EDS To Resell Mi8's ASP Services, Signs First Customer

EDS Mi8

This marks the first ASP partnership for EDS, and the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) has signed on as its first ASP messaging customer. Under the deal, EDS and Mi8 will support about 700 IAAF Microsoft Exchange users.

Based in Monaco, IAAF organizes events such as the World Championships for Track and Field and the World Cup soccer tournament.

The partnership is not limited to messaging applications. EDS intends to use Mi8's delivery model to deploy other applications, according to the companies.

EDS, which intends to co-brand the ASP solutions, also plans to collaborate with Mi8 on marketing and sales projects, the companies said.

"Our customers' requirements are continually evolving, and software as a service is now a preferred model for messaging and collaboration software for a high percentage of our customers," said Tim Morton, president of EDS' E Solutions in the United States and Latin America, in a statement.

Microsoft's subscription pricing for Exchange was developed at Mi8's urging said Chris McConnell, chairman of Mi8, in a previous interview with CRN. The ASP had several hundred users accessing an Exchange server, and customers weren't paying licensing fees, he said.

"We went to [Microsoft to admit our sins, and their mouths dropped open at the fact that we had 200 users connected by the Internet," McConnell said at the time. "But we said the reason we're here is we must have monthly billing from you. We absolutely will not be a bank for you."

At the end of the day, Mi8 walked out with the first Exchange price list in an ASP model, McConnell said.