Posts tagged ‘Microsoft Office 365’

Feb 17

New Office 365 2013 Preview: Microsoft Excel

Microsoft is known for two things: being the provider of software which is the industry standard for business, and for being extremely innovative. Microsoft may not be the first company to come up with some innovative features, but Microsoft would rather be the first company to come out with those features executed correctly rather than the first chronologically. Microsoft Office 2013 is no exception. The first major goal of Microsoft Office 2013 was to clean up graphic effects to make the interface cleaner, smoother, and easier to operate. The second goal with the 2013 Edition was to make Microsoft Office tablet friendly.

The immediate impression that Excel 2013 users have is that the interface is a lot cleaner and more intuitive. It still does use the Microsoft Office Ribbon that users have trained and gotten used to from Microsoft Office 2010. This familiarity serves to lower the amount of necessary training time. The simplification of the ribbon improves functionality both on the desktop and for tablet uses.

Office Templates are something usually associated with Microsoft Word, but in Excel 2013, there is a rich collection of templates that provide both visual interest and functionality. With templates, you can concentrate on the data and leave the design to Microsoft. For the users that want more control, there are more design tools, and those tools are far easier to use.

Another new feature is the Quick Analysis feature. Just put the data into a spreadsheet and highlight it. Very quickly you can make charts and graphs to help you visualize patterns in the data. Because of tight integration with the rest of Microsoft Office, you can easily take the data, charts, and graphs and quickly copy and paste them right into your Word, Publisher, or PowerPoint document.

Sometimes data requires columns to be filled in either identically or incrementally based on rules. The new Flash Fill feature allows missing cell data to be filled in quickly just by dragging the cursor across the column. In most cases, Flash Fill can figure out the pattern of the data you are trying to fill, making completion a breeze.

Different types of data are better represented visually with different types of charts, and if you do not like the recommended chart type, it is easy to flip back and forth between different chart styles, colors, sizes, and tables.

Sometimes, you may not wish to use the full set of data you entered to analyze, or you may wish to take out parts or limit the range using different parameters. This is very easy to facilitate using the new Slicers feature, which also allows for complex pivot functions.

In earlier versions of Microsoft Office Excel, you could open up more than one workbook at a time, but they would all be in the same window, in the same instance of Excel. Now with Excel 2013, you can have one window per workbook. This can prove very valuable when you are working with two different workbooks and want to see them both side-by-side. with this new feature, that scenario is now possible.

Saving and sharing files online is much easier with Excel 2013. It is optimized for the cloud and easier to save documents to SkyDrive or SharePoint on Microsoft Office 365.

Sometimes, webmasters want to display data, charts, and graphs, but in the past that had to be re-coded for the Web to share on public sites. Now with Excel 2013, sharing data on the Web is as easy as copying and pasting.

New programs and new features in Microsoft Office including in Excel 2013 sometimes require training. For an informal and enlightening conversation about Microsoft Excel 2013 or any other computing issue, contact the professionals at the Web and i at 646-853-0573.

Feb 9

2 Comments

New Office 365 2013 Preview: New Features

New features in Office 2013 are mostly tablet oriented as well as arranged around the new simplified ribbon menu style. One of the key features is the simpler look allows the user to flip through pages of a Microsoft Office Document on a touch-screen in a realistic manner, much as one would flip through the pages of a book.

Other features related to this Office 2013 Metro interface are a recurring theme on the Metro Windows 8 Phone and Windows 8 user interface, which are also metro.

While it seems exciting to technical types, I have experienced lack of enthusiasm and resistance to change in offices when dealing with the Metro theme, Windows 8, and Office 2013. Much of this resistance can and will be worn down over time, and new consensus will be hard-fought and won in the world of interfaces.

Some of the advantages to Metro style features include the new start screen. Rather than loath it, consider that you have a whole screen and even more to pin all your favorite applications and documents. You can alter tile size and information content. For the developer, the tile is a valuable tool, able to convey information in the form of instant updates to applications, increasing their notoriety.

Closing Windows 8 style full-screen apps. There is no manual that comes with Windows 8 to tell you how to do this, so an old tech geek trick of closing the application by clicking <alt><f4>. You can switch between apps very quickly without closing them using <alt> <tab>. This option is very useful because it opens up a window showing all foreground applications so that you can select the one you want immediately.

