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Print 23 comment(s) - last by Einy0.. on Jun 8 at 10:45 AM
June is the month for Office 365

More and more applications and services are migrating from local storage to storage in the cloud. Cloud storage has some big advantages with no need to store files locally and easier access to them when on the go.

Microsoft is looking to the cloud for some of its productivity apps to compete with offerings like Google Docs. Microsoft announced in October of 2010 that it would be offering a new cloud-based version of its Office productivity software in 2011. So far, Microsoft hasn't been any more specific with the launch date of the Office 365 offering other than to say later in 2011.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told a group of analysts last week in India that the Office 365 platform would be launching this month.  Ballmer said, "We're pushing hard in the productivity space. We'll launch our Office 365 cloud service, which gives you Lync and Exchange and SharePoint and Office and more as a subscribable service that comes from the cloud. That launches in the month of June."

The new Office 365 product will replace the Business Productivity Online Suite and will offer access to Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync communications. It will have both desktop and web-based productivity tools like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. There are 100,000 users already on Office 365 during the beta reports PCWorld.

Office 365 was said to be operable on multiple platforms in October of last year when it was announced. It will work on smartphones and the iPad for instance and on all major browsers.

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Undermining?
By ElementZero on 6/6/2011 1:25:40 PM , Rating: 2
I wonder if this has the possibility to later undermine Windows. I know at my work we considered moving the call center PC's (the majority of the employees) to Linux for savings on Windows licenses, but decided against it since there was no Exchange support (at least not official Microsoft Exchange) and the rest of the Office suite. With this, I wonder if more businesses could consider that option? At least at my work there would be nothing holding you back from making the switch if you have this instead...

Guess time will tell




RE: Undermining?
By GuinnessKMF on 6/6/2011 1:35:47 PM , Rating: 2
This is, to me, the mark of a smart company. Say what you will about Microsoft, but you have to give them credit for evolving. A threat to their way of business has emerged, namely products like Google docs, and Microsoft does not respond by entrenching itself, it responds by taking a risk that could threaten their business model, but they do so in a way that keeps them relevant.

You look at something like the music industry who relied heavily on their distribution model as the actual business/revenue model, and when a threat arrived they looked to smoother it, instead of adopting and competing, they fear mongered, suppressed and litigated.

Microsoft has certainly done this in the past, but seeing them act as an intelligent company that fosters new ideas that could potentially shake their foundation is very refreshing, and something that could keep them as a sustainable, beneficial business well into the future.


RE: Undermining?
By Ticholo on 6/6/2011 1:39:16 PM , Rating: 2
If that's the case, I think a large part will be out of MS's hands.
If the market starts to change to these kinds of solutions MS will find themselves with less and less businesses buying Windows anyway.
It's sensible to start deploying their own versions of... er... cloudware?!
If they can't get more money out of people/businesses, you can't fault them for trying to at least get the same amount with different products.


RE: Undermining?
By cyberguyz on 6/6/2011 2:01:52 PM , Rating: 5
I for one am not a booster for cloud computing. There are far to many ways for software companies to hold your proprietary data for ransom in the cloud world. When I keep my data and applications local I know I will be able to work with both if I pull the network wire out of my computer. This is not the case in cloud.

The day Microsoft or anyone else tries to force me onto the web to work with my data is the day I look for alternatives - and there are many alternatives.


RE: Undermining?
By MrTeal on 6/6/2011 2:08:22 PM , Rating: 3
Some things scream for cloud storage, like media files and the like. Other things I wouldn't put anywhere on the internet unless I absolutely have to. I don't store financial data or tax records even on a service like Dropbox, where the data is still local. I definitely wouldn't store such information on other people's servers, where it's waiting to be stolen by some hacker with a stick up his ass or employee with an axe to grind.


RE: Undermining?
By MrE125 on 6/6/2011 4:32:20 PM , Rating: 2
I understand that you are talking about your "personal" records. But realize that if you use a bank your money is in the cloud.


RE: Undermining?
By cjohnson2136 on 6/6/2011 4:45:59 PM , Rating: 1
Interesting point I have never considered that before.


RE: Undermining?
By MrTeal on 6/6/2011 5:40:11 PM , Rating: 3
True, but my bank only has my records related to their accounts, plus the obviously necessary information like addresses, etc. If a bank gets hacked and the money transferred, they are obviously 100% responsible in that case. If I'm storing all my banking information on some other cloud service and it is hacked, it will be much more difficult to prove fraud and get your money back.

I agree with your point though, we obviously only have as much security as is provided by those we work with. If the government is lax and lets an employee move around with an unencrypted laptop with millions of tax records, there's not a lot we can do about that. We can avoid amalgamating all our info and posting it with organizations online though, even if they are big names. I'm sure Sony customers thought their information was safe, too.


RE: Undermining?
By Dr of crap on 6/7/2011 9:10:19 AM , Rating: 2
So in the future not only Sony will have egg on thier face for letting private info get hacked, but so will all those that didn't THINK and put their private info in the "cloud" (I hate that word usage) will be looked at as fools!

Sounds good to me!

None for me yet.
I'll wait and let the bugs get worked out first.


RE: Undermining?
By StraightCashHomey on 6/7/2011 1:35:45 PM , Rating: 2
For what it's worth, it's already been in beta for 6 or 8 months now. I started beta testing on January 29th, and I absolutely love it. We'll be moving to the full version of it in 2012 when they release Office 365 for Education (I work for a school district).


