This article describes the Office365 offering as a question / answer format. This is particularly useful when explaining exactly what Office365 is, what it entails, the costs and benefits.
Note that I offer Office 365 as a Microsoft Partner and am happy to provide demonstrations and even access to a SharePoint site for a limited time. For more information, please contact me.
| Q. What is Office 365? |
| A. Microsoft Office 365 for professionals and small businesses is a subscription service that combines Microsoft Office Web Apps with a set of web-enabled tools that are easy to learn and use, that work with your existing hardware, and that come backed by the robust security, reliability, and control you need to run your business. |
| Q. Why do I need Office 365? |
| A. In today’s competitive global market, businesses of all sizes need technology that enables flexibility and that cost effectively adds value to their organization. Cloud-based services provide a way to meet these objectives. They deliver feature-rich productivity tools to users and help to relieve the burden of managing and maintaining business systems, freeing up IT departments and businesses to focus on initiatives that can deliver true competitive advantage. |
| Q. Is Office 365 Microsoft Office in the cloud |
| A. The Office 365 service offering is that and so much more! With some Office 365 plans, you have access to familiar Office applications that are installed locally on your PC, but are downloaded and licensed from the cloud. Those Office 365 service plans expand this experience by combining those Office applications with the latest versions of our cloud productivity services: Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online. These services combine to provide you with the most comprehensive productivity solution for your business needs. |
| Q. My enterprise/midsize business has advanced IT needs for robust security, reliability, and user productivity. What does Office 365 provide and how much does it cost? |
| A. There are a range of options from basic email for £1.30 per user per month to a complete solution for £17.75 per user per month that includes full Office Professional Plus desktop software, along with Office Web Apps; the most advanced versions of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online; phone support 24 hours a day, seven days a week; advanced IT controls; and on-premises use rights for voice—in short, the most complete solution for business productivity available in the cloud. |
| Q. I am a small business/professional. If I do not have IT expertise within my small business, can I still use Office 365? How much does it cost? |
| A. Office 365 for professionals and small businesses offers a simple, monthly subscription to an easy-to-use set of web-enabled tools for small businesses, independent consultants, and professionals.Working with the business-class productivity tools people know and use today, Office 365 for professionals and small businesses provides virtually anywhere access to email, important documents, contacts, and calendars on nearly any device. Subscriptions start at just £4 per user per month, and Office 365 is backed by powerful security features and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. |
| Q. Will Office 365 replace Office Live Small Business? |
| A. Yes! Office 365 includes the most compelling elements of Office Live Small Business—email, public websites, and more. While nothing will change for Office Live Small Business customers now, the transition to Office 365 will probably begin in late 2011 or early 2012. Customers who choose to have their accounts transitioned will get three months of Office 365 for small businesses for free. |
| Q. Can a school get access to Office 365? |
| A. Microsoft Office 365 for education provides your institution with the same great communication and collaboration experiences used in enterprises around the world and saves time and money. Microsoft Office 365 for education delivers all of this while training students on the familiar software that employers depend on. Benefits include 25-gigabyte (GB) inboxes, mobile access, team sites, Office Web Apps, and more! |
| Q. What does it mean to work from virtually anywhere and on nearly any device? |
| A.The Office 365 service offerings enable you to work with email, documents, and data from virtually anywhere and on nearly any device with a familiar productivity experience on PCs, phones, and in browsers.This means that an appropriate device, Internet connection, and supported versions of Internet Explorer, Firefox, or Safari browsers are required. Access from mobile devices requires Wi-Fi capability or depends on carrier network availability. Some mobile functionality requires Office Mobile 2010, which is included with specific releases of Windows Phones and Nokia phones. Office Mobile 2010 is not included in Office 2010 applications, suites, or Web Apps. There are some differences between the features of the Office Web Apps, Office Mobile 2010, and the Office 2010 applications. |
