Microsoft and Dropbox to offer Dropbox integration with Office365 - starting with Apple iOS and Android, not Windows Phone

Deal represents shift at Microsoft to provide more integration with third-party cloud services

Microsoft and cloud storage company Dropbox have announced a technology partnership to improve interoperability between the respective companies' products and services.

The deal has four main parts: improving the editing of Office documents from the Dropbox mobile app; being able to access Dropbox document directly from Office apps; better sharing of Dropbox links of Office apps; and the creation of Dropbox apps for Microsoft's mobile offerings, particularly Windows Phone.

The deal will mean, for example, that iPhone users saving documents to a Dropbox account will be able to edit Microsoft Office files at the tap of a button. In addition, Microsoft apps will enable Dropbox users to be able to save files with a "save to Dropbox" function built into Office.

The deal will make good a shortcoming in Microsoft Office on the iPad and iPhone, which until now have only allowed users to save to Microsoft's OneDrive service - users could not store, sync' and share documents over Dropbox using Microsoft Office.

Dropbox will also add new options to its mobile apps to push its users to use Office365 to edit their documents. Users of mobile devices that don't have Office installed will be prompted to download the Microsoft apps.

However, the new functionality in Office only extends to subscribers to Office365, the cloud version of Microsoft Office.

It does, though, represent a shift in approach at Microsoft towards greater openness towards rivals, particularly in cloud services. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said, "In our mobile-first and cloud-first world, people need easier ways to create, share and collaborate regardless of their device or platform. Together, Microsoft and Dropbox will provide our shared customers with flexible tools that put them at the centre for the way they live and work today."

The new capabilities will be rolled out in forthcoming updates to Office365 apps for Apple iOS and Android over the next few weeks, with web integration coming in the first half of 2015. However, Microsoft's own mobile platforms will have to wait: integration with Windows Phone and Windows tablet platforms will take months to appear, rather than weeks.