NEW YORK: Soon people will be able across the world to easily access, save, share and collaborate on their Office 365 documents stored on Dropbox without leaving Office.
Office 365 is Microsoft’s paid cloud version of Microsoft Office. But wait, there’s more. Dropbox will also be available as an option for Microsoft’s freebie version of Office in its cloud, known as Office Online.
And this isn’t a Windows-only deal. You’ll be able to use your Dropbox account inside of Office on your iPhone, iPad or Android tablet.
It’s yet another symbol of the kinder, gentler Microsoft under new CEO Satya Nadella. He’s willing to partner with companies instead of compete with them, and customers win.
Office 365 comes with its own cloud storage, called One Drive — and now One Drive offers an unbeatable deal: the paid version comes with unlimited storage.
But Dropbox is a major go-to cloud storage option for Office documents, particularly those using older, not-cloud versions. Dropbox users have currently stashed away more than 35 billion Office files, which allow them to collaborate on documents with co-workers without buying into Microsoft’s cloud version of Office.
So this partnership is super smart on Microsoft’s part. It’s another on ramp to encourage people to ditch their old version of Office and sign up for the fancy new cloud version, and they can still use Drop box with their existing files and work with colleagues just like they are used to doing. And of course, there’s now an extra incentive to switch over to One Drive
