The last question to come up over and over from potential users goes something like, “Why can’t we get functionality like big companies and colleges and agencies have?” Why should size matter? Features such as mobile phone integration, getting a corporate calendar or email synched to each outside rep’s pocket, have great value in companies of any size, but larger companies are typically the ones with the expertise and staff to make such capabilities real across the employee base. Smaller firms are short on time, money, or any number of other factors keeping them from what they want.

With BPOS, though, matters of size disappear. Functionally, there’s no difference between a deployment for five users and a deployment for 5,000. It doesn’t matter how big your IT staff is because the only IT involved are sitting in Microsoft’s data centers. True, it may take some time and study to expose those capabilities to users, but Microsoft’s documentation is plentiful and generally accessible. Plus if you buy the software through a BPOS reseller, chances are that the reseller can guide you through the setup and deployment. Lofty buy-in prices no longer need be a barrier to functionality.

The other aspect of scale that plays here is with small companies looking to build an international presence. Traditionally, this has been a tricky task that required

a fair amount of infrastructure. How do you have offices in five countries and keep them all synchronized and collaborating smoothly? Usually, the answer has been with rather expensive, enterprise-slanted solutions. With an SPS model, though, the cost and complexity evaporates. Customers can come into regional offices or be given their own Deskless Worker licenses and participate in worldwide events. There’s no more backing up of regional offices into a central location because Online Services already handles that. Small businesses can look and act like enterprises while only spending the equivalent of lunch money.

Check out our Microsoft BPOS Resource Center