"Lots of small-business owners are familiar with and like the functionality of Microsoft’s office applications, and they would prefer to find cloud solutions that work seamlessly with those."
"Microsoft’s rebranded and revamped cloud service — which brings together Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online — is an enticing offer for smaller companies because it can save money quickly and reduce manual labor. One small business at the Office 365 launch, temporary housing provider Travelers Haven, claims they will save $100,000 a year and cut 30 hours of work a day across its 35 employees by switching to Office 365."
"For organizations of 500 or less, the math in favor of Office 365 seems to be a no-brainer, and also frees the company to focus on business and leave the tedium of maintaining servers and updating software to Microsoft."
"Customers see familiarity and improved features of Microsoft’s Office 365 offering, which was launched Wednesday in six Asia-Pacific markets, as the main reasons for choosing it over other alternatives available currently."
"Software giant’s partners believe launch will put clear water between Microsoft and Google."
"And to capture the SMB market, Microsoft has priced Office 365 subscriptions to be attractive to smaller companies that don’t have the wherewithal to have an IT department or even a part-time IT-staffer."
"Microsoft presented its Office 365 as a cost-saving option at a time when public-sector IT managers, in particular, are showing a willingness to move to the cloud.."
"The mobile demo was particularly cool—and shows Office 365’s real strengths. Windows Phone 7 collaborates in real-time with Office’s desktop incarnation, while iPhone, Android, and Blackberry devices will be able to as well (mostly likely via webapps). It’s pretty easy to imagine business owners collaborating with one another on the fly with these technologies."
A look at Microsoft’s new cloud based productivity suite, Office 365, which may help to boost its bottom line, with CNBC’s Jon Fortt.
"Microsoft’s Office 365 launch is a step in the right direction for the software giant, at least according to the analysts at Morningstar. The online ’cloud computing’ version of Office made its official debut Tuesday, and the analysts write that it shows Microsoft’s commitment to this move to the cloud – something they say could fundamentally change the company’s business."
"Let’s just cut to the chase and admit it’s really, really good … The collaboration and web features from SharePoint and the new presence and communications features in Lync are largely unknowns outside of big companies. So this stuff is going to be shockingly good for most people. My advice is to at least give it a shot. You can get a 30 day free trial at the Office 365 web site. You should do so."
"I’ve long thought that most small businesses should not be hosting their own mail or Web servers, and if this lets smaller businesses work more like bigger ones, but without as much IT investment, it may be a very good thing."
"But today, Steve Ballmer is announcing one of Microsoft’s most important products in the company’s history – Office 365. Sound like an embellishment? It’s not – and it’s because Office 365’s release is not just the launch of a new technical solution for customers, but also a change in the relationship with their customers. Microsoft’s Office 365 is the single biggest change to the Microsoft customer relationship since introduction of Software Assurance and the modern Enterprise Agreement in 2001."
"As part of the launch, Microsoft will be working with more than 20 different service providers to package, sell and provide support for Office 365. Bell Canada, Intuit, Telefonica S.A., Telstra Corp. and Vodafone are among Microsoft’s launch partners. The company already has approximately 400,000 customers on board from the beta testing of the cloud-based software."
"Many companies don’t want something new. Starting over is risky business. For companies heavily invested in Office, whether part of their IT systems data and business flow or access to legacy data, Microsoft’s hosted app suite allows them to embrace the cloud without giving up what they’ve got."
"Office 365 has another big benefit for the company: it can help Microsoft capture more revenue from the hordes of small and mid-size businesses who use Office today, but who can’t waste scarce IT resources setting up and running servers like Exchange (email) and SharePoint (collaboration and document sharing)."
"Microsoft today is launching its Office 365 online service, including new online versions of Exchange, SharePoint and other Office products available for a monthly subscription fee. One interesting factoid from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer via the launch event webcast from New York: More than 70 percent of the companies testing the service have been small businesses."
