Kiwis lead Cloud computing adoption

Media Release
12 May 2011

Kiwis lead Cloud computing adoption as Microsoft Office 365 enters public beta

Microsoft New Zealand is expecting strong pick up of the Office 365 public beta as recent Springboard Survey results have found 94 percent of large Kiwi organisations view cloud computing as a priority and already have funding in place.

Microsoft Office 365 is the next-generation cloud productivity service for businesses of all sizes – bringing together Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online in an always-up-to-date cloud service. The public beta, now available for download, allows millions of people in 37 countries, including New Zealand, to try Office 365 for the first time.

Microsoft has also unveiled the Office 365 Marketplace, which gives users a simple way to find partner applications (apps) and services for Office 365.

Steve Hornblow, Cloud Business Manager at Microsoft New Zealand, says the evolution of Office 365 is an exciting time for New Zealand businesses.

“The New Zealand business landscape is made up predominantly of small-medium businesses. We have been in the cloud for years supporting large enterprises, but Office 365 takes the same enterprise power and delivers it for small businesses – they can now get the same powerful technology capabilities to match their business ambitions.”

With Office 365, moving to the cloud doesn’t require people to change the way they work because it’s based on the familiar, industry-leading productivity tools people already know and trust. Employees can now access new, better ways to work together with ease, using familiar applications on any device. Business owners have guaranteed reliability, security and IT controls in the cloud.

Brendon Ford, Chief Technology Officer for Provoke says with Office 365 there is a growing opportunity for Kiwi organisations to receive shared benefits from industry specific solutions.

“PracticePoint is a great example of how multiple companies can benefit from an industry specific technology solution. Designed for accountants, PracticePoint is a template for Xero’s Modern Practice, utilising Office 365 to ensure easy access to customer records and increased business productivity. Accountants are trialing Office 365 with PracticePoint today and see real business benefits in a total cloud solution to manage their practices.”

Costs for Office 365 start as low as NZ$9.25 (the price of two café-bought coffees) per user per month for Office Web Apps, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and an external website.

For the first time ever, Office 365 for enterprises will include the option to purchase Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop software on a pay-as-you-go basis. For NZ$38.25 per user, per month, organisations can get Office Professional Plus, along with email, voicemail, enterprise social networking, instant messaging, Web portals, extranets, videoconferencing, web conferencing, 24/7 phone support, on-premises licenses and more.

The Office 365 Marketplace gives customers a simple way to find apps and services when they want to extend and customise Office 365. The Marketplace is now live with more than 100 apps and 400 professional services available from the established community of more than 16,000 Microsoft cloud partners – with new apps and services to be added over time.

Customers can find the Office 365 Marketplace for New Zealand at http://office365.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-NZ/default.aspx, and partners can submit new apps and solutions at http://office365.pinpoint.microsoft.com/en-NZ/GetListed.

Inspired by how high small-business aspirations can be, Microsoft has also announced the Office 365: Ready for Work contest. To enter the contest, small businesses around the world can share their inspiring stories on the Office 365 Facebook page. Winners will be determined with community voting and announced in September 2011. The five winners will receive Office 365, a marketing and advertising package, and a day’s work from a Microsoft executive at the winner’s business or charity of choice.

For more information, visit www.Office365.com or follow on us Facebook, Twitter (@Office365) or the Office 365 blog.
For more information on Xero's Modern Practice, visit www.xero.com/modernpractice/..

ENDS

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