We’ve always been proponents of cloud-based computing. You can keep your applications up to date and your data secure – and pricing has always been good for businesses. Now, Microsoft is about to make cloud computing more accessible for home and small-business users with Office 365 Home Premium and Small Business Premium.

According to a recent post by Microsoft, a single subscription to Office 365 Home Premium covers up to five users, essentially an entire household.  Each user can each sign-in with an individual Microsoft account with its own settings, and all users can access their own documents. Each subscription includes:

• All Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher. (However, only PCs can use OneNote, Publisher and Access.)
• The ability to use Office on PCs or Macs – a real benefit for multi-platform households that will no longer need to buy separate versions
• Nearly 3 times the amount of SkyDrive storage with an additional 20GB over the 7GB you get for free.
• 60 minutes of Skype^TM world calling per month – but restrictions apply

Microsoft is also offering the new Office 365 Small Business Premium for organizations with 1-10 users. Each gets:

• All the Office applications: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Access, and Publisher plus Lync. (Again, however, only PCs can use OneNote, Publisher and Access.)
• The ability to use Office on up to five PCs or Macs for a single user. Users also have flexibility to change their five devices at any time, and full featured Office applications are available for temporary use on any PC.
• A 25 GB Outlook mailbox, shared calendar, contact manager, scheduling and task-list tools, and 10 GB professional-grade cloud storage for the organization plus 500 MB per user.
• The ability to host online meetings with audio and video using one-click screen sharing and HD video conferencing (HD video camera required)
• The ability to set up, build, and maintain a public-facing website with no additional hosting fees.

Premium licenses are regularly updated, giving you the latest features and services.  A free 30-day trial will be available online for both packages. The Home Premium package is $99.99 per year, and the Small Business Premium package is $149.99 per year.

We can answer any questions you have about the new online Office 365 packages and help you will installations and configurations. We believe it’s a smart way to go for better cost-efficiency and for keeping your systems up to date and secure. Call us at 973-433-6676 or drop us an email to discuss it.

This article was published in Technology Update, the monthly newsletter from Sterling Rose LLC.