Microsoft touts business benefits of Office 2010

Office 2010 is described as the 'most innovative and easiest to use version ever'

Microsoft talked up the benefits of Office 2010 at the official business launch of the new suite, as the firm faces the difficult task of convincing customers to upgrade in uncertain economic conditions.

Microsoft executives conceded at the event in London that it is a tough time for UK firms, but said that the PC market is on the cusp of growth, and that better IT was needed in order to help companies break out of the recession.

Jeff Teper, corporate vice president of the Office Business Platform, claimed that Office 2010 is "the most innovative and easiest to use version of Office ever", and predicted large take-up despite budget constraints.

"With the new Web Apps, I think we will also reach many more people than with any other Office version," he said.

As well as the Office 2010 application suite itself, Microsoft officially launched several associated products, including SharePoint 2010, Visio 2010 and Microsoft Project 2010.

SharePoint 2010 in particular is key, as it enables a great many of the collaboration features that Microsoft is pushing in Office 2010.

One company planning to deploy Office and SharePoint 2010 is BT, which expects the new suite to help its large workforce keep in contact with each other.

"SharePoint is the way we get teams started working together," said Peter Scott, chief technology officer for end user technology at BT.

Microsoft also made a special pitch to smaller businesses, which it expects to be the engine of growth for the economy in 2010.

Robert Epstein, head of small business sales and marketing at Microsoft UK, said that such companies are typically running outdated versions of Office that do not provide the productivity and collaboration features they require.

Office 2010, used in conjunction with the hosted online versions of SharePoint and Exchange, enables small to medium sized businesses to catch up with the capabilities available to larger firms, he claimed.

"Small businesses can now go out and get the same technology for a very low cost and level the playing field," Epstein said.

When asked about free or low-cost rivals such has Google Docs, Epstein questioned whether these offer the same capabilities as Microsoft's applications.

"Does Google offer access across the web, phone and on the PC? Are your documents available offline? Does it offer document fidelity like Office?" he responded.

However, Epstein conceded that Google was "good for the customer because it helps us raise our own game".