Microsoft’s latest cloud productivity and collaboration service, Office 365, has been released to the Australian market with a special launch at the Telstra Experience Centre in Sydney.
A comprehensive package consisting of Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online and Lync Online, Office 365 is positioned as a cutting edge cloud service available at a monthly subscription rate tailored for enterprises and SMBs.
Microsoft Australia information worker business group director, Oscar Trimboli, spoke in great length about the partnership with Telstra for Office 365 in Australia and how the stable nature and wide coverage of Telstra’s network made the telco a perfect fit for the cloud initiative.
Trimboli expected that the partnership of a world-renowned brands such as Microsoft and Telstra to give Office 365 users the peace of mind that competing offerings are unable to provide.
Telstra executive director of small business, Charles Agee, expects Office 365 to be highly attractive to SMBs that don’t have an IT department but would like to have IT capability in their business.
With an increasing number of businesses requiring IT capabilities and mobility playing an even bigger role in the work place, Agee believes that Telstra’s mobile network and extensive coverage will allow Office 365 users to stay connected while working out on the road.
Some of Microsoft’s partners also spoke about the potential benefits and opportunities that are presented with the adoption of Office 365.
Mason Stevens managing director, Tom Bignill, highlighted the support from Microsoft in the backend as the main attraction of Office 365, while Taurus Marketing CEO and founder, Sharon Williams, saw it as a relatively risk-free solution that was invisible in the office.
Fortescue Metals CIO, Vito Forte, identified how Office 365 enabled the large enterprise a high level of collaboration that competing products could not match, and SBS Australia IT manager, Klaus Schelp, saw Office 365 as a right fit for the broadcaster based on the fact that Microsoft not only knew its product well, but also the cloud space.
By offering a cloud product that is always up to date at a fair monthly price plan, Microsoft hopes that Office 365 users, in particularly SMBs, will benefit from the high level of connectivity and collaboration in offers.
For more information about Office 365, go to: www.microsoft.com/en-au/office365 or www.telstra.com/business/office365
