May 10
24
Innovation in the cloud
A primary benefit of cloud computing is the speed and simplicity of innovation.
In the cloud, with hosted applications delivered through the web, updates are
delivered seamlessly to users with just a refresh of the browser. Businesses don’t
need to purchase or install new software on servers or clients, or worry about
operating system and hardware dependencies.
In the cloud, “upgrade” means what it’s supposed to mean: effortless, affordable,
and delivering a remarkable increase in employee productivity. This is a refreshing
alternative to the expensive and laborious “upgrade” process to which IT
professionals have unfortunately become accustomed.
Upgrading to Microsoft Office 2010: the traditional approach
The current debate at many companies regarding Microsoft Office 2010 illustrates
the difference between re-investing in a traditional environment and upgrading to
the cloud. Businesses who upgrade to Office 2010 continue with the infrastructure
that Microsoft established in the client-server years, where software is still linked to
the desktop. Two recent additions – “real-time collaboration” and “Microsoft Office
Web Apps” – are billed as Microsoft’s new cloud-based advances. However, these
features have inherent limitations due to their reliance on a legacy architecture.
Real-time collaboration capabilities vary among applications and between client
and web versions of each application. The editing and formatting capabilities of
Office Web Apps are very limited and clearly intended to augment, but not replace,
the primary on-premise applications.
Continues: here
