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Written by Kayvaan Ghassemieh

Hi, my name is Kayvaan, I’m a senior product manager with Microsoft Online Services. As Betsy mentioned in her earlier post, today Microsoft announced Office 365, the next generation of the Business Productivity Online Suite. Betsy talked about all the great new business-class features, efficiency and value that Office 365 will bring to existing and new Microsoft Online Services customers. You may now be asking yourself, “What does Office 365 mean for me as an existing BPOS customer?”

For any Software as a Service (SaaS) provider, it is critical to release updates and deliver changes to services in a way that balances continuous improvement with the flexibility to allow customers to control when releases and changes are delivered. Microsoft Online Services provides this balance by offering all existing BPOS customers up to twelve (12) months to transition from BPOS to Office 365. With that flexibility, you can make the transition to Office 365 when it makes sense for your business.

Your next steps as an existing customer should be to start learning about Office 365 and how to start planning. You can take the following steps right now:

· Bookmark the Office 365 transition center, which will be your one stop shop for ongoing guidance and discussion about the transition. At the transition center today you will find: a checklist to help you start planning, an extensive FAQ and details about Office 365 system requirements. We will publish more detailed guidance to the transition center on a continuous basis.

· If you have questions that you want to ask of other customers or Microsoft subject matter experts, head over to the transition forum on TechNet. I will be joining the conversation there.

· Make sure we have the right technical contacts on file. Microsoft Online Services will be sending important email communications about the transition to your technical contact email. Learn how to check and update.

· Stay tuned! Check the transition center regularly, subscribe to this blog and keep an eye out for notifications in the Microsoft Online Administration Center.

This is an exciting time for Microsoft Online Services and customers. Office 365 is a major wave of innovations to our services and we are committed to making sure that you have the information you need – when you need it – to make the transition to Office 365 when it works for you.

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This week in BPOS news is a recurring segment on the Microsoft Online Services Team Blog that covers news from all sectors of Cloud Computing and the Microsoft Online Services business suite known as the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). You can read all past This Week in BPOS News segments here.

This week in BPOS news we cover two stories about Microsoft’s cloud that include a “real world” example of BPOS in action, and an investment of billions of dollars in the cloud.

1. Real World with Microsoft Online Services: Interview with Christian Kuttler, Director of Information and Communication Technology at Center Parcs

The Why Microsoft blog is the source for latest news about why companies choose Microsoft. The blog features a segment called the “Real World Microsoft Online Services Series” that highlights companies that have recently made the switch to Microsoft Online Services. For this week’s series segment, Andrew Kisslo from the Why Microsoft blog talks with Christian Kuttler, Director of Information and Communication Technology at Center Parcs. Andrew discusses how and why Center Parcs made the transition from Google Apps to Microsoft BPOS.

The blog post starts by breaking down the business needs of Center Parcs. The piece then details how Microsoft BPOS became the collaboration and productivity solution for Center Parcs and Kuttler ends the blog post by describing some of the benefits of BPOS that he has noticed.

You can also learn more about Center Parcs and how their business has benefited from using Microsoft Online Services with this detailed Case Study from Microsoft.

Do you have a migration story you want to share with us? Leave a comment below.

2. Microsoft’s Ballmer to Invest Billions in Cloud Data Centers

*Image from neowin.net

On a recent trip to Germany, Steve Ballmer announced Microsoft’s intent to invest “billions” in cloud service data centers. This large investment in the cloud will allow Microsoft to handle the increased volume and demand for the cloud. This is a significant move for Microsoft that will expand our cloud capabilities, and will also positively affect customers.

“The good news is that the cost of data centers is coming down,” Ballmer said

“We’re excited,” Ballmer said. “I’d have a hard time coming out here and being all pumped up for our customers, if I didn’t also think that it will be good for our shareholders. I still won’t give you a forecast” for how much Microsoft hopes to benefit from the trend for cloud technology.

The article from Business Week also touches on a couple key cloud issues that Ballmer discussed including government and potential security risks with the cloud. The last quote from Ballmer in this article sums up Microsoft’s approach to the cloud, “‘Compared with three years ago, there is no longer any question about whether users are moving toward cloud-based services, Ballmer said. ‘Now we know it’s inevitable.’”

What do you think of Steve Ballmer’s announcement of Microsoft’s pledge to the cloud? Is one billion dollars enough or too much? We want to hear your comments below.

What are your thoughts about the stories we shared with you this week? Did you see a story you want to share with us? Let us know what other topics you’d like to see. You can comment on this blog post or send an email to our community mailbox. Follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page.

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Leveraging the power of the internet with BPOS and the other Microsoft Online Services, your IT department can gain efficiency while giving your users a reliable experience they can use on almost any device, from virtually anywhere. But you might be wondering about the practicalities of deployment.

The deployment process has been broken down into four steps:

1. Verify your domain
2. Plan your deployment
3. Prepare for the migration of users
4. Migrate

At each stage of the deployment process, Microsoft provides helpful resources accessible through the Deployment Central web page. For example, at the site you can open the Setup Accelerator. The Setup Accelerator is an interactive tool that asks you a short series of questions and then generates a deployment guide individualized to your organizational configuration.

When planning a deployment, you will find it invaluable to download the Microsoft Online Services Deployment Guide. This comprehensive manual details the entire deployment process and includes helpful extras, like tips on how to communicate the deployment process to end users.

To streamline the process, you can download a Deployment Checklist, the Deployment Quick Reference Guide and use a Deployment Schedule. These resources break the large tasks outlined in the comprehensive Deployment Guide into manageable processes and timetables.

Microsoft makes it easy for you to connect with peers throughout this process at the Microsoft Online Services Forums. This is where IT professionals can share their experiences of deployment. You can also get linked with a partner who can help you deploy Microsoft Online Services.

Have you utilized the deployment resources and found them helpful? Are there ways we could improve the delivery of information related to the deployment process? We want to know that our resources are working for you. Send us your feedback or share your deployment success story by leaving a comment below.