaS services, such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0, and Dynamics CRM, which can be completely private labeled and resold by partners as a part of their own product offerings, thereby saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in development and support costs.

Its partners utilize groupSPARK’s turnkey private label platform to provide hosted services to their users in minutes.  Partners are able to address scalability and uptime concerns by leveraging groupSPARK’s 100% uptime SLA, private label 24×7 U.S.-based support and proactive hardware and software monitoring capabilities. For additional information, visit www.groupSPARK.com.

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The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

As I mentioned in my previous blog, everyone at Exchange Hosting business might have a top agenda in its action list to quickly analysis Apple’s new iPhone 2.0 software and integrate into its Exchange hosting infrastructure. There are already few hosters in the market started providing the services as soon as Apple announced the iPhone 2.0. For Steve Jobs, this will be a great test as his plans are to penetrate the both corporate IT and SMB market using iPhone being primary Mobile messaging platform in Exchange Server environment. If Jobs can achieve his success criteria, Apple will surely establish a strong footprint in the corporate IT as well as SMB market with this revolutionary iPhone.

As you aware, MS Exchange as SaaS is an emerging market. Hosting providers can seamlessly integrate iPhone capability to its users without substantial change in their Exchange Server & Active Directory Infrastructure (Refer Fig 1.1)

What are the requirements in network to allow Exchange ActiveSync?

SSL Port 443 must open at the firewall side. This is already open in the case of Exchange Hosting provider, as they already offer ActiveSync using other devices such as Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and Motorola’s Good Messaging etc. Also, this port is required for accessing Outlook Web Access.

Server certificate is another essential component at Client Access Server. Again, this must be an existing component at the Exchange Hosting provider’s infrastructure. Anyways, for new environment the server certificate must be installed and activate SSL for the Exchange ActiveSync virtual directory with basic SSL authentication. Server certificate is installed on Microsoft ISA 2006 Server (Internet Security and Acceleration Server) and update the DNS server in order to resolve incoming connections. The ISA 2006 Server should be configured to create a Web listener and publishing rule for an Exchange Web client access to enable Exchange ActiveSync. Lastly, Idle Session timeout is set to 30 minutes in the firewalls and other network appliances.

Exchange account setup

I want to wrap up this post by mentioning little bit on activating Exchange Activesync. This feature is enabled by default for all mobile devices at the organizational level on Exchange Server 2007. Active Directory is used to enable or disable specific users or groups. Alternatively, this can be done through Exchange Management Console (EMC) under Recipient Configuration in Exchange Server 2007. EMC can also be used to configure mobile features, policies, and device security settings using

Last but not the least, Remote Wipe is now can easily done via Outlook Web Access by the users or IT administrators can do the same through EMC.

Insurance wholesale broker Swett & Crawford sends and receives more than one million email messages each month, and for its 900+ users, the availability and reliability of an email solution is critical to business. Swett & Crawford was still relying on the IBM Lotus Notes-based email infrastructure that was using when it divested from its parent company two years earlier, and it was increasingly difficult to find resources to maintain that infrastructure. Swett & Crawford decided not only to migrate off the Notes platform, but it also decided to seek an external partner who could maintain the entire messaging infrastructure. Its choice? USA.NET and its hosted messaging solution based on Microsoft Exchange server.

Read the full story on how Swett & Crawford freed their IT team to work on critical business tasks by outsourcing to USA.NET.

End of a long wait! It’s time for planning to have your users with iPhone 2.0 devices. If you already have users with iPhone 2.0, it’s the time to learn how seamlessly you can integrate with your existing environments. Deployment scenarios, infrastructure design and device configuration will change depending on which email server the organization is using and also, what level of security you wish to implement along with iPhone.

