Microsoft (news, site) is making inroads into the SME market for cloud-based productivity and document management services with the recently-launched Office 365. The company is rumored to be including more Microsoft products and services in the cloud-based Office suite, in order to expand functionality on an add-on basis.
Cloud-Based Project Management and Diagramming
While the service already includes add-ons like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online for collaboration, the company is rumored to be working on adding diagramming and project planning with online versions of Microsoft Visio and Microsoft Project, respectively. According to All About Microsoft’s Mary-Jo Foley, this information was mentioned in an interview with a Microsoft executive at the recently-concluded Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference.
Microsoft Business Solutions Corporate Vice President Michael Park made a passing reference to the coming Project and Visio Office 365 add-ons during an interview I had with him at the partner conference. The idea in adding services like CRM Online, Project and Visio is to make it as easy for small/mid-size users to subscribe to them with a single click when “ordering” Office 365 as it currently is for enterprise volume licensees to do so.
While Microsoft later on clarified that the statement may have been taken out of context, Foley maintains that other Microsoft partners interviewed at the conference were aware of Microsoft’s plan to include Project and Visio in Office 365 sometime in the near future.
via Microsoft Reportedly Expanding Office 365 to Include Visio & Project.