Ferris: Microsoft Online Collaboration Services Are Reasonably Priced

Nick Shelness of Ferris Research makes the comparison between a Microsoft based on premise solution vs the Business Productivity Online Solution :

… Microsoft Online Services are reasonably priced compared to the cost of running equivalent on-premises software.

Consider what’s likely to be a common purchase of Microsoft Online Services:

• Exchange Online (email/calendaring/address books)
• Office Communications Online (presence/instant messaging)
• Office Live Meeting (Web conferencing)
• SharePoint Online (shared spaces/workflow management)
• Exchange Hosted Services (email archiving/spam and malware filtering)

The price varies on whether elements are purchased singly or in a bundle, but it seems $15/user/month will be common, with volume discounts of around 20%.

Using the on-premises versions of Exchange, OCS, and SharePoint, Microsoft typically receives annual income of about $60 to $80/user/year; or $5-$7/user/month. For example, consider the Small Business Server Standard Edition pricing, which basically provides Exchange, SharePoint, and anti-spam and anti-virus for Exchange. For 100 users, it costs:

• $1,089 for the server license and five-user clients access licenses (”CALs”)
• $7,315 for 95 CALs, which are payable annually …

Continue at Source: Microsoft Online Collaboration Services Are Reasonably Priced