PHOTO - Microsoft officially launched its small and medium Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) called Office 365. Officiating the event was Y. Bhg Dato' Hafsah Hashim, CEO of SME Corp Malaysia (right) together with Ananth Lazarus, managing director of Microsoft Malaysia (left).

KUALA LUMPUR -  Following software giant Microsoft Malaysia managing director Ananth Lazarus's recent statement that Office 365 would be 'a game changer' for Malaysian SMEs (small and medium enterprises), the product has been officially launched in Malaysia on 7 July 2011, and welcomed by government agency SME Corp Malaysia.

"When Microsoft first showed us Office 365, we recognised that this was the way businesses would work in the future especially for the SMEs," said SME Corporation Malaysia CEO Dato' Hafsah Hashim. "With Office 365, Malaysian SMEs are able to save both money and time, but most importantly, they are able to work together better - no matter where they are - not just within their own organisations but also with partners across their entire businesses' ecosystem. The potential yield from these collaborations and synergies are nothing less than transformative."

Microsoft Malaysia's Lazarus said Office 365 was now available in 40 markets, and that it brought together Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online in an always-up-to-date cloud service, at a predictable monthly subscription. "Today, more than 20 service providers around the globe also shared plans to bring Office 365 to their customers this year. Bell Canada, Intuit Inc., NTT Communications, Telefonica S.A., Telstra and Vodafone Group, among others, will package and sell Office 365 with their own services for small and medium businesses."

"By delivering enterprise-class collaboration and productivity tools to small and midsize businesses, Microsoft Office 365 is poised to be a revolutionary product in advanced emerging markets like Malaysia where 99.2 per cent of businesses are SMEs," he said. "With a few clicks, Office 365 levels the playing field, and gives Malaysian businesses the ability to work more efficiently and effectively and to achieve greater success in both local and global markets."

Wide range of plans

Office 365 is available in a wide range of service plans designed to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes, ranging from the largest to the smallest. "Microsoft Office applications are at the heart of Office 365. Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Outlook and other Office applications connect to Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and Lync to deliver a world-class solution for communication and collaboration."

"Microsoft is working closely with some of the best-known and most-trusted brands in Malaysia to make Office 365 even more accessible to 

all Malaysians," said Lazarus. "Our customers will be able to rest easy knowing their cloud services are backed by Microsoft and some of the greatest service providers in the world."

SME Corporation Malaysia [SME Corp. Malaysia], which was established under the Small and Medium Enterprises Corporation Malaysia Act 1995 [ACT 539] on 2 October 2009,  acts as the central coordinating agency that provides information to Malaysia's SMEs.