OVUM評論：Microsoft Office 365 Version One-Dot-Zero
Microsoft Office 365 is offered through a range of fixed-price, set meal deals. Referred to by Microsoft as service plans, each plan is comprised of a different mix of software and services targeting different appetites and budgets.
- For USD 6 per user per month, individuals and small businesses (up to 25 employees) get email, calendar, Office Web Apps (browser-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote) and website services. However, if you need support you’ll have to “phone-a-friend”, as the plan does not include IT support. This plan compares favourably with Google Apps for Business, and presents a fairly low-risk and low-cost route for those wanting core information management and collaboration services.
- For USD 27 per user per month, midsize organizations and enterprises get everything that Microsoft’s “software plus services” strategy currently has to offer: Office 2010 for personal productivity and office automation tasks; Exchange Online for email, calendaring and contacts; SharePoint Online for business collaboration; and Lync Online for online meetings using audio, video and web conferencing. This plan provides the corporate IT department with configuration and control features, and also includes 24×7 IT administrator support from Microsoft. In terms of functionality, this off-the-peg plan presents a “good enough” solution to fit the needs of many organizations, but it is unlikely to fit quite so well as the made-to-measure information management and collaboration infrastructures that most companies and their employees are used to.
Microsoft Office 365 comes with built-in compatibility with what most organizations already have and has a financially-backed 99.9% uptime guarantee; however, it is still a “one-dot-zero” release, and this means that it is far from perfect. Microsoft has said that it will “release” updates to Office 365 ever 90 days, and so business and IT managers should reassess this offering on a regular basis to determine its overall appeal and business value.