The advent of cloud services has led to a widespread change

The advent of cloud services has led to a widespread change in the way even the smallest businesses are able to manage and share information. Access to a server that can automatically manage backups and basic system management, and offer centralised storage facilities has become the rule, rather than the exception. Small Business Server Standard is designed and priced for businesses with up to 75 employees, but until now, Microsoft hasn't offered a solution for very small businesses.

This is all set to change with the announcement that Small Business Server Essentials 2011, has been successfully beta tested, and is now categorised as a release candidate (a version which has the potential to be a final product, and is ready for release) SBS Essentials is intended for smaller organisations (up to 25 people) and will provide a cost-effective way to access business information remotely, support business applications, and enable swift uncomplicated connection with email and other online services.

SBS Standard has become rather like a favourite pair of slippers at Nexus, so we're very interested in seeing what the new version has to offer both us, and more importantly, our clients!