Cable & Wireless a-Services Tuesday (April 10) announced the introduction of the Webtop suite of hosted business applications which allow users to access their virtual desktop from any Internet-connected personal computer.
Three versions of Webtop are available – C&W a-Services Webtop Productivity, Webtop Collaboration, and Webtop Productivity Plus. Users log into the C&W a-Services Webtop Internet site, and gain access to all of their applications and data. Webtop is now available in the US and UK through C&W a-Services’ authorized channel partners, and will be made available in other markets in the near future.
Buchanan & Edwards, a small IT consulting company working with government and private ventures, has been using Webtop for almost three months. “Our consultants spend the majority of their time on-site with clients,” said Brian Karlisch, principal, Buchanan & Edwards. “Cable & Wireless a-Services Webtop lets our consultants log into our virtual network in a matter of seconds – and gives them access to all the applications and communications tools they need to perform at the same level possible as if they were at their own desks.”
C&W a-Services Webtop Productivity includes a virtual Microsoft Windows 2000 desktop, hosted Microsoft Office 2000 and both personal and shared-company file storage. C&W a-Services Webtop Collaboration connects users to hosted Microsoft Exchange and Outlook Web Access with personal and shared-company file storage, allowing users to share calendars, contacts and tasks. C&W a-Services Webtop Productivity Plus combines Webtop Productivity and Webtop Collaboration, adding additional file storage and published Microsoft Outlook for greater communications and group collaboration.
C&W a-Services is a wholly owned subsidiary of global telecommunications giant Cable & Wireless, established in partnership with Compaq and Microsoft. It launched in the U.S. in September 2000, offering its a-Workspace package to SMBs, and became available in the UK the following month.