Although Microsoft is not necessarily known as founders in any area today, no one can accuse them of not being alert to new computer trends and technologies. Its new cloud-based collaboration tool, Microsoft Office 365, appears to be a well-built rival to Google Apps.
Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Standards Suite has been on the market for some time, and the new generation represents a full commitment to the benefits of cloud computing in Office 365. Software as a service is now in beta, and Microsoft is brings your product versions together for communication and collaboration in one integrated exam, “no need for updates.”
Office 365 will be released later this year (in 2011) and is configured to contain:
• Microsoft Office Professional Plus for normal desktop applications
• Sharepoint Online for collaborative tasks
• Exchange Online for email
• Lync Online for integrated communications
Later, an Office 365 adaptation that includes Microsoft Dynamics CRM will also be released.
Microsoft hasn’t outlined a complete rundown of the functions and features that will be available through Office 365. However, IT and technology industry analysts say the offering shows great potential.
Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research, said that “Conceptually, Office 365 is a great idea. From a functional perspective, integrating the online Office suite with hosted Exchange, SharePoint and Lync servers will be very helpful.”
Osterman noted that having a consistent desktop experience for users on fixed machines and cloud computing will go a long way, especially with the mobile workforce revolution in full swing. This reduces training time for transitions to cloud-based operations and ultimately improves efficiency.
One of the key changes for companies already using Sharepoint will not be the move to the cloud itself, but rather the simultaneous upgrade from Sharepoint 2007 to Sharepoint 2010, says 451 group senior analyst Kathleen Reidy.
Reidy recently quoted that, “SharePoint in Office 365 should be pretty comprehensive … There will be collaboration, content management, portal and search capabilities, for example, so a small organization will be able to set up an intranet, publish content, and allow sharing. of files and collaboration around this shared repository. “
Microsoft itself considers that one of the most important benefits of Office 365 is its scalability and applicability to almost all corporations and companies. For example, for the first time, small businesses and nonprofits can have access to software on a large enterprise scale. Government organizations can use Office 365 to improve profitability, minimize training time, and reduce IT workload.
There will be 3 different versions of Office 265 available initially: Small Business, Enterprise, and Education. Each of them will have access to the 4 services mentioned above, with the standard suite of Microsoft Office, SharePoint, Lync and MS Exchange all included in the product.
Most impressive to some is that Office 365 can be installed and operated within a small organization in just a quarter of an hour.
Another valuable benefit of the platform will be access to technical support and troubleshooting, which can be difficult to obtain with the free Google Apps product. However, the pricing strategy is seen as aggressive: low-end packages are seen as predominantly affordable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Reidy went on to say that, “particularly for smaller organizations that wouldn’t normally have the resources to buy, install, run, and maintain SharePoint, this is a very cost-effective option that will give them quite a bit of functionality from a basic point of view. Exchange. of archives, point of view of the management of content “.
If you think your business or organization could benefit from the flexibility of cloud computing, Office 365 will certainly be a good fit for you. The platform does not require the need for additional infrastructure, a learning curve for the new system, or renewed security measures.