Microsoft Office Coming to Your iPad (Sort Of)
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Today, Microsoft launched what they call Office 365, which is a service that combines Microsoft Office (Microsoft Office 2010), SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online with the cloud.
This announcement comes after Google has been pushing Google Docs as an alternative to Microsoft Office for business customers. In addition, Google has been planning to add new mobile features such as co-editing files on the iPad.
When you think about the productivity apps segment on the App Store, Microsoft Office and Google Docs could be considered as the competition against Apple’s Keynote, Pages and Numbers apps. There are millions of iPad users out there, and some have been looking for additional office productivity apps.
With this announcement, Microsoft claims their support to business users by giving them access to Office on their iPads, iPhones, and other mobile devices. But, is it really true Microsoft Office support? The Office 365 subscription service integrates cloud-based syncing, collaboration and accessibility to businesses and organizations worldwide. But, the caveat for iOS users is that mobile access will be provided using a Web browser and Microsoft’s Office Web Apps.
Of course, this is not exactly a Microsoft native iPad app, but it’s better than what’s available from Microsoft today. This is also a similar model to Google Docs, which allows you to co-edit files simultaneously with co-workers around the world directly from your iPad.
Microsoft has announced there will be two editions of Office 365. Office 365 for Small Businesses, which is designed for organizations of 1 to 25 people. The package includes Office Web Apps, email sync, Lync and more. It will cost $6 per user per month.
The other version is called Office 365 for Enterprises. This one can be customized based on your company’s needs, and it also offers Office Pro Plus (via subscription), internal social networking tools, voicemail in the inbox, and more. It will set you back anywhere from $2 to $27 per user per month (depending on selected features).
It seems that Google Docs and the recent success of cloud apps like Box.net and Dropbox has made Microsoft aware of the rising demand for productivity apps in the cloud. Several companies have slowly started to collaborate and coordinate some of their daily activities online. What do you think?
