In Office 365 from Microsoft has gone live. Users in many countries around the world around the world, including India can now access services like Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online in the cloud. Many analysts had predicted that Microsoft will be pitching this service to the enterprise market, but at the formal launch event in New York, CEO Steve Ballmer focussed on the small and medium-sized businesses (SMB).
Balmer said, It is impossible to overstate how important the small and medium-sized segment is to the business world, they are responsible for nearly two-thirds of global job growth and employ 1.5 billion people around the globe. In order to make a positive impression on the SMB sector, Microsoft has priced its Office 365 subscriptions in such a manner that it is attractive enough for small companies, which do not have the means to have a full-fledged IT department. The service plans are available in the range of $2 to $27 per user per month.
It is quite interesting to note that Google is taking the product seriously enough to make an attempt to spoil Microsofts party.
On 27 June 2011, Shan Sinha, the Google Apps Product Manager, wrote a new post on the official Google enterprise blog, titled: 365 reasons to consider Google Apps. In this rather lengthy post, Shan Sinha makes the point that: Office 365 is for individuals. Apps is for teams. He also says, Office 365 is built for Microsoft. Apps is built for choice. While commenting on the price structure of the Office 365, Shan Sinha says, Office 365 is 11 different plans, three editions and two tiers. Apps is $5/month with no commitment.
Office 365 comes with plans to allow users to with virtually anywhere-access to email, important documents, contacts, and calendars on nearly any device. It works with softwares - Word, Excel, OneNote and PowerPoint - that most people have been using for a long time, so there is no learning process involved. To reassure users about the security related aspects, Microsoft is hosting the online service in top class data centres that have received SAS 70 and ISO 27001 certification.
Currently Microsoft is offering 30 days of free trial, so that small businesses can confirm that the online service will actually work for them, before they are called upon to make an actual investment.
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