On the right, the mouse will open the Windows 8 Charm Bar. This bar has a search feature at the top which is very powerful. Not only can you search your own local machine but any shared network resources as well.

Rebuilding Windows is much easier, faster, and cheaper than it was with Windows 7 or previous versions of Windows. With Windows 8 you can re-install Windows with Windows running and without losing any documents, apps, or settings. This results in much less time spent re-building PC’s and much less user resistance because documents, settings, and apps remain the same after repair.

The Windows Mail and Social features built-in to Windows 8 are great for home users, but applications such as Mail should be turned off for business users, as business users are generally using Microsoft Outlook.

With so many decisions to make about training people for Windows 8, leaving them with Windows 7, it is good to have a company who knows the details that can help you make tough decisions. Our engineers at the Web and I are ready to speak to you today at 646-853-0573.

Feb 8

2 Comments

New Office 365 2013 Preview: Interface

The new Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365 2013 Editions have in common a new interface by Microsoft originally called Metro. This interface is named Metro after the system of signs on many Metro train systems where the typography is uniform and clear, and people can see universally what each sign means. There are less distracting graphic effects like the glass effect so popular under Windows Vista and Windows 7 and suddenly absent with Windows 8. Inspiration for the simplicity of the designs and the emphasis of content over graphic effect or, “chrome” was a combination of traditional Swiss graphic design and the signs of the Kings County Metro System in Washington, which have served to inspire Microsoft engineers in their creation.

Metro Bus Signs

The actual commands on the interface are the Microsoft Office Ribbon in this new iteration are almost the same as the Microsoft Office 2010 Ribbon that users have already had a few years to get used to. When they took away much of the graphic effects, the reading, navigation, and use became much clearer.

Metro Windows Explorer

Metro Word 2013 Interface

Microsoft Office 2013 is not the only product that uses this same interface with the bright white or gray ribbon at the top of windows with all of the menu controls. Windows Explorer on Windows 8 and most Windows 8 applications will have this feature. Microsoft Office 365 will have this feature as well including its’ use in Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Outlook Web Access, Microsoft Project Server and eventually Microsoft Dynamics CRM. The progress with some products is faster than with others but Microsoft always works in a definite direction for a definite purpose. The purpose with the Metro Interface is to make clearer ways to navigate all kinds of devices, to have navigation on all devices happen the same way, and to get the world ready for the advantages of touch-screen technology while also improving the capabilities of the interface for the traditional keyboard and mouse.

There is a great deal of user resistance to the new user interface. We have understood that people may unhappy with losing the start button The good news is that an aftermarket programmed start button can be added on. Eventually, however, users have to realize that the start screen is an enlarged and more useful start button which is infinitely customizable to suit the user. Right now people do not see the close similarity between their start screen as they are used to it in Windows Vista and Windows 7 and the Windows 8 Start Screen.

Once users accept the design, we feel it will be well accepted. The Windows Metro interface is a work of genius, and sometimes the value of genius takes a while to be appreciated by the public.

For help with new technology from Microsoft call upon the experts at the Web and I at 646-853-0573.

Feb 6

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New Office 365 2013 Preview: Security Recommendations

GLEN COVE, NEW YORK

Premier Microsoft Office 365 cloud services consultant, the Web and I, is releasing our latest security recommendations for your Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, and related products soon to be released. Soon to be released will be Microsoft Project Server, Microsoft Dynamics GP Microsoft Dynamics NAV.

From our experiences in professional installations and the security considerations we have had as well as our experiences with the new Office 365 to be released to the public on February 27 (or here from us at the Web and I today!).

There are several types of administrators for Office 365 and related products, and it is clear to see their intended roles. Whoever manages the credit or debit card associated with payment, probably the owner or the accountant will be assigned the Billing Administrator position. The implementation I.T. consultant will have the Global Administrator role The Global Administrator can make changes to the Exchange, Lync, and SharePoint servers.. The Service Administrator is someone who has the permission to go and check the status of the cloud service health on a dashboard provided by Microsoft Office 365. The User Management Administrator can add and remove users and re-set passwords. The company HR person or IT person who works with the HR department are the natural choices for User Management Administrator. Since User Management Administrators are not always from a technical background it is vital to explain to them the importance of not duplicating users and stressing the permanence of deleting users.

