TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      Where to next for Dimension Data

      5 July 2022

      Zapper is said to seek fundraising at huge valuation

      5 July 2022

      Stage-5 load shedding to continue until Thursday

      5 July 2022

      Big step forward for Cell C as debt deal approved

      5 July 2022

      Eskom unions accept 7% wage offer

      5 July 2022
    • World

      Scientists at Cern observe three ‘exotic’ new particles

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin’s first African adopter plans own digital currency

      6 July 2022

      Bitcoin hints at a bottom – but it may be different this time

      5 July 2022

      China, US war of words erupts over lunar missions

      5 July 2022

      Tether fails to calm jittery nerves

      4 July 2022
    • In-depth

      The bonfire of the NFTs

      5 July 2022

      The NFT party is over

      30 June 2022

      The great crypto crash: the fallout, and what happens next

      22 June 2022

      Goodbye, Internet Explorer – you really won’t be missed

      19 June 2022

      Oracle’s database dominance threatened by rise of cloud-first rivals

      13 June 2022
    • Podcasts

      How your organisation can triage its information security risk

      22 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E06 – ‘Apple Silicon’

      15 June 2022

      The youth might just save us

      15 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E05 – ‘Nvidia: The Green Goblin’

      8 June 2022

      Everything PC S01E04 – ‘The story of Intel – part 2’

      1 June 2022
    • Opinion

      South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

      4 July 2022

      Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

      21 June 2022

      Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

      13 June 2022

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»Microsoft’s Office 365 arrives in SA

    Microsoft’s Office 365 arrives in SA

    News By Editor29 November 2011
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Melanie Botha

    Microsoft has launched its cloud-computing productivity suite, Office 365, in SA. The suite includes various collaboration options and will be available to SA users as a free trial until its commercial launch sometime next year.

    Office 365 is a direct competitor to rival Google’s Docs platform.

    Tracy Bolton, Microsoft SA’s productivity solutions leader, says pricing will range from R50 to R200 per user per month, depending on the options selected. The cheaper option includes all online functionality, while the top-end offering provides the ability to download Office 2010 to users’ devices for offline use.

    Melanie Botha, Microsoft SA’s marketing and operations leader, says Office 365 can be used by any sized business, from those with a handful of employees, right up to multinational enterprises. As it is browser based, and supports all major browsers, including Apple’s Safari, it can be used on most devices.

    Those interested in trialling the service can sign up at www.office365.co.za. Microsoft SA says the trial will run for approximately six months, after which users will be advised of the move to a commercial model and given the option to pay to continue using the service.

    SA users will enjoy full functionality and will be able to pay for the service in local currency.

    Part of the reason SA users will get to enjoy such a lengthy trial is because SA has been on the roadmap for Office 365 for some time, and Microsoft says it’s important to offer a “try-before-you-buy” option. After commercial launch, users will still be offered a 30-day trial in keeping with that approach.

    On signing up, trial users will be offered a custom “.onmicrosoft.co.za” domain. Commercial users will be able to use their own domain. After signing up, users are made administrators and can allocate up to 25 mailboxes, each with 25GB of storage.

    All of the mailboxes support Microsoft Exchange Online and offer various collaboration options, including the ability to share contacts, calendars, and documents and participate in video conference calls and even share desktops.

    The service also offers Online SharePoint, which, in addition to the collaboration options, means an administrator can create intranet team sites or external sites customers can sign into. Office 365 also offers Lync Online, Microsoft’s unified communications client that includes instant messaging, desktop sharing, “white-boarding” and video sharing.

    The service is available immediately. Microsoft SA says it can’t confirm when next year the service will be commercialised, but says users of the service will be given fair warning before it happens.  — Craig Wilson, TechCentral

    • Subscribe to our free daily newsletter
    • Follow us on Twitter or on Google+ or on Facebook
    • Visit our sister website, SportsCentral (still in beta)
    Google Melanie Botha Microsoft Tracy Bolton
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleHow the (other) social network is faring
    Next Article Local-loop unbundling: full Icasa statement

    Related Posts

    Where to next for Dimension Data

    5 July 2022

    Zapper is said to seek fundraising at huge valuation

    5 July 2022

    Stage-5 load shedding to continue until Thursday

    5 July 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Hot Ink certifies and diversifies to maintain competitive printing edge

    5 July 2022

    Increased flexibility with Dell Precision Mobile Workstations

    5 July 2022

    The 5 secrets of customer experience in the cloud era

    5 July 2022
    Opinion

    South Africa can no longer rely on Eskom alone

    4 July 2022

    Has South Africa’s advertising industry lost its way?

    21 June 2022

    Rob Lith: What Icasa’s spectrum auction means for SA companies

    13 June 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.