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by Chris Day @ Fully Managed™ From the Microsoft News Center: Microsoft announces Office 365, a new service that brings familiar applications, including Office desktop software and Office Web Apps, together with SharePoint, Exchange and Lync in the cloud, for the first time. (see full press release)
There has been a lot of anticipation around Microsoft's "next step" into Cloud Computing, and I for one am thrilled to see this announcement. I've been curious how Microsoft was going to go about unrolling this, and after seeing the announcement, we see a great opportunity for our small and medium-sized clients.
We've been deploying a lot of BPOS (aka Microsoft Online Services) in Vancouver and Western Canada over the past 12 months. What interests me most about this announcement, although I had to dig deeper and find Eric Ligman's blog to find more detailed product and pricing information, is the following comment:
For full Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop software, Office Web Apps, Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, 24/7 phone support, advanced administration controls, on-premises use rights and more, an enterprise will pay roughly $24 per user per month.
What this means for us as a managed service provider (MSP) is that we are able to apply the monthly subscription model to the entire end-to-end suite productivity software, including the server-based components (e.g. Exchange Online and SharePoint Online) as well as the desktop component (Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010).
Ultimately, this will mean increased adoption of new technology as a result of reducing barriers to entry for clients. Currently on Microsoft's site, a boxed copy of Office 2010 Professoinal is $669 Canadian per seat. How many small business clients have the cashflow availbale to spend $16,725 for 25 copies of Windows Office? Ultimately, we will see more happy clients running current Microsoft software as a result of this smart move by Microsoft.
A more uniform end-user operating environment increases our ability to support and manage a large number of client sites with reduced complexity. We aren't the only ones to benefit, of course - Microsoft gets 100% software compliance with this subscription model. Some may argue that this is Microsoft taking revenue away from us as a Systems Integrator/VAR on reselling Microsoft Office. I would take the opposite stance that making money on selling software is a rapidly waning opportunity and those relying on that revenue need to find other ways to make a buck and get out of the game.
I look forward to watching Office 365 unleashed on the market in 2011. It's a great opportunity for our clients, and therefore I see it the same way for us. Bravo Microsoft, you are truly taking this Cloud Computing "thing" seriously.
