Download Free eBook “Microsoft Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime”

Microsoft Press is offering a free eBook to customers looking for some insight into the Cloud productivity offerings it launched earlier this year.

“Microsoft Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime” can be downloaded free of charge courtesy of Microsoft Press, only as a PDF thus far, but the promise from the Redmond company is that additional file formats will be made available in the future.

Authored by Katherine Murray, the free Office 365 eBook dives into the Cloud equivalents of the software giant’s on-premises solutions, dealing with topics such as collaboration, security, sharing, remote access, etc.

As some customers are already aware, Office 365 packs a range of services, including Exchange Online, Lync Online, SharePoint Online, with additional offerings including CRM Online planned for integration in the future.

“Microsoft Office 365: Connect and Collaborate Virtually Anywhere, Anytime is all about cloud solutions for small businesses, focusing on the core software services (Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Office Web Apps, and Microsoft Lync), and demonstrating ways you can create, manage, and lead teams effectively using the communications and collaborative online tools,” Murray notes.

“You’ll find helpful ideas and solutions in Office 365 if you: own or work in a small business and want to be flexible where and when you work; need to collaborate with others near or far; want to store and work with files online from any point you have web access; lead a team online or face to face.”

The eBook also discusses Office 365 in relation to BPOS (the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite.)

One way to look at the two sets of offerings is to consider Office 365 the evolution of BPOS. Microsoft is already hard at work to migrate over 40 million BPOS customers to Office 365.

“Office 365 for enterprises extends the features of BPOS by adding Microsoft Lync for instant messaging and online meetings, Outlook Web App for management of email and scheduling, Office Web Apps, and the ability to create reports and administer the account through a web-based dashboard,” Murray added.

“The educational version of Office 365 also includes the latest version of Microsoft Live@Edu, which ­offers cloud solutions to thousands of schools and millions of students around the globe.”