Permission	Billing administrator	Global administrator	Password administrator	Service administrator	User management administrator
View company and user information	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Manage support tickets	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Reset user passwords	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes; with limitations. He or she cannot reset passwords for billing, global, and service administrators.
Perform billing and purchasing operations	Yes	Yes	No	No	No
Create and manage user views	No	Yes	No	No	Yes
Create, edit, and delete users and groups, and manage user licenses	No	Yes	No	No	Yes; with limitations. He or she cannot delete a global administrator or create other administrators.
Manage domains	No	Yes	No	No	No
Manage company information	No	Yes	No	No	No
Delegate administrative roles to others	No	Yes	No	No	No
Use directory synchronization	No	Yes	No	No	No

Security in SharePoint

SharePoint has its own set of security roles which can be user defined, and access can vary from site to site, from site collection to site collection. Companies can store all of their information on SharePoint and selectively share it with employees, clients, and consultants to any extent needed. Security in Enterprise-grade SharePoint such as in the S2, E1, and E3 plans have 256 bit encryption and it makes as safe and compliant an area for intranets and extranets as those used by online banking.

Security in E-Mail, Exchange, and Outlook

The Global Administrator can load the global address book or change user E-mails. Users with the Global Administrator status can also turn on and off features like mailbox archive and litigation hold. Nobody but the Global administrator can touch Exchange settings which serves to protect the E-Mail of the company by putting the responsibility squarely in the hands of Global Administrators only.

E-Mail is scanned for viruses as it arrives, and this helps prevent costly infections and having corporate information compromised.

We at the Web and I are ready to help you with your Office 365 Security plans. Please call us for an informal discussion at any time at 646-853-0573.

Feb 5

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New Office 365 2013 Preview: Account Administration

Account Administration is the area that the Global Administrator or Global Administrators will use in order to add and remove users, reset passwords, and fill in the basic parts of user profiles. Further filling in of user profiles should be encouraged with training material.

From the administration screen, click the link under users & groups entitled Add users, reset passwords, and more.

Click Here to Administer Users

The first task that the global administrator(s) need to accomplish is adding users.

For an example we will add our test subject. Click the plus sign under users to add users or groups:

Click Here to add users or groups

What you will see is an add user screen as illustrated below:

The Add User Screen

Here is a sample test user for which the basic fields have been filled out.

Click on Additional Details for More Information

Here are the additional details fields:

The User Additional Details Fields

Here are the field values as we set them up for our test user. The test user will be important in future articles as we illustrate security role testing in Office 365.

Sample Additional Information

Once all of the information has been added, click the blue Next button at the bottom of the screen:

Click Next to continue

The screen that appears after that is the Assign Permissions Screen as illustrated below:

Assign Permissions Screen

With the Assigned Permissions screen, there are two decisions. The first is if you are assigning the user administrator privileges, and in this case we are not. The second decision is the country of service. This is important because there are service restrictions of the offerings of Microsoft Cloud Services based on where the product is licensed. Once you have it licensed somewhere like the United States and most countries that are not subject to United Nations sanctions, the actual location where you may have to use the service will not matter.

Once these choices have been made, click next to continue:

Click next to add user

Then the third screen will appear, the Assign Licenses screen:

Assign Licenses

On the next screen you will have the opportunity to add an E-Mail address where a notification of adding the user will be sent to. Then click create:

Option to Send Results by Email

The next screen is the results screen. Use another computer or browser to sign in with this user and create a permanent password. Then click the option to create more users or click finish:

Add User Results Screen

When you click finish, you get back to the users and groups screen, which now has two users:

Users and Groups with New User Added

For any additional advice, the best place to start is by calling the professionals at the Web and I, Inc. Reach out to us at any time at 646-853-0573.

Feb 2

5 Comments

New Office 365 2013 Preview: Installing and Configuring Office 2013

At this point you will have successfully signed up for Office 365. If not please visit here to start. For a table of contents of the New Office 365 series, please visit here.

After signing up, the first thing that you will be asked when you sign in again is to enter your mobile number, capable of receiving text messages. It is a vital to link your account to a stable mobile account if it is for production and not testing purposes. This is used for easy password recovery.

