Sep11Written by:SuperUser Account
9/11/2010 11:41 AM 
I’ve been a fan of Hosted Software for years…. Way before it was cool in fact. And, not for the reasons that most are excited about it today (cost, ease of support and upgrades, scalability, etc). I am a fan primarily because I am an impatient Business User who knows enough to know what I want technically, but not enough to install and maintain it on the servers so am dependent on the dreaded IT team give me what I want….. and that is Never fast enough for me.
Most Hosted Solutions, by necessity, have relatively automated and user friendly setup and configuration services so a relatively technical business user can be up and running in seconds.
A good example would be our move from our own Internal Exchange servers to a Hosted Exchange solution at Rackspace back in 2006 or so. Prior to the change, I was completely dependent on “Nick Burns the Computer Guy” for the smallest of issues.
However, I was able to set my account up in minutes by myself with Rackspace, add the Blackberry Enterprise Server crap (which was apparently Rocket Science for our guys), and be up and running in no time.
Anyway, 4 years later, I am still a fan, and dread anytime I actually have to install anything on my servers. Here are two small but recent examples which are way cool, and work like a champ:
CallFire – I wanted to try some of our own out-bound telemarketing, but wanted to simply dip my two in the water first, so I searched for Cloud Solutions, and found CallFire. Within minutes, I had setup a pay-per-use account, uploaded a test phone list, and was dialing for dollars with a robust automated dialer. The way the do it is very slick. Once setup, your agents simply dial an 800 number, enter an account code and a password, and then leave the line open. They then manage the dialing thru the Hosted Software. And, I love the pay-as-you-go per minute plan with no money up front.
AdButler – The second recent example is AdButler. I wanted to upgrade our Ad Serving software to give us better control of things like Filtering Bots, and Geo-Targeting for our Banner Advertisers. And as usual, the first few I found in my search were hosted solutions that scared me to death….. they need to be INSTALLED ON SERVERS! Then I found AdButler, which lives in the Clouds. In minutes, I was setup and serving ads with more features than I’ll ever need, and a simply monthly fee that is tied to usage.
I am contemplating a series of How-To Webcasts for our Silver Members where we will walk thru how to use cloud services like these, as well things like PinPoint, Widgetbox, Facebook Social, and other tools that I think may be useful for our Microsoft Partner Members.
So, have fun and see you in the Clouds!
Learn more about Microsoft Cloud Computing thoughts..