Microsoft issued a press release today that clearly states that “Microsoft Office Division to make announcement”, alongside “detailing the latest on Microsoft Office 365,” which is actually the company’s next-generation cloud service. Talk about getting straight to the point without going through a bunch of rumors or creating additional buzz via leaked screenshots and what not. It does seem as though Microsoft is more or less on track in revealing Office 365 next week, with CEO Steve Ballmer at the helm by leading the launch event in New York City.
Just what is Office 365? It is a special cloud service that will merge Microsoft Office, SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Lync Online into a single package that can be scaled for small businesses as well as large enterprises, boasting a per-user license cost depending upon the volume of users. It will cost from $6 per month per user onwards, and is a competitive response to Google Apps.
Will this make Office more relevant to the masses at this point in time? Perhaps, and with cloud services being the in thing these days, it just makes sense to jump aboard the bandwagon.
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