Microsoft Lebanon announced the commercial launch of Microsoft Office 365, the company's next-generation cloud productivity service for businesses of all sizes, in Lebanon.
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 predictable monthly cost. Over a few months, more than 10,000 organizations, many of which were small and midsize businesses, signed up and began testing Office 365, creating one of Microsoft's largest global beta programs for businesses.
"With Office 365, everyone from large enterprises to small businesses to individual consumers can now benefit from the power of Office and the connectivity of the cloud", said Microsoft Lebanon Country Manager, Hoda Younan. "This release unlocks new scenarios and delivers capabilities that far surpass anything available in browser-only solutions", she continued.
A Game-Changer for Businesses of Two to Two Hundred Thousand
Moving to the cloud with Office 365 doesn't require a business to change the way it works, because the service is based on familiar productivity tools people know and trust, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and more. Employees get new ways to work together with ease, on virtually any device or mobile phone, and businesses get the reliability, security and IT controls they need in the cloud, even without a dedicated IT staff.
As Office 365 is officially launching in Lebanon, Microsoft Lebanon reveals one of the first customers who deployed it: Mindshare, a global media network operating in the whole MENA region.
"Mindshare operates with a team of 250 employees in the MENA region who needed to be connected anytime, anywhere in order to get their clients' work done; and this is a challenge that we were facing with our previous mailing system", said Robert Madi, Group IT Director at Mindshare MENA. "Office 365 provided many solutions to our problems. Besides helping our team to connect to people and information seamlessly, it offers a reduction in IT cost by over 20 percent. Office on the cloud brought teams from different countries closer making communication easier", he continued.
Office 365 Partners
Microsoft is building a massive partner ecosystem around Office 365, which includes new ways of partnering with service providers such as telecommunications and hosting firms. From Web hosting and internet connections to finance solutions and mobile phone services, all of 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.
About Office 365
Office 365 for small businesses and professionals can be up and running with Office Web Apps, Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Lync Online and an external website in just 15 minutes. These tools put email, voicemail, enterprise social networking, instant messaging, Web portals, extranets, video conferencing, web conferencing and more at everyone's fingertips.
Office 365 for enterprises has an array of choices for midsize and large businesses, as well as government organizations. Office 365 for enterprises also includes Microsoft Office Professional Plus desktop software on a pay-as-you-go basis, for the first time ever.
The New Office Now Available for Everyone
The new Office is now fully available to businesses, academic institutions and consumers. In addition to the business services announced, Microsoft Lebanon also launched Office 365 Home Premium and updated versions of the traditional Office suite and servers.
The new Office 365 for business is now live in 141 markets, 40 languages, and 25 currencies. As for the Office 365 Home Premium, it is available in 69 markets and 17 languages.
