Microsoft Office 365 now available in Zimbabwe

Business
Microsoft Corp has launched Microsoft Office 365, the company’s next-generation cloud-based service for businesses of all sizes in Zimbabwe.

Microsoft Corp has launched Microsoft Office 365, the company’s next-generation cloud-based service for businesses of all sizes in Zimbabwe.

Report by Our Correspondent

Previously available on a trial basis in markets across Africa, Office 365 is now commercially available in Zimbabwe and businesses can try it out for free for 30 days by signing up at www.office365.com.

Office 365 brings together Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online in an always-up-to-date service at a fixed monthly cost.

The service was introduced in limited beta last year with enthusiastic responses, particularly among small and midsize businesses. Over the period of a few months, more than 10 000 organisations around the world signed up, many of which were small and midsize businesses, creating one of Microsoft’s largest global beta programmes for businesses.

“Office 365 will forever change how businesses, both big and small, share and communicate in this digital age. Business entities that adopt Office 365 will be able to ensure faster turn-around times by bringing the power of collaboration to the cloud and this will in turn improve productivity and set these businesses on the path to success,” said Eric Odipo, general manager, Microsoft East and southern Africa.

“The launch of Office 365 in Zimbabwe will accelerate that evolution by delivering enterprise-grade collaboration for all businesses — large and small.” With Office 365, moving to the cloud does not require people to change the way they work because it’s based on the familiar, industry-leading productivity tools people know and trust.

People get new ways to work together, on virtually any device, using the familiar Office applications they already know. In addition, business owners get the reliability, security features and IT controls they need in the cloud.

“We thoroughly evaluated other cloud productivity offerings in the market before choosing Microsoft,” said Harold Muvuti , CEO, WinSys Corporation Zimbabwe.

“Office 365 is the right choice to help our company support the way people work today and encourage a more mobile work environment. With the service, we have the added benefit of working together with familiar tools on almost any device and can make quicker decisions when needed.”

Microsoft is building a strong partner ecosystem around Office 365 in Zimbabwe, which includes new ways of partnering with service providers such as telecommunications and hosting firms. Combined, the partners will integrate Office 365 with their existing services — from Web hosting and internet connections to finance solutions and mobile phone services.

These partners will then be able to deliver integrated packages to their customers, creating a one-stop-shop for small and midsize businesses seeking business services.