With Outlook 2007, users can view calendars and contact lists stored on SharePoint sites, and create and manage sites for editing documents and organizing meetings. Outlook 2007 and Windows SharePoint 2007 support a new set of significantly enhanced functionality including:

 

• Read/write access to SharePoint items: calendars, tasks, contacts, discussions, and documents
• Synchronization of offline support of document library and lists
• Ability to check out and edit documents when offline
• Roll-up views of calendars and tasks across multiple lists and sites
• Unified view of personal and SharePoint tasks in Outlook 2007

 

Exchange Server 2007 is obviously something that groupSPARK and our partners have been waiting for. There are significant improvements over Exchange Server 2003. Here are just a few of those improvements…

• Advanced Anti-SPAM and Anti-Virus protection
• New data replication capabilities
• Unified messaging with fax and voice mail
• Improved performance and scalability

And this is just the tip of the iceberg.

As with all Microsoft software releases, there are many improvements over the previous release.

Outlook 2007 has a redesigned look and feel of its messaging interface, which makes composing, formatting, and acting on information an easier and more intuitive experience. You now get all the Outlook 2007 rich features and capabilities in an accessible location, which makes it easier to navigate your options.

Users benefit from a new scheduling assistant that automates time-consuming calendaring tasks, the ability to schedule and customize out-of-office communications, and managed folders that facilitate compliance needs.

You can connect Windows SharePoint Services documents, calendars, contacts, tasks, and other information to Office Outlook 2007, giving you a central place to manage your information.

These are but a few of the major process improvements that you will see in Outlook 2007.

Dynamics CRM  Hosted Customer Relationship Management 
groupSPARK is now offering Hosted Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. Dynamics CRM is a premiere Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software available in the marketplace today with an easy to use web-based interface and full Outlook integration.Cost and complexity of building and maintaining a Hosted Microsoft CRM solution have prevented deployment by service providers across the world. As the first Private Label Hosted Microsoft CRM solution in the marketplace, groupSPARK empowers you to instantly add Hosted Microsoft CRM to your suite of services. 

New Control Panel Same functionality - New look 
We have been working very hard these last few months to make improvements to our control panel. Based on feedback from you, we have made significant changes that will improve usability and the overall look of the tool. 

As with our previous control panel, this one is fully private labeled, but we’re included much more flexibility in changing the appearance of elements like fonts, colors and styles. 

SharePoint 2007 
groupSPARK will be one of the first private label providers to offer SharePoint 2007. This is a another great opportunity for you to be the first providers in the nation to offer SharePoint 2007.

New functionality in 2007 includes the ability to implement team-based blogs and wikis, enhanced integration with Outlook 2007, and the ability to easily create new application templates (you will find that the 60+ templates we already provide will satisfy even your most demanding customers).

SharePoint is being used by more and more SMBs every day. If you don’t already offer it, now is the time to. You will be able to take advantage of all the additional marketing and PR coming out of Microsoft. 

ISPCon Santa Clara  Good to see everyone 
For those of you that attended this year’s Fall ISPCon in Santa Clara, CA, we wanted to thank you for stopping by our booth. Events like ISPCon are great opportunities for us to not only meet prospective new clients but also speak to existing ones and hear their success stories. 

Lower Support Costs
Outlook Zero Config Tool
Our new pre-setup software will automatically create a new Outlook profile for your Exchange Hosting mailbox. Whether using the Zero Config Tool for new accounts, or to administer current accounts, the Zero Config Tool will help cut down your Exchange support costs drastically.
For more on the Outlook Zero Config Tool, login to your Control Panel, and visit the Support Answer Center
Ferris Research
Exchange Hosting Webinar
groupSPARK and Ferris Research are pleased to extend an invitation to join our Exchange Hosting webinar coming up on November 7th at 11:30 (EST)

Outsourcing Microsoft Exchange is becoming more practical. In this free webinar, we’ll discuss considerations for organizations thinking about outsourcing their messaging function, look at the types and sizes of organizations that hosted exchange appeals to, and explore what a typical implementation look like.

This is going to be a great chance to get answers to questions you may have and to hear from industry leaders on how they see the market evolving.
What’s New
groupSPARK Archiving Solution

groupSPARK has partnered with Microsoft Exchange Hosted Services to provide customers with an industry-leading Archiving solution; delivering a security-enhanced and virtually tamper-proof archiving answer for your e-mail needs.
Corporate message retention has become a way of business life. With laws being passed that govern the length of time business e-mail is retained, the manner in which it must be preserved and specific message review requirements, the need for a centralized, multitasking mail repository is growing. In addition, the increasing likelihood that e-mail will be required for legal discovery encourages enterprises to take a proactive approach to e-mail retention policies to mitigate risk.
This service is designed to help enterprises meet a variety of regulatory and legal demands placed on their electronic communications systems. It’s deployed over the Internet, which helps eliminate up-front capital investment, free up IT resources to focus on value-producing initiatives, and mitigate messaging risks before they reach the corporate network.
SharePoint Templates
New SharePoint Templates!

To further improve our SharePoint offering, we have recently installed more that 60 new templates. Use these templates to easily create a customized Intranet site to share information with your Co- Workers. The new templates include everything from “Absence and Vacation Schedules” to “Travel Requests” and quite a bit in between. Have a look at the new site templates; you’ll be amazed at what you can do with SharePoint!
Private Labeling and SSLs
Private Label Your URLs
The key aspect of a true private labeled solution is that your customers only see your URLs - everywhere. Now, you can use your own domain name, i.e., Exch.YourDomain.com - instead of rpc.myoutlookonline.com, for the RPC/HTTPS URL that your customers type into their Outlook to connect to Exchange Server. We get an SSL certificate for your custom Exch.YourDomain.com which is then used for SSL-enabled OWA, ActiveSync, OMA, control panel and RPC/HTTPS.