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Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) About to Enter "Cloud" with Small Business Apps


Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

With Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) attacking Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) at its core product of Microsoft Office, Microsoft is about to respond with their own version of Microsoft office in the "cloud," which will take off strong, and will be sure to make a dent in Google Docs, which offers similar products.

When we talk about the "cloud," it refers to information you use to interact with online products being stored in datacenters rather than your own computer.

The strength of that is the ability to access your information or use small business apps no matter where you are in the world, as long as there is a way to connect to the Internet.

Businesses acquiring Office and Sharepoint this year will have free access to online versions of the software.

For those who don't need that robust of business software, there will be a free consumer version that is expected to be released in June. That will be a competitor to Google's free version, which is ad-supported at this time. Google also offers a paid version which includes more features for business users for $50 a year.

Many businesses have been slow to adopt cloud computing so far, not only because of their ties to Microsoft, but because the limitations of the Internet have kept it from being offered in versions which are as useful and deep as their computer software counterparts.

That has started to change, and with Microsoft and Google going at it for market share, it is sure to generate increasing innovation and creativity which will benefit customers in what is offered and pricing. It'll be good for everyone involved.



Article by Gary B

The views expressed are the subjective opinion of the article's author and not of FinancialAdvisory.com



Tags: cloud computing , google , google docs , microsoft , microsoft office , office online