What 'MS Office 2013' Means for CIOs

Bangalore: The recent introduction of Consumer Preview version of Microsoft Office 2013 is creating quite a buzz in the technology sector. The CIOs however are lurching in the adaptation of the same analyzing the productivity quotient the new office brings forth, reports Michael Hickins of CIO Journal.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who was exhilarated at its launch, made known of his feelings at a recent company event in San Francisco. He proudly proclaimed, “This is the most ambitious release of Microsoft Office that we’ve ever done. In a sense it feels to us a lot like 1995, we have the most vibrant exciting new version of Windows in years.”

But with other Web-based productivity tools for CIOs such as Apple iPads and iPhones or Google Apps just round the corner for grabbing, CIOs need to judiciously weigh the pros and cons of the new office before incorporating them in the work force.

Although the new office suite is adorned with new features across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, not to mention an on-demand streaming version and the innovative touch and cloud functionality, it is yet to be seen how pivotal a role it can play, assisting in boosting the organizational productivity.

For once, in organizations where only a handful of users access productivity features, this new version of MS Office will not make much sense. Moreover, the fact that it does not support Windows XP and Windows Vista customers along with its lack of compatibility with the previous editions of Windows might just constrain the CIOs to make a jump for it.

But it would be an abomination to write off the technological giant this early. As many of the CIOs view the Office 2013 as an opportunity to modernize their productivity tools while sticking to their status quo, it would be intriguing to see how far they are actually willing to go to embrace this new offering from Microsoft.