Microsoft BPOS: Scattered SaaS Outages

Don't press the panic button. SaaS and cloud market opportunities remain real. But even the big players continue to suffer from scattered outages. The latest example involves Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), a SaaS platform that has had some outages in recent days.

The VAR Guy

February 3, 2010

1 Min Read
Microsoft BPOS: Scattered SaaS Outages

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Don’t press the panic button. SaaS and cloud market opportunities remain real. But even the big players continue to suffer from scattered outages. The latest example involves Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), a SaaS platform that has had some outages in recent days. It raises the question again: Will any IT company emerge as the Volvo — reliable, trustworthy, safe — of the SaaS market?

First, some background. According to the Microsoft Online Services team blog:

On January 28, customers served from a North America data center may have experienced intermittent access to services included in the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite.

Alas, some of the services continued to suffer from outages on Feb. 1 and 2, according to the Microsoft Online RSS feed.

Where Is the Volvo of SaaS?

Microsoft isn’t alone. Many prominent SaaS and cloud providers have suffered intermittent outages in recent weeks, prompting The VAR Guy to ask: Where is the Volvo of SaaS?

Quite a few folks emailed and called our resident blogger to offer their thoughts. One prime example: Intermedia, a hosted Exchange specialist that works closely with VARs and MSPs, points to a 99.999% uptime guarantee and a 100% data protection guarantee.

Will other SaaS providers begin to market around quality and value — rather than low-ball pricing? The VAR Guy is watching (and listening) for clues.

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