Comments on: Why Microsoft Office Web Is Good for Its Competitors http://pro.gigaom.com/2009/07/why-microsoft-office-online-is-good-for-its-competitors/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 23:24:38 -0800 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.4 hourly 1 By: Simon Mackie http://pro.gigaom.com/2009/07/why-microsoft-office-online-is-good-for-its-competitors/comment-page-1/#comment-282 Simon Mackie Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:57:45 +0000 http://pro.gigaom.com/?p=7939#comment-282 Microsoft was always going to struggle with how to roll out a web version of Office that can effectively compete with the free Google Apps/Zoho without damaging the cash cow that is the desktop version - it would always have to be crippled somehow without the desktop suite.. I was quite pleased when I saw that it was to be offered for free to everyone with a Live account, but even though it's not even available for testing yet, I'm pretty sure there Office Web will disappoint me. My hope is that Office Web gives Google a bit of a kick up the backside and gets them putting some effort into Google Apps again. Microsoft was always going to struggle with how to roll out a web version of Office that can effectively compete with the free Google Apps/Zoho without damaging the cash cow that is the desktop version – it would always have to be crippled somehow without the desktop suite.. I was quite pleased when I saw that it was to be offered for free to everyone with a Live account, but even though it’s not even available for testing yet, I’m pretty sure there Office Web will disappoint me. My hope is that Office Web gives Google a bit of a kick up the backside and gets them putting some effort into Google Apps again.

]]> By: Richard Hall http://pro.gigaom.com/2009/07/why-microsoft-office-online-is-good-for-its-competitors/comment-page-1/#comment-281 Richard Hall Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:04:12 +0000 http://pro.gigaom.com/?p=7939#comment-281 Most enteprise users will have Sharepoint/CALS included in their enterprise agreement, so licensing less a barrier to, or driver for adoption. The interesting corporate aspect of the Office 2010 ('14') server side solutions is the extension of the Excel services concept present in Office 2007 to other members of the family. Controlling (versioning and access to) central, approved spreadsheets and databases finally solves the paradox of productivity tools generating a plethora of instances of business models and data where no-one is sure if they have access to the latest/best/approved. Now you can have freedom to create at will but publish centrally to all. Most enteprise users will have Sharepoint/CALS included in their enterprise agreement, so licensing less a barrier to, or driver for adoption.

The interesting corporate aspect of the Office 2010 (’14′) server side solutions is the extension of the Excel services concept present in Office 2007 to other members of the family. Controlling (versioning and access to) central, approved spreadsheets and databases finally solves the paradox of productivity tools generating a plethora of instances of business models and data where no-one is sure if they have access to the latest/best/approved. Now you can have freedom to create at will but publish centrally to all.

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