Add Your Mobile Number For Account Recovery

Afterwards, the next most important process is filling out your profile, creating your users, and filling out their profiles. The user name you created when you signed up for your account is a global administrator. It is a bad idea to use an administrative account for daily use in a private setting, and if you own a business that is a C-Corp, S-Corp, LLC, or PLLC, your business and your conduct are subject to the Sarbanes Oxley Act, which requires among other things a separate technical and functional administration team for your enterprise software, as well as a disaster management and recovery plan. Microsoft has in place the technical team and the disaster management and recovery plan. The Sarbanes Oxley Act states that the end users can not be on your technical or functional teams. members of the technical team cannot be on the functional team as well. For small businesses adopting Office 365, a functional team is either a hired cloud consultancy such as the Web and I, or an internal computer specialist who has no end-user duties and is purely an I.T. employee. The head of the functional team is the proper user of the administrative account, referred to as the global administrator account by Microsoft. Again if this is just a test account, these details are not important. For licensing, the global administrator account only needs a SharePoint account in order to program and customize your SharePoint sites. If possible, however, allow a full license or at least an E1 license for your administrator, for $8 per month.

The first place to go to start filling in the profile information is by clicking the Settings Button in the upper right hand corner and clicking the link that pops up underneath, Office 365 Preview settings below.

Click Settings To Begin

Then you will be taken to the Office 365 Preview settings screen, where you should make sure to have a valid mobile number, an address, and then click save.

Office 365 Preview Settings

After filling this information out, be sure to click “Save” before taking the next step.

The next step is to click on your name at the top and then click “About Me” from the drop-down menu. This is where your profile is edited.

The first step is to mouse over the icon image and select the link for changing your image. Follow the directions as follows. This image will prove useful by creating avatars used in other areas of Microsoft Office 365.

Here is the way to edit the basic profile screen:

Edit Profile Details

After editing and saving basic profile details, it is important for your SharePoint settings to edit the language and time zone settings. Click the dots at the end of the menu as shown below to access these settings:

Click Language and Region

here is what the screen looks like for Language and Region Settings:

Language and Region

The time zone and the language should match and these should also match the time zone settings in your computer for proper operation.

After saving these settings, click Admin in the upper right hand corner to get back to the main administration screen to download software. To download software click here:

Click on Software to download software

On the install software page, it is important to select the 32 bit software (already selected by default) for the greatest functionality with SharePoint and Lync.

Click to install

Then click on Desktop Setup to configure Microsoft Office 2013 to work with Microsoft Office 365 2013.

Click Desktop Setup

For desktop setup, click set up and then click Run on the pop-up screen that follows:

Set Up Desktop

Then sign-in to Microsoft Office 365 on the screen that follows:

After signing in, leave all options selected and click continue to install.

Click Continue and Leave All Options Checked

Then your system will generally require a reboot, and then a success message will be shown. You will need to configure Outlook and Lync separately.

Admittedly this is a tedious and complex process. When you need help, we are there with the answers and you can call us at 646-853-0573.

Jan 21

4 Comments

New Office 365 2013 Preview: Installation and Implementation

GLEN COVE, NEW YORK

Introduction

Office 365 2013 is the most exciting development in the world of IT business today, eclipsing Windows 8 and all other cloud and on-site server products combined for a reason. It’s unique combination of capability, reliability, low-cost, and return on investment (ROI) set it apart from the crowd. Its’ dominance is assured because Microsoft Office has been the business standard productivity software worldwide for over 20 years now. There is so much to explore, and you can preview these features today to see if they are applicable for your company. This process starts with an assessment of your hardware, to make sure you have a PC compatible for the process. This installation will cover PC installation, but the same account can then be used for a Mac. A Mac-only process will be documented in future after all aspects of Office 365 2013 have been covered on this site.

Hardware Assessment

Standard system requirements for Office 2013

Component	Office 2013 Requirements
Computer and processor	1 gigahertz (Ghz) or faster x86- or x64-bit processor with SSE2 instruction set
Memory (RAM)	1 gigabyte (GB) RAM (32 bit); 2 gigabytes (GB) RAM (64 bit)
Hard Disk	3.0 gigabytes (GB) available
Display	Graphics hardware acceleration requires a DirectX10 graphics card and 1024 x 576 resolution
Operating System	Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2012, MAC OS X
Browser	Microsoft Internet Explorer 8, 9, or 10; Mozilla Firefox 10.x or a later version; Apple Safari 5; or Google Chrome 17.x.
.NET version	3.5, 4.0, or 4.5
Multi-touch	A touch-enabled device is required to use any multi-touch functionality. However, all features and functionality are always available by using a keyboard, mouse, or other standard or accessible input device. Note that new touch features are optimized for use with Windows 8.
Additional requirements and considerations	Some functionality may vary, based on the system configuration. Some features may require additional or advanced hardware or server connectivity.

