It is designed so that it can be easily deployed and managed by individuals within organizations where there are limited in-house IT skills. It is also optimized to let small businesses run applications on-premises or take advantage of the growing number of online versions of email, collaboration, and other software that major companies are already using around the world.

Windows Small Business Server 2011 Essentials (SBS 2011 Essentials) is a new, easy-to-use, first-server solution designed and priced especially for small businesses (up to 25 users). It can seamlessly integrate into online services such as Office 365, cloud backup, and cloud management solutions. SBS 2011 Essentials delivers enterprise-class technologies for data backup and restore, remote access, file and printer sharing, and quick connection to the cloud—in one fully integrated solution.

The optional SBS 2011 Premium Add-on includes a licensed copy of Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard technologies and Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Standard Edition for Small Business, providing customers and partners with a comprehensive data management and analysis solution.

With SBS 2011 Essentials, your customers can:

 
Better protect business data through automated backup and restore capabilities
Run both on-premise and on-line (cloud-based) software
Easily organize and access business information from almost anywhere
Run a variety of business tools and software.