Microsoft already has two pilot projects in place where it is testing WebAppoint, said Satya Nadella, vice president of Microsoft's bCentral. Microsoft plans to field a text version of WebAppoint by the end of the second quarter, he said. WebAppoint already exists as a service. He said Microsoft expects WebAppoint to appeal to small-business owners. Meta Group analyst Will Zachmann said Microsoft's Web services puzzle is gradually being pieced together.
Web services is the third generation of the Internet.
And .Net is about exposing Web services. BCentral and MSN are instances of Microsoft exposing Web services that are now or will be connected somehow with .Net. Microsoft already offers a number of online services on its bCentral site . Microsoft also offers a number of fee-based services on bCentral, such as its recently introduced Commerce Manager and Customer Manager, which are software applications available on a hosted, rental basis. Once the acquisition of Great Plains Software is final later this year, Microsoft is also expected to add a number of small-business accounting services to its bCentral lineup.