Top 10 Office 365 Questions and Answers

By Clint Patterson, Director of Communications, Microsoft Office Division

This morning, Kurt DelBene and Chris Capossela, the president and vice president of the Microsoft Office Division respectively announced Office 365, opened the beta, and shared the stories of some of our amazing customers and partners. Because not everyone could be with us at the event in San Francisco, we invited media to ask questions via Twitter, and ask you did!  We promised to answer them on our blog, and here they are! 

Below are the top ten questions we've seen, along with answers.  Keep the questions coming, and I'll keep answering.

1)  What happens to BPOS?  How do I move to Office 365 from BPOS?

Office 365 replaces BPOS (and Office Live Small Business and Live@edu), but BPOS will be available until Office 365 launches next year.  And, BPOS is still the best path to get in the cloud now.

Existing BPOS customers will able to transition during the year following Office 365 global availability.  We know our customers do not like surprises, and so we've taken a very deliberate approach to rolling out Office 365.  That approach is designed around the customer and ensuring they are ready for the transition and can get the most of the significant new capabilities we are introducing.  Check out our blog today and the new Office 365 transition center for more information and ongoing guidance and discussion about transition.

2)  Will Office 365 replace Office Live Small Business (OLSB)?

Yes!  Office 365 includes the most compelling elements of OLSB - email, public web sites, and more. While nothing will change for OLSB customers now, the transition to Office 365 will likely begin in late 2011 or early 2012. Customers who choose to have their accounts transitioned will get Office 365 for small businesses for free for three months.  More information on Office 365 and Office Live Small Business is available here.

3)  Does Office 365 work with Office for Mac?

Yes!  If you currently have Office for Mac 2008, you can use that seamlessly together with Office 365.  However, Office for Mac is not available as part of Office 365.  Customers can also get Office Professional Plus desktop software for PCs as part of the service today. 

4)  What do you get in Office 365 for enterprises?

You get a lot of options.  We believe that one size does NOT fit all, and customers want choices.  That's why we offer a range of options from basic e-mail for $2 per user per month to a complete solution for $27 per user per month that includes full Office Professional Plus desktop software, along with Office Web Apps; the most advanced versions of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Lync Online; 24/7 phone support; advanced IT controls; and on-premises use rights for voice - in short, the most complete solution for business productivity available in the cloud.  More info and examples of plans is available in the Office 365 Fact Sheet.

5)  How do I sign up for beta?  What does "limited beta" mean?  Is the beta sold out?  Should I be getting a confirmation after signing up for the beta?

Beta sign up is available on office365.microsoft.com.  We are initially testing with a few thousand organizations globally and expanding from there.  After you sign up, you’ll get two e-mails.  The first will confirm that we are reserving your place in line.  The second will let you know if you’re in the first round.  If you don’t get in the first round, we do plan to expand the beta to more organizations over time.  So sign up to reserve your place in line today.

Earlier today, visitors were clicking “submit” on the beta sign up form, and the page was refreshing mistakenly.  This will be fixed shortly. Please look for your confirmation e-mail to confirm that your registration was received.

6)  Do partners have to sign up for the beta?  How are beta slots allocated?

Yes.  Slots are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis, but we may also select customers to ensure the beta includes a diverse population from companies of all sizes, partners, and different regions around the world.  And, of course, we pre-invited some of the customers and partners who have been helping us test alpha versions of Office 365 and our services.

 7)  Is your web site having issues?  Why can't I get to office365.com?

The web site went live at 12 noon pacific today, but it takes time for URLs to propagate across the net around the world.  If you experience issues, go straight to the site at http://office365.microsoft.com/.

8)  Will BPOS resellers automatically be able to resell Office 365?

Yes!  We have awesome partners who are getting ready to help our customers get the most from Office 365.  You can find one here.

9)  Is this - offering Office as a subscription - going to cannibalize your revenue?

No!  With Office 365, we can provide our technology to customers on a more frequent basis, while customers save money at the same time - typically anywhere from 10-50%.  Today, the average mid-sized company only upgrades Office every six to seven years.  With Office 365, they can always be on the cusp of the next wave in productivity-boosting technology.

10)  Do you have an offer that competes directly with Google Apps?

There is really no comparison between the two.  Office 365 does more for your business and offers enterprise-caliber applications you can trust.  This is one of the key reasons businesses, governments and schools worldwide are choosing Microsoft's cloud solutions today, and why we think they'll continue to do so in the future.  Tim Harmon at Forrester Research said it well in this article - "[Office 365] leapfrogs beyond current offerings like GoogleApps and IBM's LotusLive".

Keep your questions coming on Twitter, and I'll post answers to the top ones again tomorrow!

Clint Patterson