Cloud Based Microsoft Office 365 Launched

Today at a New York City event Microsoft marked the official launch of the cloud based, Office 365. Microsoft have taken this move to compete with the likes of the Google Documents and iCloud services, where industry experts estimate by 2015, may be worth £45bn.

As the suite is cloud based, it is primarily aimed at small to medium sized businesses. Microsoft CEO, Steve Ballmer said "to compete, small and medium-sized businesses do need an edge, an edge that doesn’t require huge upfront capital investment or complex IT systems to manage and maintain." Microsoft has hinted that Office 365 will be attractive to businesses with little in house IT resources and expertise.

Price packages range from as little as $2 a month for basic services and up to $36 for the full works. The four cloud hosted components are: Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and Office Web Apps.

Many of the target market small businesses customers have trialed the Office 365 beta and have noted the potential scale for savings in time and money and the ability to be able to focus resources elsewhere.

Its clear that Microsoft have realised the shift towards cloud computing, not one to be left behind, it has sought to gain a share of another rapidly growing market. It remains to be seen how Microsoft's paid services will match alongside the likes of Google's free offerings.