Sign Up: Business Edition

For Business Use, the Office 365 2013 trial offers a total of 10 user licenses which can each be installed on up to five devices including PC’s, MACs, tablets and notebooks using those operating systems as well. Please note that if you have any kind of business, you need the added capability and security of Office 365 Business Edition. Government Edition and Education Edition are beyond the scope of this article series.

The first place to go to sign up for office 365 is the Sign-Up page. You should visit this page in Internet Explorer preferably on the PC, and with Safari on the Mac.

https://portal.microsoftonline.com/Signup/MainSignup15.aspx?OfferId=7E5CC333-4683-4035-923F-349032114AF3&dl=LITEPACK_P2_B_PILOT&pc=O365-Preview-2012&ali=1&Country=US

Make sure that you go to your Internet options are set to trust https://portal.microsoftonline.com

Trust portal.onmicrosoft.com

Then the page will operate correctly.

Enter in all of the information to sign up:

After filling in the information, you will have to get a verification code through your mobile device via text message. Make sure you take note of your new user name and password.

On the following screen, you will be asked again for your mobile information, this time for account recovery purposes.

Add Your Mobile Number For Account Recovery

Then you will be directed to the Office 365 Sign-In Screen to log in for the first time.

Office 365 Sign in Screen

After this you will transition to the Administration page and you can start to explore the new Office 365.

Office 365 Admin Screen on First Log In

Sign Up: Home Edition

For home use, the Home Edition will provide a device-independent set of cloud services and storage that you can install on up to five devices including PC’s, MACs, as well as notebooks and tablets that use Windows or Mac OS.

The first place to go online to sign up for and begin the process of the Consumer Preview of Office 365 2013 is to go to Microsoft’s Consumer Preview Site at:

http://www.microsoft.com/office/preview/en

Office 365 Sign-Up Page

On the page that follows, you will have to fill out some information to sign up including creating a Microsoft ID, the user E-Mail and Password formerly known as Windows Live ID is now your Microsoft ID. As this is test software, you will want to select the option to Sign Up Now, to create a new Microsoft ID. You will wish to save any important business Microsoft ID you have strictly for business use and not to be linked to accounts of a trial nature except through careful planning in consultation with your Microsoft Partner who can issue you trials that come with offers leading to permanent accounts with no disruption of service or data loss.

Click Sign Up Now

After that, follow the instructions to create an account. Setting up administrative functions and testing the abilities of the Home Edition are beyond the scope of this series, which is intended primarily for business users.

For help with Office 365 and other Microsoft productivity software, give the licensed Microsoft Partners at the Web and I a call at 646-853-0573.

Jan 20

5 Comments

New Office 365 2013 Preview: Introduction

REDMOND, WASHINGTON

Elegant. Simple. A revolution is coming to Microsoft. Its name? Microsoft Office 365 2013 Edition.

The features of the new system make it the best cloud productivity solution in the Industry.

Microsoft Office 365 with Office 2013 is a software suite that works equally well on the Mac as it does on a Windows PC.

One Microsoft Office 365 account can be installed on up to five computers, so multiple users can share Microsoft Windows and Apple Mac data.

Mobile computing works great on every kind of phone. The new version may even boast live video chat on mobile, which we will test out in this series.

Anything a business wants to accomplish can be completed with these tools.

Influential think tank Forrester Research says that the Office 365 cloud model provides a far lower Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) when compared to a traditional on-site installation of the same options.

Microsoft Office 365 2013 Edition is user-friendly whether you have a PC, Mac or Phone.

From a compliance standpoint, Office 365 services offers a 99.97% Financially-Backed Uptime Service Level Agreement (SLA).

New Office 365 2013 Preview Table of Contents

Starting with this introduction, there are three more sections which will showcase the most salient aspects of the new technology in a logical format. We are testing this new system out starting today, and the categories below will fill up as we complete our testing and research and fill in the categories. As of today we are starting with expected archetypal categories, but as we learn more these will change and grow from time to time.

