Microsoft announced the general availability of the next-generation Office 365 for businesses in India. Office 365 works across multiple devices, is social and integrates seamlessly with the cloud. It unlocks newer productivity scenarios and provides organizations with the desired IT control and management. Simultaneously, Microsoft also made available business SKUs of Office 2013 for on premise users.
The next generation Office 365 is the most comprehensive productivity suite with Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Access, Project and Visio. In addition, it includes updated Microsoft Lync Online, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and the all new Yammer. Office 365 can be installed on up to five devices for a single user under the Office 365 licensing.
“In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, the next generation Office 365 unlocks social and mobility scenarios that will allow businesses and individuals to take full advantage of the cloud. It gives them the freedom to do things, when, where and how they want,” said Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd.
Since its launch in mid-2011, Office 365 is one of Microsoft’s fastest growing businesses globally. After only 18 months, one in five of Microsoft’s enterprise customers worldwide use the paid service, up from one in seven a year ago. The number of small and medium-sized businesses using Office 365 around the world has also grown by over 150% in the last 12 months.
The next-generation Office 365 is more social than ever. SharePoint integrates with Yammer and Lync to provide a social layer that brings people and teams together to collaborate and share organizational knowledge and information. The seamless capability of the suite across multiple devices – tablets, PCs, phones, hybrids, etc. makes the value all the more compelling.
Microsoft continued the wave of Office 365 momentum by announcing new customers – Lupin, Godrej Group, Tata Communications and AEGON Religare. These customers join others who have already chosen Office 365, including Tata Elxsi, FICCI, SIRO Clinpharm, Unilog, Gavs Technologies, Visaka Industries, ACME Tele Power, Dabur India, Adhunik Group, Infiniti Retail, to name a few.
“There were many reasons why we have decided to go with Microsoft’s cloud services. With Office 365, we can take full advantage of reliable, state-of-art technology that help our business run more effectively at lower costs. Most importantly, Office 365 creates a more productive mobile workforce by providing employees access to email, documents, contacts, and calendars – using a variety of devices from virtually any location. The first wave of our global rollout of Office 365 has successfully been able to unify our geographically diverse workforce providing them with the access they need anytime and anywhere, with tools that they are already familiar with. At the same time, we have been able to retire a number of legacy messaging systems and consolidate the footprint. That is a great advantage,” said, Mayur Danait, CIO, Lupin.
Ramkumar Pichai, GM – Microsoft Office Division, Microsoft Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. said, “This release of Office brings to life the power of next generation computing. It also reflects Microsoft’s commitment of powering the newer work scenarios businesses are experiencing. While on the one hand it is helping users simplify their work and get things done, on the other it is helping IT managers stay in control of a diverse environment created by a proliferation of devices.”
