Forum Views ()
Forum Replies ()
Read more with google mobile :
Microsoft puts Office in the cloud, confronts Google
|
Edition:
U.S.
Article
Comments (0)
Follow Reuters
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
YouTube
Read
Near-Earth asteroid passes over Atlantic Ocean
27 Jun 2011
UPDATE 2-Wildfire reaches US Los Alamos nuclear facility
27 Jun 2011
Gay marriage foes appeal ruling on gay U.S. judge
27 Jun 2011
Lady Gaga sued over Japan earthquake charity bracelets
27 Jun 2011
US Supreme Court to decide police GPS tracking case
27 Jun 2011
Discussed
221
Biden deficit-cut talks hit impasse: Rep. Cantor
138
CBO sees government benefits swamping U.S. economy
112
Fragile economy pushed Obama to tap oil reserves
Watched
A Tokyo-Paris flight in under three hours on the horizon
Fri, Jun 24 2011
Hefner's revenge; Ryan Reynolds stops traffic
Fri, Jun 17 2011
Supreme Court: Game on!
Mon, Jun 27 2011
Microsoft puts Office in the cloud, confronts Google
Tweet
Share this
Email
Print
Related News
Nortel patent sale attracts tech giants
Fri, Jun 24 2011
Nokia unveils N9 smartphone
Tue, Jun 21 2011
Oracle seeks billions in lawsuit against Google
Thu, Jun 16 2011
Special report: Government in cyber fight but can't keep up
Thu, Jun 16 2011
Microsoft loses U.S. Supreme Court case on patent
Thu, Jun 9 2011
Analysis & Opinion
Tech wrap: Google probed
Tech wrap: FTC seen deepening Google probe
Related Topics
Technology »
Media »
Setting up a public website in edit mode on Microsoft 365 is shown in this handout image.
Credit: Reuters/ Microsoft
By Bill Rigby
SEATTLE |
Tue Jun 28, 2011 1:54am EDT
SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is making its biggest move into the mobile, Internet-accessible world of cloud computing this week, as it takes the wraps off a revamped online version of its hugely profitable Office software suite.
The world's largest software company is heaving its two-decade old set of applications -- including Outlook email, Excel spreadsheets and SharePoint collaboration tools -- into an online format so that customers can use them on a variety of devices from wherever they can get an Internet connection.
It wants to push back against Google Inc, which has stolen a small but worrying percentage of its corporate customers with cheaper, web-only alternatives, which remove the need for companies to spend time on installing software or managing servers.
"It's obvious that Microsoft has to do this if they're going to remain competitive with Google," said Michael Yoshikami, chief executive of money manager YCMNET Advisors. "It's something they have to do."
Microsoft shares rose 3.7 percent on Monday, the largest gain in a single trading day since September, partly buoyed by hopes that it can ultimately boost profits by extending its software dominance to the growing cloud sector.
"If they execute effectively and it's adopted, it could be a game changer," said Yoshikami. "Whether or not that will happen is a whole other story."
Microsoft has offered online versions of some Office programs -- chiefly Outlook email -- for its corporate customers for several years, and last year rolled out free versions for individual home users.
Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is set to present an overhauled and updated set of offerings -- collectively called Office 365 -- at an event in New York City on Tuesday morning, underlining the company's newfound online focus.
GROWING MARKET
The market for web-based software services is heating up, and every company, government department and local authority is getting pitches from Microsoft and Google whenever they reevaluate their office software.
It's a new challenge for Microsoft, which built itself up on expensive versions of software installed on individual computers. That business model turned the Office unit into Microsoft's most profitable, earning more than $3 billion alone last quarter.
Microsoft's plan is to make up for smaller profit margins from web-based applications -- due to the cost of handling data and keeping up servers -- by grabbing a larger slice of companies' overall technology spending.
Last October, when it rolled out a test version of the new service, Microsoft said it planned to charge from $2 per user per month for basic email services to $27 per user per month for advanced offerings. Google charges a flat fee of $50 per user per year for its Web-based Google Apps product, which offers email, calendars, word processing and more online.
Microsoft, like Google, will host users' data remotely, and maintain all the servers in vast data centers. Unlike Google, it will also allow companies to put their data on dedicated servers if they choose, or keep the data on their own premises.
The full launch of Office 365 will spice up the lively competition with Google for new users.
Earlier this month, Google snagged InterContinental Hotels Group as a major customer, moving 25,000 of its employees onto Google email from Outlook.
Google, which has had the most success in the small and medium-sized business range, says there are now 40 million users of online Google Apps suite. Microsoft does not publish equivalent numbers, but research firm comScore has estimated 750 million people worldwide use Office in some form.
But Internet-centric Google -- whose success is based on its dominance in web search -- is confident it has the upper hand in the cloud.
"Compared to what they (Microsoft) have in the market today, they have nowhere to go but up," said Dave Girouard, head of Google's worldwide enterprise business. "We feel we're years ahead of them in terms of building a viable cloud solution that just works."
