Office 365 now available in nine African countries, boost SMEs

Office 365 from the shelf of Microsoft has touched base in nine new territories across the African continent.

The Office Division Group Lead for Microsoft West, East and Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands, Mr. Marc Israel, confirmed this development to DigitalSENSE Business News saying that the entire suite of Office 365 packages is now available in Angola, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mauritius, Rwanda, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

DigitalSENSE Business News recalls that Office 365 is the next iteration of the company’s flagship Office product line which is made available for consumers, businesses and educational institutions via the cloud.

“Office 365 is available in various packages, each one specifically designed to meet a particular need,” he said, stressing that this means that whether you are a consumer, educational institution, small to mid-size business or a large enterprise, Microsoft has an Office 365 package that will meet all your software requirements in in an always-up-to-date cloud service, at a predictable monthly cost.

In Africa, he said, the Small and Medium Business sector continues to play a big, contributing heavily towards Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and employment.

He cited an instance with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) estimate, which showed that SMEs represent over 90 per cent of private business and contribute more than 50 percent of employment and of GDP in most African countries.

“One of the biggest challenges SMBs face in today’s harsh economic conditions is finding technology that meets their needs without breaking the bank,” says Marc Israel, Office Division Group Lead for Microsoft West, East and Central Africa and Indian Ocean Islands. “Just because your company is smaller, it does not mean you should have to compromise on the type of technology available to you.”

Further, he said, Office 365 has been designed for companies with between 1 and 10 employees, adding that Office 365 Small Business Premium gives organisations access to the richness of Office applications, extending the functionality to make it available via the cloud.

The pay-as-you-go model can save customers between up to 20% of their software budget, without them having to compromise on the technology they have within their organisations.

“Very few smaller organisations can afford the level of sophistication they need in terms of software,” he said, emphasizing that Office 365 is more affordable and less complex – within 15 minutes a company can be up and running with a domain, website, email addresses and the other functionality they require to function.

Remmy Nweke/DigitalSENSE Business News 
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