Installation and Account Creation for Trial

Microsoft Office

Word, Excel,Access, Publisher, PowerPoint, and One Note

Microsoft Office Desktop Edition 2013

Installation
New Interface
New Features
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Publisher (Expected February 22, 2013)
Microsoft Visio (Expected February 23, 2013)
Microsoft Project (Expected February 24, 2013)
Microsoft One Note (Expected February 25, 2013)
Navigation (Expected February 26, 2013)
Custom Settings (Expected February 27, 2013)
Licensing Options (Expected February 28, 2013)

Email, Calendars, and CRM

Exchange Server 2013

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Microsoft Exchange 2013

E-Mail (Expected March 23, 2013)
Calendaring (Expected March 24, 2013)
Social Networking (Expected March 25, 2013)
E-Mail Merge (Expected March 26, 2013)
Fax (Expected March 27, 2013)
Lync Interoperability (Expected March 28, 2013)

Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Interoperability with Office 365
Advantages (Expected March 29, 2013)
CRM For Mobile (Expected March 30, 2013)

Website

Public-Facing SharePoint Features

CSS (Expected March 1, 2013)
Other Coding (Expected March 2, 2013)

Office Web Apps

Speed and Efficiency on Slower Machines (Expected March 31, 2013)
Mobile and Specialty Cases
Simultaneous document Editing (Expected April 1, 2013)

File Sharing and Project Management

SharePoint 2013

SharePoint Server 2013

Intranets (Expected March 3, 2013)
Extranets (Expected March 4, 2013)
Share Point Project Management Solutions for Small Businesses (Expected March 5, 2013)
New Extensibility and Coding Options (Expected March 6, 2013)

Microsoft Project Management Server on Office 365

Introduction (Expected March 7, 2013)
Local Installation (Expected March 8, 2013)
Project Management in Information Technology
Project Management for Law Firms
Project Management for Medical Practices (Expected March 9, 2013)
Project Management for Education and Government (Expected March 10, 2013)

Instant Messaging, Presence, and Conferencing

Microsoft Lync 2013

Lync 2013

Enterprise Instant Messaging (Expected April 2, 2013)
Lync Mobile (Expected April 3, 2013)
Audio Conferencing (Expected April 4, 2013)
Telephony (Expected April 5, 2013)
Universal Messaging (Expected April 6, 2013)
Video Teleconferencing (Expected April 7, 2013)
Video “Brady Bunch Style” Tiled User Meeting (Expected April 8, 2013)
Audio / Visual Meeting with Simultaneous Document Editing by Multiple Users (Expected April 9, 2013)

Mobility

Windows 8 Phone

Installation with Windows Synch: Zune (Expected March 11, 2013)
Office 365
Loading Music (Expected March 12, 2013)
Synchronizing Contacts (Expected March 13, 2013)

Microsoft Office 365

SharePoint (Expected March 14, 2013)
Exchange (Expected March 15, 2013)
Microsoft Dynamics CRM

Security and Trust

Compliance and Risk Management

99.97% Guaranteed Uptime Financially Backed Service Level Agreement (SLA) (Expected April 10, 2013)
Financially Backed Service Level Agreement (SLA) (Expected April 11, 2013)
ISO 9000 Compliance (Expected April 12, 2013)
Sarbanes Oxley Act Compliance (Expected April 13, 2013)
HIPAA Compliance (With hybrid on-site compliant servers on-site) (Expected April 14, 2013)

Economic Considerations

Cost Calculator (Expected March 16, 2013)
Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) (Expected March 17, 2013)
Return on Investment (ROI) (Expected March1 8, 2013)
Adoption by Fortune 500 Businesses (Expected March `19, 2013)
Adoption by Foreign Governments (Expected March 20, 2013)
Acceptance by US Government Accounting Office (GAO) and use in U.S. Government (Expected March 21, 2013)
Use in State Government (the Web and I is a registered and licensed state vendor) (Expected March 22, 2013)

Contact the Web and I, Inc. today to get started at 646-853-0573!

Jan 19

1 Comment

Office 365′s New Edition with Microsoft Office 2013 Available January 29, 2013

REDMOND, WA

According to news sources including Neowin.net, Microsoft Office 365′s new edition will be released on January 29.

In previous articles, we have covered what new features are going to be available in the new edition in-depth from a technical standpoint, including the ability to program custom SharePoint applications using a number of common languages very familiar to developers. However these technical aspects are beyond the scope of this article, because the interests of our readers are the actual business uses for the new technologies including new functionality and its business impact.

