Microsoft Scraps Plans To Be Sole Host Of Data For .Net MyServices

Microsoft

Microsoft has scrapped plans to be the sole host of customer data for .Net MyServices due to "trust issues," but its MSN will host the user-centric services, a Microsoft spokesman confirmed.

The software giant plans to release a corporate server in 2003 that will allow enterprises, partners and service providers to host their own services in-house, the Microsoft spokesman confirmed.

The Internet services server will ship after the release of the Windows.Net server, which is expected to ship later this year, the spokesman added. Microsoft does not intend to scrap the entire .Net MyServices plan but will license the technology to third-party telecommunications and Internet service providers, he said. One unnamed solution provider said Microsoft also intends to make .Net MyServices available as part of its Microsoft Solutions Offerings for corporate customers.

As first reported by CRN last November, Microsoft has been in negotiations with major telecommunications providers to serve as key distributors of .Net application services over the Internet. On Wednesday, Microsoft took a big step in that direction by revealing it had signed a deal with hosting provider Exodus to host .Net application services. Microsoft will also license the Internet services technology to other telecommunications and service providers.

However, the thinking around .Net MyServices has changed significantly. Rather than host customer data, Microsoft will return to its roots and focus on server software and licensing the technology to hosters, a spokesman said.

The spokesman acknowledged that the decision was spurred by the fact that some customers had "trust issues" about .Net MyServices. Another Microsoft spokesman said the changes were made after feedback last fall from .Net developers, who requested support for multiple operators, federation out of the box, the ability to run it in the enterprise and support for adding new services.

"What I know is that the market didn't accept the concept of a Microsoft-owned central repository and that forced Microsoft to rethink this," said Rob Enderle, a research fellow at Giga Information Group. Most observers scoffed at the notion that the decision to hand over .Net MyServices to the market is in any way linked to the ongoing antitrust remedies trial. However, several attorneys general who oppose the company's proposed settlement with the government have expressed serious concerns about .Net MyServices and .Net Passport, the company's identity and authentication service.

As part of the new plan, Microsoft, for example, will allow companies to run their own instances of .Net MyServices. This means enterprises can host their own user-centric services and data within their corporate network or environment at the same time they get the benefit of seamless business integration across company boundaries and firewall, the spokesman added. He said this will allow the federation between different operators of .Net MyServices, which allows secure interoperability and data exchange between users whose services are run by different operators, similar to how ATM networks interconnect today. It will also allow developers to use the .Net MyServices infrastructure to create additional user-centric services.

One observer said Microsoft's decision may reflect that consumers aren't ready to pay for software as a service just yet. "As many people have discovered, it's really hard to build a profitable business from customers who want things for free or who sign up so you'll quit bothering them," said Paul DeGroot, chief analyst at Directions on Microsoft, a newsletter in Kirkland, Wash.