But, unlike competing services from the likes of Google and Adobe, anyone wanting to create or edit a document with Microsoft will still have to use their installed Office applications.
The Office Live Workspace initiative is part of Microsoft’s broad effort to combine elements of its client software with services delivered over the internet.
Users will be able to upload Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files to the web site, and using email, invite others to read or comment on them. Invited guests will access the password protected files via a browser.
Microsoft said each user will have around 250MB of storage space, sufficient for about 1,000 files. The web service will be compatible with Office 2003 and Office 2007.
Workspace is designed to show that Microsoft is committed to what it calls software and services, a variation on the software as a service model that would not cannibalize Microsoft’s billions in client software revenue.
We believe that the future of technology at work will be a combination of local software on client PCs or on-premise servers, along with services available in the cloud, said Microsoft Business Systems president Jeff Raikes. Our approach is to give customers the choice, flexibility, and power of both software plus services. Think of it as a continuum, ranging from pure software to pure services approaches. Most customers will be somewhere in the middle.
However, the balance is still biased toward the on-premise end because the new service does not allow for document creation or editing. Only when that becomes an online option will Microsoft have moved toward the middle of its continuum.
The first release of Office Live Workspace is essentially a companion tool for collaboration than a complete Office service. It is not live yet. Prospective users can pre-register now for access to the beta service later this year.
In an effort to prevent confusion, Microsoft has renamed the existing Microsoft Office Live hosted service, which provides web site and advertising campaign support for small businesses, as Microsoft Office Live Small Business.
The new service is one of several on-line initiatives that includes ongoing customer testing of the forthcoming Dynamics CRM 4.0 release, commonly known by its code name Titan. This will be Microsoft’s all new multi-tenant CRM offering which will provide CRM functionality plus a CRM development platform. The same code will be used to serve on-premise and online deployments.
Also on the roadmap is Microsoft BizTalk Services, which is aimed at helping developers build composite applications. Microsoft has also launched Microsoft Exchange Labs, which is a R&D program for testing next-generation messaging and unified communications.
In addition, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft Office SharePoint Online, and Microsoft Office Communications Online are available to organizations with 5,000 or more seats.
