Microsoft's Muddled Web Office Strategy Continues - Office Live Workspaces
Microsoft has today announced a new online office service called Office Live Workspace, plus re-named its Office Live service to Office Live Small Business. Both moves are attempts to complement Microsoft Office, its dominant desktop office suite - rather than replace functionality present in MS Office.
Office Live Workspace will allow users to store, access and share 1,000+ documents in an online workspace. It will also synchronize contact, task, and event lists with Outlook. The service is free and is being marketed as an "online companion to Microsoft Office". It's basically a storage solution with sharing features, intended to allow people to have one central place to store their Microsoft Office files. Certainly there is still no sign of an online version of Microsoft Word (or Excel or Powerpoint for that matter). In that respect, this doesn't challenge Google Apps. Indeed Office Live Workspace reminds me more of services such as Egnyte, which combine online storage with sharing functionality. This is something the many online storage services are also increasingly offering.
Office Live Workspace is initially only available as a limited beta. The use cases offered are everything from work, to study, to home use - but it's clear this isn't seen as an enterprise service.
These announcements are part of Microsoft's continuing quest to offer hybrid Web/desktop office services. But the functionality still pales in comparison with what Google Apps offers - or indeed many small startups such as Zoho and ThinkFree.
It's like a halfway house - and what's more it comes with yet more branding confusion. In a press release, Microsoft Business Division President Jeff Raikes said that over the coming months Microsoft will offer "two key families of service offerings: Live and Online". Mary-Jo Foley points out that "Microsoft is positioning its Microsoft-hosted SharePoint, Exchange and Office Communications Services (which it has now rebranded with as its family of ‚ÄúOffice Online‚Ä? services) as its GAPE competitors." But it seems messy and nowhere near as coherent as Google's online office strategy.
I can't see many Microsoft customers getting excited about Office Live Workspace, given there are many startups offering better solutions - not to mention Google. And positioning this as a "web-based feature" of Microsoft Office makes it even more confusing. Is this what Microsoft's answer to the Web Office is - tacked on features to its all-powerful desktop suite? Given the innovation we've seen in Web Office over the past years by the likes of JotSpot and Writely - who truly extended MS Office with new types of functionality - Workspace is a weak 'me too' offering. Or am I missing something?
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The online branding for Microsofts' desktop cash cows just gets more confusing by the day. I signed-up for Xbox Live yesterday, and was forced into creating a Windows Live ID just to get an Xbox Live Gamertag. I don't even know what a Windows Live ID does, and I doubt that I, or many at Microsoft for that matter, ever will.
Posted by: Neil | October 1, 2007 5:20 AM
That's typical behavior of Microsoft. They just don't understand the words Open Source, Free, Convenience. Even after seeing the online versions of Google Docs, Zoho, they can't come up with a decent strategy.
Posted by: Chris | October 1, 2007 7:00 AM
Yes, you are missing something, you're missing what your fellow blogger here at RWW wrote in August: http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/report_google_docs_isnt_ready_for_enterprise.php
He titled the article "Surprise, surprise...Google Docs isn't ready for the enterprise."
And when you write,
"I can't see many Microsoft customers getting excited about Office Live Workspace, given there are many startups offering better solutions..."
I wonder: how many medium to large business are actually using "startups"? (I really want to know?)
Here's what the I.T. Managers are reading - from an InfoWorld article, written not even a month ago,
http://weblog.infoworld.com/techwatch/archives/013951.html:
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"In general, we did not design Google Docs for the power user who is very [adept] in spreadsheet usage," [Jennifer] Mazzon, [product manager of Google Docs] said. How about backup reliability? "Nobody yet has lost their documents," Mazzon quipped. The key issue here is, of course, a lack of commitment to the kinds of SLAs (service-level agreements) enterprises have come to rely on, if only as a reputable stamp of accountability. And Google appears reluctant to ante up its end of such contractual concerns anytime soon.
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It's like there are 2 worlds - the web-happy world of web 2.0 and the "real world" I.T. I would like to see more of a conversation between the two, but the techmemers seem content to be shouting to the choir.
I love web apps, too. Heck, my blog is all about web apps, but my work is in I.T. - in the financial industry. And you are not going to see Google Docs or ThinkFree etc etc there anytime soon. (And yes, I just wrote about this too. Feel free to bring on love over there.)
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P.S....and since I'm usually a lurker and not a commenter, let me take this opportunity to tell you how much I really do enjoy this site. I read RWW every day! Great work! :)
Posted by: Sarah | October 1, 2007 9:26 PM
there was a time when wall street analysts were doubting over google's verticals and strategy . but now gone with the winds.
i can see its a tough time for microsoft to be in the market and lead the way.
no one has ever thought [ even microsoft perhaps ] that online collaboration tools would be actual threat for MS office.
so to compete with the Google Spreadsheet,docs,presently, i think ,let microsoft not foray into the online CS. but rather invent new suite to compete.
Posted by: hardik | October 1, 2007 9:28 PM
Sarah, firstly thanks for commenting! It's one of my top goals here at R/WW to get many more of you lurkers commenting :-)
You raise some excellent points. I agree that Google Apps isn't entirely ready for enterprise yet - I've mentioned the need for stronger SLAs before too.
You asked: "how many medium to large business are actually using "startups"? (I really want to know?)"
Agreed, most enterprises want to use software from large reputable companies, like MS, IBM, ... Google. But a lot of the best technologies find their way into large companies - Google has acquired a number of them (JotSpot, Writely, GrandCentral, etc).
Once again, thanks for commenting and bringing up the IT point of view.
Posted by: Richard MacManus | October 2, 2007 12:27 AM
It is very simple Richard, there will be a online component, just not until next year it seems, and that is what MS representative seems to indicate.
and there is something you are not seeing here in the case of common users, just combine Office 2007 +shared view + workplace and you will see that it already replicates what google offers just that in a offline/online status and with the full power of the.
i think that should become clearer as the widows live suite is close to its final version 1.0 form and all the scattered stuff starts to be integrated.
Posted by: Avatar | October 2, 2007 12:37 AM