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The managers of leading companies in telecommunications and mass media as well as partners of Microsoft Corporation gathered for Ukraine Connections Day'08 Conference on the 25th of September, 2008 to discuss last achievements and tendencies in the sphere of modern technologies, to get acquainted with specialized solutions and discuss possibilities provided by Microsoft’s new strategies and products.

Telecommunications and software markets, which were parallel for some years, have recently reached a high level of interpenetration. Today almost any desktop application is, to some extent, integrated with Net, in their turn technical feasibility of telecom sector allows to unload desktops and reduce the cost of IT support due to delegation of a part of business applications to off-site executors or due to remote work with them.

Necessity of quick implementation of IT innovations with assurance of high controllability, standards and security conformance is the key demand of modern production. It forces the companies to maintain dynamic IT-infrastructure regularly incorporating to it additional applications and services, which are more efficiently performed by off-site companies increasing business reactivity and, thus, its productivity.

As Forrester says, already in 2006 small companies as well as large corporations used or started pilot SaaS-projects for HR organization, support of branches net, work with clients, messages exchange services. And last year 31 % of ERP- and 27% CRM-solutions were delivered according to SaaS model. 

In spite of all its positive characteristics, implementation of this system for messages delivery is not always possible: because of insufficient nets development, security demands, business process peculiarities etc. 

In connection to this Software+Services concept, actively promoted by Microsoft, looks totally reasonable. Today the company suggests a wide solution package (Windows Server, Active Directory, BizTalk Server, SQL Server, SharePoint Server, Office Communications Server etc.), on which off-site developers implement their own software and services. Moreover, Microsoft platform supports nearly all products classes – desktop, service-oriented (SOA) or web-applications (Web 2.0) – on desktops or portable equipment with usage of different browsers, on physical servers in DODs and internet services.

Software+Services is one of the approaches to creation of the next generation of data processing technologies which will combine the best features of both existing models and suggest a client powerful software together with flexibility of online services. Microsoft itself has started parallel advancement of business applications, including Dynamics CRM in form of software and online service, the Corporation plans to expand this approach to other solutions, most of Microsoft’s server technologies will have their analogs in form of service.

Telco 2.0 – a new strategy of Microsoft Corporation in the sphere of telecommunications – has a lot in common with Software+Service concept. Telecommunications sector has direct access to computers, mobile phones and other resources of users. Microsoft, in its turn, possesses a wide spectrum of different software which may provide services support and be rendered in service package of operators. In this direction the most perspective ones, in Company’s opinion, are e-mail and voice mail, VoIP, instant messages supported by Office Communi­cations Server and other tools of unified communications and web services support.

There are a number of examples of successful realization of this strategy: Nor­tel CS 2000+Microsoft НМС 4.5 – hosting operator solution which renders services of unified communications for small and medium businesses; OEM Key System, created in cooperation with Greyond and NGT, which combines the services of broadband communications, SIP Tranking (organization and usage of access lines to common telephone network  through proxy media server of network provider), hosting of e-mail and software. There are some examples of Telсо 2.0 in Ukraine: Astelit mobile operator suggests “Virtual Office” and “Working space” packages (they are Hosted Exchange and SharePoint Services) and Subscription Computing program, oriented on personal users and small business, which suggests receiving of PC in package with communication service, Internet and mail by subscription.

Provision of telecommunication companies with complex program system, which allows managing physical resources, services, business process, client base, optimizing putting of new services on the market etc. is not less significant. These facilities are especially important for dynamically growing markets of developing countries where an active struggle for client solicitation takes place. This sector may be filled with new OSS/BSS solution created in the result of Softline and Microsoft cooperation which have been introduced during Ukraine Connections Day'08 – that is MSTS project, development of which continued for two years. Almost 1 mil. USD was invested into development, and the same sum was planned to be invested into MSTS promotion in CIS, Europe, Middle East and North Africa.

MSTS (Modern Software Telecom Suite) – complex system for telecommunication companies – is based on NGOSS TeleManagement Forum concept and modern Microsoft’s technologies, it has module structure and good scaling capability. A product allows to solve a full range of telecom operator’s tasks, gives possibility to make decisions inside the company on basis of anytime access to actual information. The complex of these features secures reduction of risks and cost, connected with infrastructure life cycle, reduction of time and financial investments for putting of new services on the market and decrease of risk and, as the final result, client servicing improving.