DIGITAL BUSINESS The appeal of cloud computing is supposed to be saving money as well as gaining simplicity, but billing for software as a service is typically nothing more than flat subscription fees. Microsoft is planning to be much more flexible with the Microsoft Online Services when they launch in the UK and 20 other countries next spring (with more countries following towards the end of 2009).
Not only will there be two levels of service and discounts of between 30 and 50 per cent for existing volume licensing customers, with the option of billing in local currencies, direct to individual departments or subsidiaries. Businesses will also be able to buy services directly – or from the service providers they already deal with. This means Microsoft can avoid the problem of competing with its own partners and resellers but still be competitive.
