MS Office 365: Microsoft Flies Into the Cloud

Microsoft (MS) has now launched its cloud-based Office 365 productivity suite. Is this launch an opportunity or a solution looking for a problem? The short answer is ... it depends. For the tech industry press, it is pure opportunity. Everyone loves reading about a "Clash of the Titans," and now the press gets some variety. Instead of Google versus Apple, this time it is Microsoft versus Google.

An article at TechCrunch describes the basics: Office 365 will be available in a variety of packages, with subscription costs ranging from $2 to $27 per month. The packages are aimed primarily at small and midsized businesses, and they seek to leverage the millions of copies of PC-based MS Office already in use.

Clash of the Titans

But Jon Brodkin of Computerworld notes that Microsoft's real target is Google Apps, which Google claims are used by three million firms. Strictly speaking, this is not Microsoft's first venture into the cloud. MS previously offered the Business Productivity Online Service (BPOS); BPOS users will in time have to upgrade to Office 365.

As always with a tech industry, a good share of prejudicial likes and dislikes will pour into the discussion of Microsoft's new cloud offering. Keep that in mind when reading and evaluating the tech press commentary and recommendations. Critics of 365 seem to be first in the field, as reflected in Richi Jenning's Computerworld blog entry.

The recommendations that IT professionals at small and midsized businesses may be called on to make will not be about what is good for Microsoft or Google. They will be about what is good for your firm.

Trade-Offs

The strongest argument for Microsoft's new cloud-based version of Office is simple. It is Microsoft Office, and it has a user base in the hundreds of millions. If your firm's employees are already using Office, they can keep working with software that they already know. This basic advantage is reinforced if they frequently work with legacy Word documents and data.

On the other hand, if your business workflow is not particularly Office-centric, this is not so much of a consideration. Jennings notes, for example, that Office 2011 for Mac does not work with Office 365.

A more serious limitation may be 365's lack of mobile support. Windows Phone 7 users get only some Sharepoint support. Other mobile users get nothing. Philosophically speaking, this seems like a huge shortcoming. Mobile is one of the great drivers of cloud computing. If your firm needs mobile access to productivity apps, this could be a deal breaker. On the other hand, this limitation might be only a minor inconvenience--or none at all.

How much are you using Microsoft Office now? What are your mobile requirements? These some of the basic questions to ask in evaluating Office 365 for your company.