AT&T rolls out cloud-based Microsoft Office
- 12 November, 2012 22:47
- Comments
Seeking to beef up its products and services for small and midsize businesses, AT&T Monday announced that it will offer Microsoft Office 365 as a cloud-based service.
AT&T is making the software as a service (SaaS) available for its 300,000 small-business customers, providing mobile and desktop access to popular Microsoft programs such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the Lync instant messaging platform.
MORE CLOUD: Gartner's Magic Quadrant is a who's who of the cloud market
MORE MICROSOFT APPS: Microsoft to address Yammer integration plans at SharePoint conference
Mike Sapien, a principal analyst with Ovum, says the news makes a lot of sense for AT&T. "It's a big play to have a really popular packaged app they can deliver to the SMB market," he says. "They're really putting something out there that businesses actually need."
Buying a cloud-based version of Microsoft Office from a vendor like AT&T has a number of potential advantages for users, Sapien points out. A cloud model frees users from having to dedicate on-premise resources to hosting the application, while allowing the programs to be accessed across a range of devices, including mobile platforms on the AT&T network.
The offering also comes with Tech Support 360, AT&T's support program for helping customers set up, migrate and service the software.
Cloud-based Microsoft Office 365 from AT&T starts at $6 per user per month and is broken into two tiers: one for businesses with between one and 25 users, and another for an unlimited number of users. In addition to purchasing the bundle, customers have a choice to purchase some apps as a stand-alone product, including Exchange email, Lync and SharePoint.
Network World staff writer Brandon Butler covers cloud computing and social collaboration. He can be reached at BButler@nww.com and found on Twitter at @BButlerNWW.
Recommended
Join the Computerworld Australia group on Linkedin. The group is open to IT Directors, IT Managers, Infrastructure Managers, Network Managers, Security Managers, Communications Managers.
- Bookmark this page
- Share this article
- Got more on this story? Email Computerworld
- Follow Computerworld on twitter
-
Australia lags Mongolia in Internet speeds
-
40 years ago, Ethernet's fathers were the startup kids
-
Windows 8 won't hit critical mass in enterprises, Forrester says
-
Dell replays Windows 8 blame card as PC sales slide
-
Optus launches 4G TD-LTE in Canberra
