Microsoft Unveils Office 365 for Businesses
Microsoft announced worldwide availability of a major new update to its Microsoft Office 365 services for business.
Microsoft’s Office cloud service to date has new features and
offerings tailored to the needs and budgets of small, medium-size and
large organizations. In addition to updated Microsoft Lync Online,
Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft SharePoint Online services,
business users can now get the rich Office applications they are
familiar with, on up to five devices, delivered as an always up-to-date
cloud service.
Office 365 features enhanced enterprise social capabilities with
SharePoint and Yammer and Lync-Skype connectivity for presence, instant
messaging (IM), and voice by June. The new Office 365 service is
available today in 69 markets and 17 languages and will be available in
an additional 20 markets and 16 languages in the second quarter of this
year.
“With Office 365, everyone from large enterprises to small businesses
to individual consumers can now benefit from the power of Office and
the connectivity of the cloud,” said Amir Rao; Country Manager,
Microsoft Pakistan. “This release unlocks new scenarios and delivers
capabilities that far surpass anything available in browser-only
solutions.”
Since launching in mid-2011, Office 365 is one of the fastest-growing
businesses in Microsoft history. After only 18 months, one in five of
Microsoft’s enterprise customers now has the paid service, up from one
in seven a year ago. The number of small and midsize businesses using
Office 365 has also grown by 150 percent in the past 12 months.
Zubair Abdullah, Group IT Head at Dawood Hercules Corporation Limited
said; “At Dawood Hercules, we always strive to provide innovative
products and exceptional customer satisfaction. We needed to improve our
productivity service to support our business speed and demands as well
as improve collaboration across our affiliates. We evaluated our options
and found that Microsoft had the most robust, integrated suite with
Office 365. It has the capabilities we need to excel in today’s business
environment. Microsoft Office 365 is enabling us to make faster,
unified decisions.”
The new set of Office 365 offering is designed to meet a broad variety of business requirements:
Office 365 ProPlus
Office 365 ProPlus includes the latest and most complete set
of fully featured, rich Office applications — Word, Excel, PowerPoint,
OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, InfoPath and Access — delivered as a
service, on up to five devices.
People can now simply sign in to Office 365 from any of their
devices, and their documents and personalized settings roam with them,
allowing them to quickly pick up right where they left off. IT
departments also get the controls they need, including the ability to
run Office 365 ProPlus side-by-side with other versions of Office and
tools to streamline and manage updates for their users.
Office 365 ProPlus is available as a standalone offering for $144 per
user for an annual subscription and is included with the updated
premium Office 365 Enterprise offerings and the new Office 365 Midsize
Business.
Office 365 Midsize Business
Office 365 Midsize Business is designed for medium-sized businesses
with 10 to 250 employees. This service includes Office 365 ProPlus and
provides midsize businesses with enterprise-quality communication and
collaboration with Exchange Online, Lync Online and SharePoint Online —
along with the simplified IT tools they need to maintain control while
reducing complexity.
Active Directory integration, a Web-based administration console and
business-hours phone support are also included. Pricing is $180 per user
for an annual subscription, the equivalent of $15 per user, per month.
Office 365 Small Business Premium
Office 365 Small Business Premium is
designed for
small
businesses with one to 10 employees. In addition to the complete set of
rich Office applications, this service includes business-grade email,
shared calendars, website tools and HD videoconferencing capability in
an easy-to-manage service that does not require IT expertise. Pricing is
$150 per user for an annual subscription, the equivalent of $12.50 per
user, per month.
Customers can purchase Office directly from Microsoft or through an
authorized retail outlet or partner. More information on Office and how
to sign up for a free trial is available at
http://www.office.com.