(Webhosting.info) The new services are scheduled to be generally available to businesses of all sizes in the second half of the year.

Microsoft, a software services and solutions provider, announced that the company will offer Microsoft Online Services to businesses of all sizes. The company believes that this announcement marks a significant step toward expanding its software plus services strategy.

The company has opened a limited beta trial of the new services; the new services are scheduled to be generally available to businesses of all sizes in the second half of the year.

The company states that the new services enable businesses to access e-mail, calendaring, contacts, shared workspaces, and webconferencing and videoconferencing over the Web. It further mentions that the new services are managed through a single web-based interface, designed to meet the needs of IT professionals. Through this security-enhanced interface, IT professionals can monitor the performance of the services, add and configure users, submit and track support requests, and manage users and licenses.

“The combination of software plus services gives customers advanced choice and flexibility in how they access and manage software,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp. “With Microsoft Online Services, businesses can deploy software as a subscription service, from servers they manage on-site, or a combination of the two, depending on their specific needs. In the future, customers and partners should expect to see this kind of choice and flexibility for all of Microsoft’s software and server products.”