Rumors have abounded for weeks, including speculation by highly respected Microsoft Reporter Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet and bloggers from Brazil. Originally, speculation was that the planned Microsoft launch on January 29 would be about the release of Windows 8 Phone operating system and equipment in countries like Brazil where they were not yet available. However, when speaking to our contacts in Brazil we were told that Microsoft was not in the habit of launching their new phone technologies directly in Brazil and other countries directly, but rather left these launches to their individual distributors in these countries. There was also the possibility of a launch of Surface Pro, so that was another reason to wait with the announcement of what the launch was about. We saw no benefit to announcing a launch without being certain of the content and impact for the end users. This author has been eagerly awaiting announcing this because of the new capabilities of Microsoft Office 2013 as well as new functionality in Microsoft Lync and SharePoint. However we have waited until we had more confirmation, and this came some ten hours ago.

We at the Web and I have been assured by Microsoft that all of the technologies and techniques available in the previous version of Office 365 would remain intact. Existing business processes will not be interrupted or affected. As a further safeguard for the proper and effective management of change in client organizations, the upgrade will not become mandatory until November. After the upgrade, new technologies and techniques will be available, but the Web and I can help with any re-training for changes and ensuring the continuity of existing business processes and workflows.

New technologies in SharePoint include the ability to create programs within SharePoint include both features for internal SharePoint intranet and extranet sites as well as the ability to create much more sophisticated public facing sites. That is just the tip of the iceberg, however, with Java and CSS becoming available, both branding and functional capabilities will increase. The Web and I will be helping many of our clients transition to sites that can help them create effective client portals, easing the workflow and communications between businesses and their clients. Minimal development costs will deliver tremendous ROI on this front. New business connectivity service capabilities in SharePoint will allow interfaces both inbound and outbound with SharePoint, making SharePoint the glue that binds newer and more streamlined business processes, saving a great deal of time and money on the way. Search improvements, improved Identity Management functionality, and granular security for content management will round out the most exciting new aspects of SharePoint 2013. Social computing for the workplace has also improved, but the utilization in the workplace is more applicable to larger enterprise users than to small and medium businesses. Our larger government clients such as Hunter College may be good candidates for increased use of social computing through SharePoint, but discussions on this matter have not yet commenced.

Lync has some exciting new developments which will greatly increase the functionality both for secure enterprise IM and for meetings with multiple users. A “Brady Bunch” style meeting will be possible, where all members of a meeting will be able to see all other members of a meeting tiled on their screens much as they did on the television show from the 1970′s. Unlike the show, however, they will be able to simultaneously edit the same document using Office Web Apps. Sporting a cleaner and more efficient interface with less “Chrome”, Lync will become easier to see and control as well as gaining these new functionalities. Persistent chat rooms and topics can be created, which can help smaller teams collaborate more effectively, even in disparate locations with disparate working hours. Asynchronous communication has become increasingly important in the global workforce, and Microsoft has given businesses greater potential for effective global expansion with these tools. Tabbed conversations will enable users to communicate more effectively with multiple users by allowing them to do so in one window with tabs instead of the usual many windows of the current edition of Lync. New video features including one-click start will be available, which is an excellent tool for managers to maintain a presence with their direct reports in disparate locations. Lync layouts will have many more options than they do now, and we will report on these once we get to test them. Lync mobile users will have added functionality including the possibility of video chat. No longer will employees be inaccessible anywhere, as long as they are provided with a Windows phone.

Exchange Server 2013 also holds great new possibilities for making the use of E-Mail more efficient. New built-in social features will allow users to have better control over conversations and related E-Mails, which will save users a great deal of time by not forcing them to continually search E-Mail for related items and persons. Users will be able to merge contacts from different E-Mail addresses so that they can be consolidated into a single contact, saving a great deal of time and confusion in the process. The great new streamlined look of Outlook will also save users time, so employers will benefit from less time being wasted on employee navigation of E-Mail, which is currently a serious cause of wasted time and money. Seamless integration with Lync will bring E-Mail, meetings, and Enterprise IM together in one place, saving even more employee time and effort. In addition to these time savings, we anticipate there will be a great savings in worker frustration. Often worker frustration with technology both new and existing leads to poor performance, and having a more seamless and well-designed interface and functional approach will lead to happier and more productive workers.

We at the Web and I are ready to help make this change happen for you starting in as little as ten days. Being the first Microsoft Partner in the United States to announce this detailed news helps set us ahead of the crowd. We want to help all of our clients make the best decisions, and we will discover with you on your own time what works and does not work for you. To find out more just call us today at 646-853-0573.

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