Apple already announced the support for following:

1. Microsoft Exchange Server (both Exchange 2003 & Exchange 2007)
2. Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) using Cisco
3. WPA2 Enterprise/802.1x
4. iPhone and IMAP

Microsoft Exchange Server Support

Exchange hosting providers rejoice with the launch of iPhone 2.0! Now they can offer more to its users on the Wireless Messaging option.Using iPhone 2.0 software, users are able to connect directly to the Microsoft Exchange Server using Exchange ActiveSync protocol. Thereby users having the ability of push email, contacts, and calendar. As usual with Windows Mobile Device, Exchange ActiveSync constantly maintains a connection between Microsoft Exchange Server and iPhone. This allows the iPhone to get immediately updated as soon as new mails or meeting requests arrives. If your hosting providers are currently supporting Exchange ActiveSync on Exchange Server 2003 or 2007, you are all set to go with push mail services using iPhone 2.0 and you do not require further configuration or additional infrastructure.”Mobility, reliability and security are among the most important trends impacting messaging today. When Apple announced its plans to license Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for the iPhone, it opened the door for enterprises to take advantage of Exchange’s rich communications platform.” said Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research, a leading analyst firm in the messaging and collaboration space. In the coming months, you will see more and more Exchange Hosting Providers are coming up with iPhone 2.0 supports for its customers.

I was having some conversation with AppRiver who introduced the iPhone 2.0 support right after Steve Jobs announced at Worldwide Developers Conference. They were also the first one partner with Akamai to make the Internet behave more consistently for business-quality application delivery such as reliable access to MS Outlook, Outlook Web Access & Mobile devices including iPhone 2.0.

How secure is iPhone 2.0 if used with Microsoft Exchange Server? 

iPhone 2.0 with ActiveSync is secure with following policies:

1. Remote wipe - For example, if device is stolen remote wipe is the only rescue.
2. Enforce password on device - The moment ActiveSync is enabled, policies will be automatically pushed down to the iPhone which also enforce a password for the device.
3. Minimum password length - This can be determined by Organization depending on its company password policy. I have noticed users reporting complaints on longer password on this tiny mobile device.
4. Require alphanumeric password - This is would be very difficult to guess
5. Require complex password - I would recommend this if company thinks security is important.
6. Inactivity time in minutes - Another must have feature.

If you look at the above security policies, there is not much significant difference in security between Windows Mobile device & iPhone. I will continue the last part of this topic on my next blog post.

GULF BREEZE, FL, June 17, 2008 – AppRiver LLC, a leading provider of Microsoft Hosted Exchange email service, today announced it is ready to offer Apple iPhone 2.0 users the only network optimized for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync enabled devices.

Apple unveiled a new, upgraded iPhone at the Worldwide Developers Conference that allows a whole new set of mobile business users to take advantage of Microsoft Exchange. iPhone 2.0 software directly communicates with Microsoft Exchange Server via Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync, giving Apple users push email, calendar and contact syncing on their mobile devices.

“We are pleased Apple is adding the iPhone to the growing number of mobile devices that connect with Exchange,” said Michael Murdoch, CEO of AppRiver. “Like Apple, AppRiver strives to provide groundbreaking innovation as demonstrated by being the first — and only — Hosted Exchange provider to integrate Akamai’s IP acceleration technology, delivering dramatic improvements in security, connectivity and performance to our Microsoft ActiveSync customers and especially to the iPhone 2.0 community.”

Understanding the need for high performing, always available applications, AppRiver teamed up with Akamai to make the Internet behave more consistently for business-quality application delivery. By implementing the Akamai platform within its service, AppRiver assures its users will always have quick and reliable access to Outlook, Outlook Web and Mobile Device applications, regardless of their location or what is happening on the Internet.

“Mobility, reliability and security are among the most important trends impacting messaging today,” said Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research, a leading analyst firm in the messaging and collaboration space. “When Apple announced its plans to license Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync for the iPhone, it opened the door for enterprises to take advantage of Exchange’s rich communications platform. Couple that with AppRiver’s robust mobile messaging services, and businesses now have optimized security solutions at their fingertips. AppRiver leads the way by offering its customers such innovative, high performance features.”

