Microsoft Takes Office 2010 to the Cloud!
posted Sunday Jul 3, 2011 by Jon Wurm
You might be asking yourself right now, "Doesn't Office 2010 already have web apps?" Well, yes, they do. In fact the Office 365 program suite is available right now in 40 markets according to the Steve Ballmer. The things Microsoft realized with the current Office 2010 web apps is that they are a relatively weak solution and with the growing demand for cloud applications, Google Apps could pose a problem in the near future. That alone was probably enough reason for Microsoft to take Office to the next level.
Of course Microsoft is talking about full service Office web apps that would deliver the entire Office experience online over a network and not on a hard drive. This would provide another way for Office users to access and interact with Office products so long as Internet access is available. It will also be very beneficial for wallets according to Microsoft Office Division President Kurt DelBene,
Customers can save money with the product, which eliminates the need to maintain server computers and software. Microsoft estimates the average 1,000-person company will save about $350,000 a year over a four-year period.
Along with the potential cost savings for businesses, Microsoft is looking to grab more of the corporate spending in the technology sector by making the subscription to Office 2010 web apps a month-to-month, per user, kind of licensing. They think that this model will allow them to sell more to small and medium sized businesses.
At $6 per month a user will be able to enjoy Office Web Apps and exchange e-mail services, if they want to, for an additional $12 per month, $18 total, they can have a full version of Office as well. Microsoft says that Office 2010 is being adopted five times faster than Office '07 and it will be interesting to see what effect these changes will have in the near future.
