The on-premise walls are crumbling. Microsoft's Office
Web Apps are now in public technical preview - though currently for
US customers only - which means that users can now create, edit and
view Office documents using only a web browser.
The applications are not yet feature-complete, so Word and
OneNote documents are read-only in this preview, but it is still a
significant moment. If even Microsoft Office is becoming a web
application, surely that shows how all software is heading in that
direction?
Microsoft is anxious that we should not draw that conclusion.
The reason, Microsoft says, is that desktop Office remains the
norm. "We think the vast majority of times people still sit in
front of a computer and still tend to use rich client software that
runs on the desktop," says product manager Chris Adams. "However
there are scenarios where being able to access things through a
browser and also on a mobile device are really useful."
If that sounds unenthusiastic, it is easy to see why. You cannot
expect the Office team to jump and down saying, "Great news! you no
longer need Office!" - the business that generated
$18.9 billion in revenue in the year ending June 30, 2009.
On the other hand, neither can Microsoft afford to sit back and
watch the likes of
Google Apps and
Zoho take its business,
particularly with alarming reports like this one from
Accredited Supplier,
stating that 13% of small businesses intend to switch to Google
Apps, and 62% prefer business applications that work through a
browser.
The outcome of these twin, conflicting pressures is Office Web
Apps; and from we have seen so far, they are pretty good. They work
in Firefox and Safari as well as IE, retain a familiar Office look
and feel, and support collaboration including simultaneous editing
in Excel and OneNote.
The Silverlight plug-in has a role for the best fidelity
viewing, but it is not required. There is a free ad-supported
offering hosted on Windows Live, and paid-for options include both
Microsoft and on-premise hosting. Office Web Apps are in part a
feature of SharePoint, ensuring businesses remain hooked to
Microsoft even if use of desktop Office declines. The on-premise
option will be attractive to organisations which are wary of
swallowing the entire cloud computing pill.
The question is whether Microsoft really has the vision for
this. Back in the Nineties, Microsoft established Office first by
making it a suite with a common user interface, and then by
introducing Office automation, based on COM and Visual Basic for
Applications. Although it was slow and clunky to begin it, the
potential for improving document productivity by integrating
multiple applications was huge.
Today, the Internet is the network, and HTTP combined with web
services enables a level of integration and collaboration that goes
far beyond what is possible with desktop Office. It is difficult
for Microsoft to grasp these opportunities while still promoting
on-premise SharePoint and Office as its primary solution. Where is
the risk-taking company that pushed competitors aside in the early
days of Office?
Nothing will touch Microsoft Office on the desktop now; even the
free Open Office has had little impact. The transition to the web
is more tricky, and Microsoft will need more conviction than it has
so far displayed to beat its younger rivals online.