This may change your thinking or business plans around new productivity tools and software – the use of tablets, iOS versus Android, keeping apps in the cloud versus on local clients, and using Google Docs versus Microsoft Office:
Microsoft said it’s signed new deals with 20 Android tablet makers to bundle Office apps and services on those devices. LG, Sony, Haier, Wortmann and 16 other regional manufacturers are among the new partners.
Microsoft in March had already announced Android bundling deals with Dell, Pegatron, Samsung, and eight regional tablet makers. Microsoft said the new partnerships mean in all there are 31 tablet makers planning to pre-load Office applications. Microsoft has also recently seen progress getting its apps into the Android phone ecosystem, with Samsung pre-installing apps on some Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge models.
The pre-installed apps will include Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneDrive, OneNote and Skype. Microsoft didn’t specify exactly when each device maker would roll out products with the apps, but Sony plans to launch its Xperia Z4 with the bundle within the next three months, and LG will include the apps on a new tablet later this year.
How will this impact your employees’ tools?
Why might this matter to your own business planning?
For one, if your business already uses Microsoft Office in any form, you’ll now have a flood of devices to choose from for your mobile team members who use, or are planning to use, tablets. Whether you run a BYOD house or you provide those devices, more choice usually means greater economy. Although greater variation in devices can lead to new support costs, that may be mitigated by reducing the support costs you may be facing today from platform and software incompatibilities.
With the Microsoft apps already loaded as the default on these many devices, platform jumping is simplified for your users (Microsoft knows this will turn a lot of people into Microsoft loyalists by default). Using all Microsoft apps across client and cloud-based devices provide a consistent experience, and the apps integrate easily with traditional Microsoft Office applications on laptops and PCs.
And by keeping Microsoft app files automatically in OneDrive, your people might find they’ve almost inadvertently adopted a more efficient shared-productivity platform, to more easily share finished and in-progress documents with colleagues, without the traditional troubles workers face uploading, converting, sending and managing those business files across platforms.
Beyond the benefits to users, Microsoft wants to help device makers
While Forbes characterized the move as “a hostile takeover” of the Android ecosystem, Microsoft prefers to emphasize how this benefits the user, bringing its already well-established ecosystem of business tools to more users on more platforms.
Microsoft’s Nick Parker said, “Our strategic agreements with these partners demonstrate how Microsoft is leveraging the scale of the hardware ecosystem, and working with partners in new ways to deliver rich experiences to our customers. This is a cornerstone of our cross-platform services strategy, to bring an array of Microsoft services to every person on every device.”
Parker implied the deals are a win-win-win — for Microsoft and for users, but also for the device makers. “By pre-installing Microsoft software and services solutions on Android tablets, our partners are able to increase the value of those devices by delivering the rich productivity experiences customers want.”
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Who is John Paulsen? A creator, family man and former small-business leader myself, I feel your pain (and joy) and hope you’ll enjoy the blog. I launched and ran a well-regarded production company in San Francisco with a team of 9 brilliant, hard working people. I learned to manage a wide array of tasks a small business must handle — business strategy, facilities design, HR, payroll, taxes, marketing, all the way down to choosing telecom equipment and spec’ing a server system to help my team collaborate in real-time on dense media projects from multiple production rooms. I’ve partnered with and learned from dozens of small business owners.
