Nasstar: Hosted Microsoft Office for Channel, Cloud Partners

Nasstar plc, which focuses on hosted desktops and cloud computing, generates 80 percent of its business in the United Kingdom. But that figure could soon shift as Nasstar continues to build out an international channel partner network for hosted Microsoft Office, hosted Exchange and more.

“There’s a lot of opportunity for international business,” said Nasstar CEO Charles Black. “The market is growing. It’s been growing particularly in the last few months and we expect our client base to grow steadily.” Black wouldn’t disclose exact figures, but if you track the company’s moves you can tell that Nasstar sees a great opportunity to expand its international client base and is preparing for it accordingly.

First, Nasstar’s solution is available as a white label service — which may attract international VARs and managed services providers (MSPs). Second, Nasstar’s desktop hosting and management solution is available in different languages.  oday, Nasstar does 20 percent of its business in the U.S., the Middle East and Far East. Third, it’s a cloud-based solution.

To access the service, customers use a web browser to log into Nasstar’s cloud service. Once logged into the system, customers continue to use their web browser to access Microsoft Office Professional 2010, Microsoft Exchange Outlook 2010 emails, documents, and third-party applications like Sage.

Black also said Nasstar’s cloud computing solution will be compatible with the soon-to-be-released Google Chromebook.

Still, Nasstar faces plenty of looming competition. Microsoft Office 365, expected by MSPmentor to launch within a few weeks. Office 365 includes SaaS versions of Microsoft’s applications.

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