Microsoft Exchange, IBM Lotus Notes, and Siebel Systems Siebel OnDemand are highlighted in a discussion of hosted applications for back office operations, messaging, integration, and customer relationship management (CRM). Hosted CRM offerings include Accpac, NetSuite, RightNow, Salesforce.com, Salesnet, Siebel OnDemand, SugarCRM, and Talisma. The industry will soon concentrate on industry-specific, vertical CRM that can reduce the cost of customization. Using a vendor that provides the user with the choice of migrating to an on-premise platform in the future could be a safer bet, because total cost of ownership (TOC) is difficult to calculate. Outsourcing has gained popularity as companies have seen a critical need to stop piling cost and complexity on IT. Hosted back office solutions for such work as enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain, and database applications, are available from many companies, including Arena, IBM, Lawson Software, Oracle, and Ultimate Software, among others. Hosted back-office applications appeal to small- and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) that do not have in-house expertise to build and maintain complex systems internally. Because messaging is so task- and resource- intensive, many companies are outsourcing. Another reason is the requirement to comply with the Patriot Act and regulations in other countries. Among hosted messaging providers are Postini, NaviSite, Symantec, and FrontBridge.