What is it?
I know Vlad is not going to like this, but even he will admit that this has been on the cards for a while. Software plus services is coming to town in a bigger and bigger way. At the moment there is a limited beta in the US and (just like Google), it has the beta tag on it.
So what have we seen today, well we have seen Microsoft stand up and be counted in it's commitment to the software-plus-services strategy. We have seen existing "on premise" solutions of Exchange and SharePoint be offered as a S+S (software-plus-services) alternative for those customers who don't wish to run these themselves. There is no "must switch" or "dropping" of the existing, very successful products, just more options for people.
As a customer you would consider whether you get better value running these in-house yourself, or with a partner delivering them for you in-house, or completely outsources to another partner or Microsoft.
As a partner you have to consider how you deliver in all worlds. While today you probably add value to "on premise" solutions you need to understand how and if you add value should your customer opt for the new services. If you want to deliver theses types of services yourself, look at SPLA agreements and the information at The Microsoft Service Provider License Agreement (SPLA). If you want to build solutions on top of those announced today then look at http://www.microsoft.com/online/partner/learn-more.mspx.
Either way you can learn more at http://www.microsoft.com/online/default.mspx.
Other's reactions
As you can imagine, there have been a few prople covering this, from bloggers to journalists. Below are just some of the items I've seen so far:
Press
Microsoft to Expand Microsoft Online Services for Businesses of All Sizes (press release)
http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Apps/Microsoft-Expands-its-Online-Services/
Microsoft moves further into the cloud.. cautiously
http://www.ebizq.net/blogs/saasweek/2008/03/microsoft_expands_ondemand_ser/
Blogs
Microsoft to Expand Microsoft Online Services for Businesses of All Sizes
Hosted Services - here we come
OK, that should be enough for today .. expect more from Mix!!
ttfn
David