About AppRiver

Founded in April 2002, AppRiver – based in Gulf Breeze, Florida – is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider offering secure messaging solutions to businesses of all sizes. In addition to spam and virus protection, the company provides a complete managed service for Microsoft Exchange. With more than 30,000 customers around the world – and an impressive 97 percent customer retention rate since its inception – AppRiver is one of the largest email security managed service providers worldwide. In 2008, Red Herring magazine selected AppRiver for the prestigious Red Herring 100, recognizing it as one of the 100 “Most Promising” companies driving the future of technology. The company was also named to CRN Magazine’s 2007 Emerging Tech Dynamos list. For more information, visit www.appriver.com.

Media Contacts:

AppRiver

Michael Hamstra, Director of Marketing

850/932-5338

mhamstra@appriver.com

BURLINGTON, Massachusetts – June 16, 2008 – groupSPARK, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and the leading provider of private label hosted software services including Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM, today announced that it has been named by Microsoft as its 2008 Partner of the Year in the Advanced Infrastructure Solutions, Hosting Solutions category.

The Microsoft Partner of the Year Award recognizes partners in a number of categories who are industry leaders and have a proven track record of developing and delivering to their customers best-of-breed, comprehensive Microsoft-based solutions to help them achieve outstanding business success.

groupSPARK was chosen for this prestigious award from a pool of over 2,000 entrants worldwide. The selection as the top Hosting Solutions Partner was based on the company’s demonstration of both technical and business marketing innovation. Its integration of Microsoft technology such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Windows SharePoint Services and Dynamics CRM with proprietary, industry leading automation tools enables groupSPARK resellers to go to market more quickly and cost effectively with a full suite of private label hosted services under their own brands.

“We are pleased to see groupSPARK present reselling partners with increased opportunity to deliver richer applications and the power of choice,” said Robert Deshaies, Vice President, U.S. Partner Group, Microsoft Corp. “Partners of any size can now offer hosted Microsoft Exchange Server based on groupSPARK’s service in as little as 30 minutes to customers using their own brand, domain, and corporate look-and-feel.”

“We are exceptionally honored to be selected from among thousands of Microsoft partners to receive the 2008 Microsoft Partner of the Year award in the advanced infrastructure solutions, hosting solutions category,” said Ravi Agarwal, founder and Senior Executive Officer of groupSPARK, a mindSHIFT company. “We are delighted that Microsoft has publicly recognized our proven success as the leading provider of private label SaaS applications – worldwide.”

groupSPARK’s industry leading Private Label Application Delivery (PLAD) platform enables resellers to offer hosted Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM 4.0 completely under the resellers’ brand. This technology is the only one in the industry that allows for complete private label functionality, including every URL seen by the end customer. This unique private label capability enables them to go to market in a significantly shorter amount of time - 30 minutes - incurring significantly less deployment expenses and allowing them to increase customer retention and monthly recurring revenue. Couple that with outstanding customer service delivered via live 24 x 7 U.S.-based technical support and groupSPARK provides an unmatched hosted services solution to its reseller partners.

About groupSPARK

Located in Burlington, Massachusetts, groupSPARK, a mindSHIFT company, is the leading provider of SaaS services, such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, Windows SharePoint Services v3.0, and Dynamics CRM, completely private labeled and resold by partners as a part of their own product offerings, saving hundreds of thousands of dollars in development and support costs.

Its partners utilize groupSPARK’s turnkey private label platform to provide hosted services to their users in minutes. Partners address scalability and uptime concerns by leveraging groupSPARK’s 100% uptime SLA, live 24×7 U.S.-based support and proactive hardware and software monitoring capabilities. For additional information, visit www.groupSPARK.com.

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Product or service names mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact Information:

Lisa Masiello
groupSPARK
781-273-6248 x.652

lmasiello@groupspark.com