juillet 14, 2009
Microsoft announced that Office 2010 will include a free, on-demand version of its core applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint) and a note taking program for consumers. A business version will be offered for a fee at a later date.
« This announcement is an expected evolutionary step by Microsoft into the cloud and is not about Google. It prepares Microsoft and its partners to exploit the larger cloud computing trends and produces more options for consumers and ultimately businesses,” said Tim Hickernell, Lead Analyst with Info-Tech Research Group. “Consumers are used to getting it for free. Consumer software revenue models are shifting from paid applications to advertising revenue and value-added services, such as enhanced storage. Since Microsoft is a key player in the consumer market as well as the enterprise market, it too has to adapt to the market forces,” said Hickernell.
Microsoft has previously announced its intention to re-architect its solutions to enable on demand delivery. E-mail and collaboration on-demand offerings were previously released for small businesses, so this announcement is consistent with stated strategy. However, many will view this announcement as simply a way to compete with Google Apps; in essence an attempt to play « catch up. » In reality, Microsoft does not have to catch up with Google in this space; rather it is Google constantly trying to catch up with Microsoft. Google Apps has not seriously challenged Microsoft’s home sales of Office and most home office users use MS Office from their employer and/or take advantage of a « home use » clause in their enterprise agreement with Microsoft. Info-Tech Research Group does not expect this new product to cannibalize sales of Office to home users. Instead, Microsoft will now be able to attract a new segment of users who do not otherwise have access to Office through their employers, especially in developing nations. The on-demand delivery method also offers Microsoft new revenue opportunities in selling advertisements and leveraging its new, targeted search engine, Bing. The on-demand channel also opens up the opportunity for Microsoft to offer any number of value-added services to complement the basic free applications.
In addition, Microsoft will be able to offer a seamless user experience across MS Office versions and across channels such as gaming platforms, netbooks and smartphones. Info-Tech Research Group also expects Microsoft to leverage the multi-tenant Office architecture developed for this offering to contextually embed productivity services into its Dynamics line of enterprise applications, as an alternative to desktop integration with a local copy of Office.
“While this product is geared towards consumers, businesses should watch it closely, since the functionality for the upcoming business version is likely to be similar. Businesses should view Office-as-a-Service as an opportunity for hybrid deployments and for contextual integration with enterprise systems, rather than as a directly substitutable product,” Hickernell added.
To view the original announcement, click here.
Tags: Apps, Google Applications, Google Inc., info-tech research group, Microsoft Office, Office As A Service
