Microsoft Phl reinvents Office

MANILA, Philippines -- Microsoft Philippines formally launched Tuesday a cloud service designed for devices used for work and play, a reinvention of the company’s flagship Office product line for consumers, education and businesses.

Called the new Office 365 Home Premium, it comes with extra SkyDrive capacity (Microsoft’s free online storage), and 60 minutes of free Skype world minutes. It provides the latest and most complete set of Office applications such as Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, among others.

"Today, we mark the next big step in Microsoft’s transformation to devices and services, as we introduce and take you to your modern office—an Office that goes beyond the four corners of a room, an Office that is accessible wherever you are,” said Karrie Ilagan, Managing Director, Microsoft Philippines.

Ilagan said the lines between work and play have all but disappeared largely due to the ubiquity of affordable mobile devices.

Based on a recent study by Forrester, 50 percent of office workers are now using three or more devices at work, and using those same devices for both work and personal activities. 

"You’re not just using your PC, phone, or laptop to finish your Excel spreadsheets for budgeting at work, you’re also using the same device to post or tweet. I myself would approve proposals and reports using my Windows phone when I’m on-the-go," said the Microsoft executive.

The software company also announced the availability of the Office 365 Cloud services for the enterprise and education in the middle of 2013.

Once launched, organizations are expected to be able to take full advantage of multiple options when deciding where to deploy their productivity technologies. Whether accessing services from within their own data center or off-premise through Hosting Partners or Microsoft Office 365.

The launch is said to be in parallel with Microsoft's free social and productivity services already available locally with email on Outlook.com, storage on SkyDrive and voice and video calling through Skype.

Priced at P3,499, the Office 365 Home Premium is available through one-year subscription which customers may now install in a total of 10 devices (five PCs and five tablets).

Tovia Va'aelua, Microsoft Office Division Lead, Microsoft Philippines, said the new Microsoft Office will allow people to get things done at home, school and work through any device, anytime and anywhere.

"Before, Office used to belong to your machine now it belongs to you and works across all your devices," Va'aelua said.

In a recent global survey, nearly 60 percent of people said they do not have the time to do the things they want to do, and more than 80 percent said they could save one or more hours a day if they were better organized.

Since the New Office is a cloud-connected,  one can now access files on the go through the built in capability of SkyDrive, Microsoft’s free online storage. Thus, allowing users to be mobile and more productive.

Ilagan also shared a study by Gartner which showed that only seven percent of consumer content was stored in the cloud in 2011, but is expected to grow to 36 percent in 2016. 

Ilagan added the new Office is also "social" as it allows users to check out a contact on Facebook or LinkedIn without leaving their email. 

The Integrated information from Facebook and LinkedIn provides at-a-glance contact information and status updates.