Microsoft Office 365 has been released. Deemed by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer as “where Microsoft Office meets the cloud”, industry insiders are calling it “Google Docs catchup”.
But, while it may not be incredibly sexy from an innovation standpoint, is Microsoft Office 365 a huge deal? We have to remember that for 2 decades, Microsoft Office productivity software has dominated the industry. And this online suite brings Office, Sharepoint, Exchange and Lync to cloud computing, making it possible for you to create, edit and share your documents from wherever you are.
But, this is Microsoft. Not Google. And depending on what online apps you want, your monthly subscription will range from $2 to $27 per month. In my opinion, this hugely incentivizes individuals to switch to Google Apps and Google Docs in particular. But, Microsoft may get a bunch of new business customers and revenue from this. And that’s been their bread and butter lately, so it probably makes sense. But, why don’t more businesses make the leap to Google? Only if they’re tied to the legacy tools they’re used to.