Microsoft Corp has announced the launch of Microsoft Office 365, a cloud productivity service for businesses, in the Africa and Middle East region
Previously a trial version of the service had been made available to the Middle East and Africa markets, but Office 365 will now be commercially available in 16 countries across the region. The cloud solution will also be available with local pricing in Turkey, Saudi Arabia and South Africa.
Office 365 brings together Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online in an up-to-date service platform, at a predictable monthly cost.
According to Microsoft, leading regional service providers will bring the service to their customers. These service providers will each integrate Office 365 with their other offerings and market the service to small and mid-size business customers worldwide.
Microsoft Oman and Bahrain country manager Tareq Hijazi said, “We are evolving from the information age to the collaboration age, where the ability to take action on information will set successful businesses apart from the rest.
“Office 365 will accelerate that evolution by delivering enterprise-grade collaboration for everyone,” he added.
The service was introduced in limited beta last year to an enthusiastic response, particularly among small and mid-size businesses. Over a few months, more than 10,000 organisations signed up and began testing Office 365, creating one of Microsoft’s largest global beta programmes for businesses.
