Threatened much?
Microsoft is launching a competitive campaign next week offering Kiwi small and medium businesses (SMBs) using Google Apps for Work a $25 per-user rebate if they purchase Office 365 before April 30 and switch before May 31 ($25 is enough to cover a couple of months' subscription to 365, the cloud version of Office). Bear in mind you always face costs switching between email systems, too - at least if you don't have an inhouse IT person and you want to keep your email archive from your old system.
Marketing director Frazer Scott says customers will get a further 20% off Office 365 when they buy through an Open Licensing Partner or Vodafone New Zealand.
The move comes on the heels of a couple of big pieces of news in the Microsoft NZ cloud world:
One, Microsoft has opened a cloud data centre in Australia (with mirrored facilities in Sydney and Melbourne). The move puts it on a par with Google and Amazon Web Services, which already have server farms across the Tasman. Previously, Office 365 users had to access a Microsoft data centre in Singapore, which one (otherwise very happy) early adopter, Les Mills, said could sometimes slow down email attachments. On the internet, geography is destiny.
Two, Microsoft NZ has scored a mega deal with AUT that sees the university providing access to Office 365 to all of its 27,000 or so students.