CeBIT: Microsoft Brings Cloud Services To Europe, Asia
Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS), already available in the U.S. at a monthly subscription price of $15 per user, includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online and Office Live Meeting. The BPOS package is intended for PC-based workers and upon commercial release in April will be priced at 12.78 per user, per month in Europe and £10.04 per user, per month in the U.K.
The other big offering in Microsoft's campaign to conquer the commercial cloud is its Deskless Worker Suite, a packaging of the Deskless Worker versions of Exchange Online and SharePoint Online that's aimed at workers who use non-PC means to communicate with colleagues and managers. The Deskless Worker Suite, priced now at a monthly fee of $3 per user in the U.S., will made available next month for 2.56 in Europe and £2.01 in the U.K.
The pair of "Software + Services" packages, as Microsoft describes them, are now being offered on a trial basis for up to 20 users at organizations in Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the U.K.
Microsoft will also offer the individual applications that make up the hosted software suites, Berg said. Exchange Online will cost 8.52 per user, per month in Europe, compared to $10 in the U.S. Other comparative pricing includes 6.18 for SharePoint Online ($7.25), 2.13 for Office Communications Online ($2.50) and 3.83 for Office Live Meeting ($4.50).
Microsoft's hosted productivity services are now accessed on more than 600,000 desktops, according to the vendor.