"At a press event in New York City, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer rolled out the general availability of Microsoft 365, an online suite of productivity apps which includes Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync. It is “where Microsoft Office meets the cloud,” he says. Microsoft first announced Office 365 last October, and has signed up 200,000 business customers since then."
"This is where Microsoft really shines: OWA syncs with your on-premises Outlook. Equally, Office 365 supports the SharePoint Workspace offline tool, meaning you can work on your desktop and then sync with the cloud when you are connected. If you’ve used SharePoint 2010, which is a big improvement on 2007, the online version is virtually the same. The familiar MS Office style means that it is easy for anyone familiar with Microsoft software to learn. It’s perhaps unfair that Microsoft has the inherent advantage of a familiar user interface, but nevertheless it does – and that’s all there is to it."
"Overall, we think Office 365 is off to a good start, offering basic office-suite tools most workers can pick up and use right away due to the familiar feel of Office products … (W)e think businesses will appreciate the collaboration tools and the way the Team site ties all of your projects together. We are also impressed with the editing tools for the public-facing Web site that give you tons of options for creating a good-looking landing page for your business."
"So even though Microsoft isn’t first to the party, the trend in cloud computing is leading to Microsoft’s strong suit—developing software. The introduction of Office 365 may look like a defensive move to some people, but it also could be coming at just the right time."
"With more capabilities and the attraction for businesses of being able to move Office users to the new service with little training, it should catch on widely, analysts say. Microsoft’s business division, which rests largely on the Office productivity applications, became its more profitable operation in the first nine months of its current fiscal year on the back of the launch of Office 2010."
"What’s most remarkable about Office 365 is that it really is available to any small business, due to one factor — the rock-bottom price of $6 a month per user. For that you get Web-based versions of all Office products: Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Lync for instant message and virtual meetings, Exchange for e-mail, calendar, contacts, antivirus and anti-spam services, SharePoint and an easy-to-build public Web site … I’m satisfied that this is just a really good deal."
"My first look at Office 365 leaves me rather impressed with what Microsoft has accomplished so far. It’s a solid package for businesses that want the convenience of cloud-based applications while preserving the look and feel of the tools for users and IT staff alike."
"I can tell you—enthusiastically and without reservation—that Microsoft’s soon-to-be-released cloud services are incredibly promising. If your business runs on Microsoft Office, you owe it to yourself to do some serious testing in your own environment. That goes double if you currently have a Microsoft Exchange server on your premises."
"It’s an impressive solution. So impressive, in fact, that my co-author, Rafael Rivera, and I will be using it to collaborate on and write our next book, Windows 8 Secrets. We’re both impressed by the deep collaboration features in SharePoint in particular, and the ability to collection information, share it, and then write side-by-side, literally, in the same document. It’s going to change the way we work going forward."
"If business in the cloud is the ultimate goal, Microsoft Office 365 is a new rung in the ladder that gets you there. Or better yet, a far taller ladder … If you’re a small business looking to get web-savvy in a hurry, Office 365 is a great way to get online in a jiff – and then get right back to business."
"For the IT admin in me, the highlight of Office 365 is Exchange Online and the richest Outlook Web client ever … Lync is a relatively new Unified Communications client that provides IM, presence, and online meetings and it also gives Office 365 users voice and video conferencing … Video conferencing is one of the more powerful features."
"Starting at $6 per seat per month, Office 365 is almost a no-brainer for small and medium companies. Organizations with fewer than 50 users typically don’t have a dedicated IT administrator, and lack both the skills and the budget to implement and maintain the infrastructure necessary to deliver what Office 365 does."
"Microsoft has done a remarkable job of making Admin functions accessible to people with no Exchange, SharePoint, or Lync experience. Individuals and small companies that have shied away from the big server tools now have a chance to catch up with the large corporate installations, without breaking the bank or seconding an employee to full-time server servitude. That’s a notable achievement … Office 365 is a compelling package. Give it a try."