(Reporting by Bill Rigby; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
Technology
Media
Related Quotes and News
Company
Price
Related News
Tweet this
Link this
Share this
Digg this
Email
Reprints
We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/
Comments (0)
Be the first to comment on reuters.com.
Add yours using the box above.
Social Stream (What's this?)
© Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters
Editorial Editions:
Africa
Arabic
Argentina
Brazil
Canada
China
France
Germany
India
Italy
Japan
Latin America
Mexico
Russia
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Reuters
Contact Us
Advertise With Us
Help
Journalism Handbook
Archive
Site Index
Video Index
Reader Feedback
Mobile
Newsletters
RSS
Podcasts
Widgets
Your View
Analyst Research
Thomson Reuters
Copyright
Disclaimer
Privacy
Professional Products
Professional Products Support
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Careers
Online Products
Acquisitions Monthly
Buyouts
Venture Capital Journal
International Financing Review
Project Finance International
PEhub.com
PE Week
FindLaw
Super Lawyers Attorney Rating Service
Reuters on Facebook
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
Other News on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 Radioactive water leaks from Tepco plant
|
China Premier's call for reform draws accolades, and barbs
|
South China Sea disputes could lead to war in Asia: think tank
|
Peralta RBI triple keys rally in eighth as Tigers knock off Blue Jays
China says Sudan split on agenda as Bashir visits
|
Ex-N.C. State basketball star Lorenzo Charles, 47, dead in bus crash
Women's World Cup: Japan edges New Zealand, Mexico-England forge tie
Venezuela opposition demand info on Chavez's health
|
Michael Jackson "Thriller" Jacket sells for big bucks
Eton's ancient game thrives in Nigeria
|
Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music Label Signed to Def Jam
Pauly D calls current "Jersey Shore" cast "Irreplaceable"
Erik Compton brings new meaning to "heart" with Nationwide victory in Mexico
Barbra Streisand returns with What Matters Most
Former Illinois Governor Blagojevich convicted on several corruption charges
Analysis: Where does Cheick Kongo's epic comeback win rank in UFC history?
Microsoft puts Office in the cloud, confronts Google
|
Sony says protecting content made it hackers' target
|
Supreme Court to decide police GPS tracking case
|
Chatting, texts, now apps distract young drivers
|
Second proxy firm advises RIM CEO/chairman split
|
British teen hacker suspect granted bail
|
Venture firms seek light green tech bets
|
TomTom guides lower again as consumers flee
|
Lady Gaga sued over Japan earthquake charity bracelets
|
Hugh Hefner's new girlfriend a Canadian Playmate
|
Controversial Chuck Berry statue approved in St Louis
|
Hot Coffee shows other side of frivolous lawsuits
|
Alicia Keys backs Broadway play about black America
|
Greek police clash with austerity protesters
|
Prosecutor sees Gaddafi endgame, China cautious
|
Flotilla activists seek blood: Israeli FM
|
Yemen may retake oil pipeline, crisis persists
|
Syrian opposition tells Russia: make Assad resign
|
Senegal deploys extra troops as power cuts enrage
|
Chavez health saga keeps Venezuela guessing
|
Met Life in talks for naming rights to New Meadowlands Stadium
Argentine president cancels trip on health grounds
|
Google boasts 500,000 Android activations per day
|
Chicago business executive Hulsizer out of running to purchase Coyotes
Mobile banking to help 2 billion people by 2020: study
|
Jennifer Aniston reveals tattoo is in 'homage' to her dog
Google faces damages claim from French rival 1PlusV
|
British teen hacker suspect granted bail
|
Weeks before independence, South Sudan teeters
Tom Hanks says there's more 'Toy Story' in the works
Hugh Hefner lines up another 25-year-old 'girlfriend'
AU Optronics hits Samsung with patent countersuit
|
Cee Lo Green pulls out of Rihanna's tour
'Mob Wives' star Renee Graziano undergoes $30,000 full-body lift
Five pounds of cocaine discovered in shoes in abandoned luggage
Bearded Mickey Mouse causes stir in Egypt
Actress Yeoh blacklisted, deported from Myanmar
|
Hugh Hefner's new girlfriend a Canadian Playmate
|
BET Awards gets ratings boost amid on-stage snafu
|
Mud rivals music at Glastonbury festival
|
Greece at new risk of being pushed off euro
Bodies of missing Tenn. mom, Jo Ann Bain, and daughter found
Female Breasts Are Bigger Than Ever
AMD Trinity Accelerated Processing Units Now in Volume Production
The Avengers (2012 film), made the second biggest opening- and single-day gross of all-time
AMD to Start Production of piledriver
Ivy Bridge Quad-Core, Four-Thread Desktop CPUs
Islamists Protest Lady Gaga's Concert in Indonesia
Japan Successfully Broadcasts an 8K Signal Over the Air
ECB boosts loans to 1 trillion Euro to stop credit crunch
Egypt : Mohammed Morsi won with 52 percent
What do you call 100,000 Frenchmen with their hands up
AMD Launches AMD Embedded R-Series APU Platform
Fed Should not Ignore Emerging Market Crisis
Fed casts shadow over India, emerging markets
Why are Chinese tourists so rude? A few insights