At its annual Worldwide Partner Conference that took place in Huston, Microsoft announced two online service bundles that are targeted to two opposite types of workers: the ones that hardly use the computer at all, and the ones that can’t do anything without it.
The bundle that addresses the first type of workers, which Microsoft dubs “deskless workers,” comes with two services and the subscription to it will cost $3 per month. People that will use the Deskless Worker Suite will have access to e-mail, calendars, antivirus and antispam, as well as global e-mail lists and quick access to Microsoft SharePoint portal.
Information workers will have to pay $15 a month if they want access to the service the Redmond based company offers for them. After subscribing to the services that come in the Business Productivity Online Suite, such workers will gain access to all the services a deskless worker would have, plus Outlook Web Access and Office Outlook integration, as well as tools for instant messaging and even video and voice conferences.
Microsoft said that all the processing power and storage devices that are needed will be provided by it, and will be located in Redmond. This means that the company will rely on cloud computing to perform the tasks desired by people who have subscribed to its services.
While this may benefit people in certain ways, the method has its inconveniences. An example would be that people will have to rely on an internet connection to use the services, so the risk of not being able to access them at some point exists independent of Microsoft’s or the client’s will.