Compaq Computer has cranked up its Computing on Demand initiative
with the introduction of its Exchange on Demand service, which
delivers Microsoft's Exchange 2000 software as a utility.
In step with the idea of computing as a pay-as-you-go utility,
companies can now use Compaq to fully deploy and manage Microsoft
Exchange 2000 infrastructures within their corporate networks on a
per-mailbox basis. Customers are charged only for the number of
users on the Exchange network, and adding new users can be done
almost instantly, eliminating the need to purchase additional user
seats in advance, Joe Hogan, worldwide managing principal for
Compaq Global Services and Outsourcing, said.
Additionally, Compaq's Exchange on Demand service takes care of
server hardware installation and conducts account administration,
performance monitoring, backup and recovery routines, and virus and
security screening, all summed up in a monthly usage report.
Hogan said the Exchange on Demand service and its utility billing
model can rid a company of the hassle of having to manage its own
Exchange network, and that by reducing the need for in-house IT
staff companies can save money.
Exchange networks managed by Compaq's Exchange on Demand service
can be located on-site at a customer's location, or off-site at
Compaq's Customer Solution and Support Centre.
Launched in July 2001, Compaq's Computing on Demand initiative is
part of an industrywide trend toward offering hardware and software
on a pay-as-you-go basis, Bill Martorelli, vice-president of
enterprise services with industry consulting firm The Hurwitz
Group, said.
While computing as a true plug-in utility is still many years off,
Martorelli said companies "can look at computing as a utility now
by virtue of the fact that services are already available to them,
including capacity-based pricing models [like Exchange on Demand],"
and competing services from IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Sun
Microsystems.
Compaq's Hogan said the current economic doldrums also make the
time right for utility computing models such as Exchange on
Demand.
"[Utility computing] gives users a variable capability to dial up
and dial down computing resource and in the current economy that's
important," Hogan said.