RE: Undermining?
By Zuul on 6/6/2011 2:04:08 PM , Rating: 2
You can already license the OS (generally on a VDI platform) in on a month to month basis already. A business can partner up with a MS SPLA provider and license (again, generally on a VDI platform) Windows, Office, Visio, Project, and other licenses such as CALs on a monthly term. All licenses include SA, so the business would be guaranteed the current version of the product.

While Office 365 competes more with GoogleDocs, some SPLA partners have express concerns regarding Office 365 possibly canabilizing the SPLA Office and SPLA Exchange services. However, I don't think there will be much of a share-shift among the different licensing methods.

This will gear directly towards those SMB corporations that want Microsoft Office and Exchange but may not be able to acquire them out of their capital budgets. It allows them to shift licensing from capital into operational budgets - which I think will be the key selling point.


RE: Undermining?
By invidious on 6/6/2011 3:06:55 PM , Rating: 2
I guess it depends on the job but I would think that teaching people how to do their job on a linux box would cost more than the windows licence.


RE: Undermining?
By Taft12 on 6/6/2011 9:12:40 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
I guess it depends on the job but I would think that teaching people how to do their job on a linux box would cost more than the windows licence.


FUD straight from the MS playbook.

Call center employees use one proprietary application all day long along with an email client and maybe a web browser. Hell, that's the usage pattern for almost ALL employees at the large corporation where I work.


RE: Undermining?
By spamreader1 on 6/7/2011 1:32:10 AM , Rating: 2
That may be true in some/many places. Work in more fields and you'll soon see that's not necissarily the norm.


RE: Undermining?
By Einy0 on 6/8/2011 10:45:55 AM , Rating: 2
I would have to somewhat agree. I work with business users as well. Primarily both the businesses I work for use about half a dozen apps. At least 2 of those are office apps another being a pdf reader. The real sticking point I see is some of the custom legacy software they refuse to replace. Then there are machines that do a fixed function and have proprietary software. Those would be too expensive to replace.


Just my opinion, dont hate
By Lanister on 6/6/2011 2:08:45 PM , Rating: 2
As the talking horse on Ren and Stimpy would say, "No Sir, I dont like it". I understand the cloud offering from a business perspective but as a normal home consumer I do not like cloud services. So far any cloud service I have tried other then those to back up my docs have been sub par. I would be ok with my PC synching with a cloud service for storing docs but I want the apps to access those docs and the origional copies on my own PC. I can't trust to have my internet connection be a requirement to access important apps. Maybe I am a control freak but now once I get the software a company cannot decide they no longer want me to have access to an app or content already on my computer.




By geddarkstorm on 6/6/2011 3:16:29 PM , Rating: 2
I too am a little edgy about this cloud business, but that's just me personally. It's good on the one hand now that internet connectivity is becoming so ubiquitous, but on the other hand, we have companies being hacked left and right these days. Just how secure is the cloud? How much control over our own content do we retain when using it? Especially when we're talking about things like intellectual property... Not necessarily an issue for most home users, but for some of us. It does remove some control from our hands.

For most people though, the immense convenience of getting to use this across multiple devices with simply an internet connection is beneficial and will serve them well. So, I have no doubt this'll seriously take off.


RE: Just my opinion, dont hate
By Smilin on 6/6/2011 6:18:44 PM , Rating: 2
You are the customer Microsoft is after. The things you fear is what Google is offering.

MS cloud services integrate between on and off prem. Run AD in the cloud but keep Exchange local or vice versa...or don't run any of it in the cloud..just use intuit to let your 10 person small business run like it had the IT staff of a large enterprise.

If I may..
Go try Windows Live Mesh. It's one of the slickest cloud products I've seen but none of your data is stored in the cloud. It just sets up SSL tunnels so you can do LAN like sharing over the web. The RIAA is gonna shat themselves once they figure out it's impossible to track what anyone is sharing.


RE: Just my opinion, dont hate
By HueyD on 6/7/2011 9:13:44 AM , Rating: 2
I can see it now...instead of the headlines reading "Sony Hacked Again!!!" it will be "iCloud" or "The Cloud" hacked again. Instead of thousand's of user's information being stolen it will be millions.

I'll stay with my local storage solution.


RE: Just my opinion, dont hate
By RedemptionAD on 6/7/2011 10:20:00 AM , Rating: 2
Headline: iCloud hacked again. Apple still has head in the clouds, touts stolen data as additional redundancy and data backup for users.


RE: Just my opinion, dont hate
By HueyD on 6/7/2011 12:08:42 PM , Rating: 2
LOL, that's a good one. Sony should use that one.


By StraightCashHomey on 6/7/2011 1:38:26 PM , Rating: 2
I don't see any reason a consumer would purchase Office 365. Why would you want SharePoint, Exchange, and Lync for home use?


By StraightCashHomey on 6/7/2011 1:41:35 PM , Rating: 2
You don't have to provide your own server hardware, software, or backup solutions. If you want to start using Office 365 with Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync, you can get it going within 15 minutes from scratch.

This makes a LOT of sense for smaller companies who do not want to pay tens of thousands of dollars to pay an IT firm to do this kind of work. It makes sense for businesses of all sizes, really.




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