Microsoft refreshes Office 365 for business

Analysts warn of vendor lock-in with latest update

Microsoft has today released an update to Office 365 for business with three new additions to its line-up: Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Midsize and Office 365 Small Business Premium.

Microsoft said that ProPlus, is the full set of Office applications including Word, Publisher, and PowerPoint, delivered as a service. This edition works on up to five devices, Microsoft said, including Windows tablets, PCs and Macs. This means that users can save their documents in the cloud and access them from any device. ProPlus can be installed alongside previous versions of Office, including Office 2010.

Office 365 Midsize Business is aimed as businesses of between 10 and 250 employees. It includes Office 365 ProPlus.

Office 365 Small Business Premium is designed for businesses with only one to 10 employees. The services include the latest Office applications with the addition of shared calendars, website tools and HD video conferencing.

Free trials are available for the three new stock-keeping units (SKUs) and prices for the products can be found here.

In July 2012, Computing reviewed Microsoft's pre-launch version of the consumer-based Office 2013, and last month, Microsoft started shipping its retail version.

The subscription-based Office 365 is used primarily by businesses, and Microsoft Office division president Kurt DelBene said that with the latest version, organisations of all sizes and individual consumers can benefit from "the power of Office and the connectivity of the cloud".

DelBene went on to take a dig at rival Google, claiming that Microsoft's latest iteration delivers far more than competitors with browser-only solutions.

"This release unlocks new scenarios and delivers capabilities that far surpass anything available in browser-only solutions," he said.

At the Virtual Launch Event, DelBane added that social enterprise programme Yammer will also be integrated with Office 365.

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Microsoft refreshes Office 365 for business

Analysts warn of vendor lock-in with latest update

Warren Gatland, head coach of the British & Irish Lions Tour to Australia 2013, and a Microsoft customer, said that having secure access to email and communication tools will help the team to gel and boost morale.

"With Office 365 we will be able to ensure everyone in the team has an account and can share information and communicate when they need to; improving the way we work together. From the backroom staff to the players before they get on the field, everyone is linked up," he said.

"It is also important for team morale, as it will allow players and management to stay in touch with their families back home, whether that's over email, via Skype, Lync or instant messaging. Keeping the team happy is a key part of the Lions' winning strategy," he added.

Meanwhile Julian Elve, head of information services at schools network SSAT, said that Office 365 enabled the organisation to save more time than expected.

"We projected freeing up two days of IT personnel time per month just from not having to manage email servers. I suspect we're going to find that we've saved much more than that," he said.

While some customers are seemingly happy with the Office 365 proposition, analysts at Forrester believe there are pros and cons to the latest update.

They believe that Office 2013 is a "major" release and that the investment "pays off across all of the products in the Office family", highlighting a simpler and more powerful user experience.

As part of the user experience, Forrester believes that the integration between each of its products drives value for the user. However, the analyst firm warns that it can also drive lock-in.

"The deep integration can be powerful, but it also can lock you into a broad family of products. Ultimately, it impedes the ability to bring in best-of-breed products and could over time lock you into a Microsoft-dominated stack," it said in a blog post.