One of Microsoft?s goals with Office 365, its new cloud-based office productivity suite, is to strengthen the company's position in mobile, but it remains to be seen if the offer is compelling enough to attract new customers.

After several months in test mode, Microsoft officially launched its cloud-based business services product Office 365 this week. The move is intended to package its Microsoft Office suite of products into a compelling story for small- and mid-sized businesses by providing Web functionality.

?This is really Microsoft?s answer to Google Apps,? said Michael Gartenberg, analyst at Gartner, Stamford, CT. ?It shows the importance of ubiquitous information across multiple devices and screens.?

?Office 365 is another way for Microsoft to differentiate its mobile offering with a genuine Microsoft experience that will tie closely into its services,? he said.

The big time
Microsofthas a long way to go to establish itself as a major player in mobile.

?Microsoft is very far behind in terms of its mobile efforts,? Mr. Gartenberg said.

?It will be interesting to see if this differentiator, combined with the Nokia partnership, can help drive new customers who can see the value in these services,? he said.

Office 365 could help Microsoft attract new customers to its Windows 7 phone, which has not played a significant role in the smartphone space so far.

?You can have the best hardware in the world but if you don?t have a compelling set of applications, than it doesn?t matter,? Mr. Gartenberg said.

Office 365 is being positioned as targeting small- and mid-size businesses that will be able to sign up for the Exchange e-mail server and Lync online communications technology as Web services.

Microsoft already has a variety of partners signed up to extend the product, including many telecoms who will sell Office 365 with their own service.

Mobile companies are also getting into the picture. Moprise is making new versions of its applications available that support Office 365 and enable users to access SharePoint content from mobile devices.

Integration will be key
The launch comes at a time when Microsoft is facing growing competition from Google, whose Google Apps service is adding users. The service offers e-mail, word processing and calendaring applications.

?This brings Microsoft much more firmly into the front office cloud arena,? said Andrew Brown, director of wireless enterprise strategies at Strategy Analytics, Milton Keynes, Britain. 

The new services potential to impact Microsoft?s position in mobile, however, is less clear.

?It depends on how well it ends up being deployed and integrated,? Mr. Brown said.

?I don?t think the really rich integration will happen in this iteration,? he said. ?Windows 8 is where we will see the rich integration with mobile and tablets.?

However, .as Office 365 stands today there are still questions around how much integration and customization it allows for, which could scare off some customers. 

?For startups that don?t have much of a legacy issue, Office 365 is fine,? Mr. Brown said.

?I don?t know how quickly a lot of companies are going to jump on it. They may want to wait until it is more mature.?

Final Take
Chantal Tode, Assoc. Editor, Mobile Marketer