Office 2010 goes in the cloud: How it changes the way you do business

The Office line of productivity suite by Microsoft was pretty much the reigning king of all office tools before Google Docs and Open Office came in and crashed the party. Both brought in new challenges for Microsoft in the game. While Open Office’s bragging rights were being open source, Google Docs had the advantage of operating from within a cloud. A cloud based software application has certain inherent advantages over a desktop based one in terms of data security, reduced downtime, and enhanced collaboration features. Both being free to use, they started into the market share of Microsoft Office. While Open Office still struggles to penetrate the business market, Google Docs’ new features convinced people enough to warrant its use over Microsoft Office for certain specific tasks, for example, sharing a constantly updating spreadsheet. Microsoft finally decided to take a leaf out of Google Docs’ functionality.

Microsoft Office 365, a subscription based service now allows you use the web versions of some of your favorite Office 2010 applications: Office Web App versions of Word and Excel, Exchange online to access and manage your emails and calendar, Lync online for instant messaging and video conferencing, and SharePoint Online for websites and collaboration.You also have features like co-authoring wherein the members of your team may work on one document at the same time without waiting for their individual turns. You also have powerful online video and photo editing tools that help to make your work more impactful.

Office 365 is not only a more efficient way to make your work more seamless, but it also works out to be a cheaper alternative for small businesses as opposed to implementing self-hosted server applications. Also, it adds a new dimension to the way that you work and opens up more possibilities. Here are some of the unique things that you may able to do with Office 365:

• Stop sending attachments via email; send your colleague a link to the file via SharePoint instead. This way, they will be able to access the latest version of the document.
• Share calendars with team members and business associates; access your email at anytime from anywhere — through virtually any device that you use.
• Check instantly which colleagues amongst your team are present at any time; accordingly call, IM or email them. Work with one or more of them simultaneously on one document.

As you can see, Office 365 brings all the power of Office 2010 in an easily accessible online form with additional features and functionality to boot. It’s a logical step for any organization where the work primarily depends upon accessibility and collaboration.