Open Source

Zoho embraces Sharepoint lock-in

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Zoho, which offers Office-compatible applications as services, is now offering a version of Sharepoint, aimed at extending Microsoft's lock-in of customers. Last year Alfresco began offering support for the Sharepoint protocol, essentially a lock-in key. With Zoho Office for Microsoft® SharePoint® customers have a viable alternative for sharing files, under Microsoft standards, even if they're not currently paying Microsoft server licenses. Among the new functions Zoho is offering:

The ability to create new documents and save them to SharePoint in MS Office formats.
The ability to view existing documents within SharePoint using Zoho Applications.
The power to edit existing documents with Zoho Apps and save them back to SharePoint.
Collaborative editing capabilities based on SharePoint's sharing permissions.

On his blog Zoho evangelist Raju Vegesna pushed this, not as a way to get away from Microsoft, but to extend the embrace.

If you have already invested in Microsoft SharePoint, this add-on is a great compliment that brings in the advantages of online productivity applications to SharePoint. If you are able to access SharePoint, you'll be able to view/edit documents without having to invest on productivity suites for every desktop in your business.

The software is priced at $3 per user per month, $2/month if you buy it on a yearly basis. The main benefit seems to be that it enables collaboration for non-Sharepoint shops working with those who have the software.

posted by Dana Blankenhorn
June 24, 2009 @ 6:17 am

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