In just less than two hours (10AM EDT), Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is set to launch their Office 365 cloud computing service in a New York launch party. Office 365 had been available for beta testing since October last year when it was officially unveiled, and is set to replace Office Live Small Business and Live@edu services later this year.
Ahead of the launch, the Office 365 service has already dropped its beta tag, and the official website at Office365.com has been updated to reveal pricing details for professionals, small businesses, mid-size businesses, and enterprises:
- Professionals and small businesses (Plan P) for businesses with up to 25 employees is available for $ 6 per user per month, and includes Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and Lync Online
- Midsize businesses and enterprises (Plans E1-E4) for businesses of any size is available ranging from $ 10 to $ 27 per user per month. and depending on the plan selected, it includes a combination of Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online as well as Active Directory integration, on-premise deployment of Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server, and Office 2010 Professional Plus.
- Midsize businesses and enterprises (Plans K1 & K2) is designed for enterprises with kiosk workers, and is available for either $ 4 or $ 10 per user per month. It offers a combination of Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, as well as Office Web Apps depending on the plan selected.
- Academic and educational institutions The starter package for Office 365 for Education will be available for free for students and at academic licensing of $ 10 per user per month for educators and staff, which includes Office Web Apps, Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online, team sites, single sign-on and control and management capabilities. For educational institutions that requires on-premise deployment of Exchange Server, SharePoint Server, Lync Server, and Office 2010 Professional Plus, a plan is also available for $ 2 per user per month for students plus $ 14 per user per month for educator and staff.
You can check out the full pricing plans and details here. Microsoft has also published the release notes for Office 365 and is viewable here. Office 365 will be available in 40 countries at launch later today. A webcast of the launch event will also be available at Microsoft News Center.