Microsoft Lync in the Public Cloud

Microsoft Lync is a popular communication service for companies, allowing IT to provide instant messaging, voice over IP, collaboration, and video conferencing among other features. The product has seen strong development by Microsoft, particularly after being renamed from Microsoft Office Communicator in 2010. Those visiting TechEd for the past few years have seen entire Expo sections dedicated to the product, 3^rd party add-ons, and even certified hardware to ensure the best communication experience for enterprise customers. Lync was also one of the very first Microsoft products to enjoy cross-platform support with clients released for Windows Phone, Android, iOS, and Mac in 2011.

Lync, though, requires significant investments in infrastructure, both budget and IT expertise. To help minimize the impact of cost and labor, one company has recently become the first to offer Microsoft Lync 2013 Enterprise as a hosted, Public Cloud solution.

Enterhost announced in late February that it has launched Hosted Lync. Available through a handful of companies worldwide, Enterhost will also provide the service through its own infrastructure, offering a monthly, per-user subscription. Hosted Lync provides all the same features as an on-premise solution including instant messaging, presence, voice and video calling, conference call services, desktop sharing and whiteboarding at a fraction of the cost.

Enterhost supports small businesses (1-100 users) and Enterprise customers (100+ users). Pricing is not available on the web site, but quotes can be obtained through request forms in both the small business and Enterprise areas.

And, while Enterhost is just announcing the hosted Lync solution, they also offer a variety of Cloud options, including public, private, and hybrid choices, as well as providing on-premise support.