In an effort to help small businesses integrate a number of communication and collaboration systems, Vodafone and Microsoft announced a partnership that would give Vodafone customers access to Microsoft Online Services, including Sharepoint.

Martha Béjar, corporate vice president of the communications sector at Microsoft said that with the partnership the company is hoping to help businesses who are looking to keep costs low.

"Thursday”s announcement is a significant step forward in our partnership with Vodafone," she said. "Through our work with Vodafone, we”re aiming to provide solutions for a growing number of businesses that are looking for new ways to control costs and do more with less, without impacting the productivity of their people, their most valuable asset."

Currently Microsoft Online Services have been made available in the U.S. starting today and will spread to other markets throughout the first half of 2009. The partnership with Vodafone will roll out the solutions in Germany and Spain later this year.

Microsoft says that by offering the online services, which includes Exchange Online and Office SharePoint Online, it gives businesses greater flexibility of choice and allows them to access any information or capability from any device.