Office 365 Newswire: Who will win between Google Apps vs. Exchange? – 1.13.2012

I didn’t realize until just now that today is Friday the 13th. If this day and date alignment scares you… you suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia. Please don’t ask me how to pronounce it. You’re on your own there. Including today, 2012 will have 3 occurrences of Friday the 13th.

As a kid, I had HBO and was allowed to watch TV unsupervised. I watched all the Friday the 13th movies and thought they were funny because they were so ridiculous. That is not to say all films of this genre made me laugh. No… a couple of them troubled me greatly but I don’t suffer from friggatriskaidekaphobia. I have different phobias and superstitions… almost all originating from baseball and too much cable television.

Still, I was curious and did a little reading on the subject of Friday the 13th. You might find them interesting too.

• How Friday the 13th works
• Wikipedia – Friday the 13th
• Urban Legends – Friday the 13th

Because I mentioned baseball, it is incumbent upon me to mention that pitchers and catchers report Feb 1. This is an important date.

Now… for today’s newswire…

Office 365 news

This week’s Office 365 news starts with update on the Cloud War. We have two articles from our front-line correspondents.

• Gartner predicts who will win between Google Apps vs. Exchange :: Is the Cloud War over before it really begins? Say it isn’t so! This is entertaining. I view Gartner analysis the same way I view all the sports-talk shows before a football game. Blah blah blah… it doesn’t mean anything because the battle is won (or lost) on the field. So, Gartner believes Gmail is a legitimate enterprise player now. They have super-smart engineers, a vault filled with money, and cars that drive themselves. But what they don’t have is an Office suite that has dominated the market for 25 years or so. Advantage Microsoft… for now.
• War of the cloud services :: This article is less concerned about cloud-based email than it is cloud-based collaboration services. This is an area of cloud services that doesn’t receive enough attention. The author mentions services like Do.com, he equates them to SharePoint and provides a “cohesive” comparison (his word). It’s a long article but very informative. This market is new and there will be many title contenders… but only one will win the cloud war… and then quickly be sued in the USA and EU for being too powerful of a monopoly.
• Pittsburgh joins handful of U.S. cities using Google email system:: Well it looks like Office 365 isn’t so popular in the Government and Academics sectors. The City of Pittsburgh is saying all the right things about saving money (~25%), easy conversion, etc. I don’t know but if you skip to the last item of the newswire, losses like these might be why Microsoft is offering a free Office 365 training course to state & local governments.
• Is the university email system outdated? :: Quite a fuss was made about UC-Berkeley choosing Google Apps over Office 365. This brilliant author has the guts to ask “… do universities even need email systems?” She even supports her contrarian question with statistics. Read this one and you will wonder why the Berkeley Bears are spending money on email for anyone but the people who work there.
• Microsoft to beef up its entry-level Office 365 offering :: This is a direct assault on Google Apps. The low-entry K-plan receives ActiveSync support (instead of POP), more email storage space, and inbox archiving features. The extra space and archiving are nice but the syncing of email, contacts, tasks, & appointments for Office 365’s lowest tier is the big news here.

Watch out Google Apps… Microsoft Office 365 has you in their sites! (and vice versa)!

Office 365 tips for users, developers & admins

Some weeks are better than others here in the tips sections. Just know that whether you deem this week a good one or a not-so-good-one, this judgment is in the eye-of-the-beholder. Steve Ballmer himself has said that people only use 10% of the features in Office (funny coincidence about that)… this means the tips and trips section is a bit of a crapshoot.

Sorry about the red. Anyways, take a look at these items and exercise that brain of yours… see if you can get it above 10% utilization.

• Configure your mobile phone to work with Office 365 :: Bookmark this, save it OneNote or Evernote, or (god forbid)… print it. This is a very useful reference and covers all the major mobile OSs.
• How to ensure a smooth Office 365 migration :: I thought for sure the author would mention prayer or some animal sacrifice. Instead he played it straight and offered practical advice.
• Office 365 – Exchange Online C# code samples :: From our own Pieter van Der Westhuizen. This article provides several solid examples (how to connect, how to create contacts, how to search, and more). It’s good to see code samples like these. No surprise that you find them here at Add-In-Express.
• Office 365 Signature Control :: If you manage your company’s Office 365 account and want to ensure everyone uses a consistent signature, this tool is worth your consideration. It’s good to see ISVs targeting Office 365.

Cutting room floor

I tried but I just can’t cover everything today. Here are more items I found interesting and thought I should at least let you know about them.

• TechNet Webcast: Career progression: getting ready for the Cloud (Level 200)
• Social CRM, work with Office 365 and Enterprise cloud on your terms
• Want to be certified in Office 365?
• Free Office 365 training series (if you work for State & Local Government)

And that’s it for today.

Have a great weekend everyone.