Microsoft"s Office 365 services have targeted both the small and large business owners and today the company announced a new partnership with Verizon Wireless that could see Office 365 used a lot more by those kinds of customers.
Verizon announced in a press release that it will include Office 365 as part of the company"s Small Business Essentials portfolio of services. Technically, Office 365 has already been available for Verizon customers, but Venture Beat reports that today"s announcement centers on a new feature. Verizon business customers can now use Office 365 and then have the bill be sent to their Verizon account, rather than through Microsoft.
That kind of feature should be a big help to businesses who are trying to consolidate their bills. In addition, Verizon users will get their own Office 365 customer support service and receive their own custom domain. The charges begin at $6 a month per user.
Microsoft"s Jeff Anderson told Venture Beat that 90 percent of all Office 365 users own businesses that have 50 employees or less. He also claimed that Office 365 is "on track to become the fastest growing product Microsoft has ever had."
With Microsoft"s launch in July of the Office 2013 preview, it"s likely that Verizon Wireless business customers will be able to get updated versions of Office 365 apps when the final version of Office 2013 is launched, most likely sometime in the first quarter of 2013.
Source: Verizon Wireless press release