Today, Microsoft shares with us the result of a survey titled “New World of Work,” which asked Malaysians how they feel about their current working environment.
200 targeted local professionals, working in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), are involved in the study to obtain an insight into how today’s workers perceive their ability to succeed in today’s digital, fast paced and modern workplace. Malaysia scored 42 out of 100, slightly higher than the Asia Pacific mean score of 40 but that still leaves 34% of working Malaysians feeling that they are not getting the right kind of tools to handle the modern challenges in the office.
As the Managing Director of Microsoft Malaysia, K Raman explains: “Globalisation and technological innovations have brought the world closer and have fundamentally changed the way people live and work. In fact, the nature of work has evolved so much that remote collaboration is an important aspect of work today.”
Hence, Microsoft is looking to help local industries to overcome the difficulties of bringing the New World of Work to its workplace. Three key principles are engaged; people (flexibility and productivity in digital modern workplace and support for a dynamic environment from leaders and cultures), place (flexibility and productivity anywhere at any time – at work, home or with customers) and technology (empowering employees with technology and allowing collaborative work wherever they may go).
K Raman says the company wants working professionals to see that “… work is a thing you do, not a place you go to …” Thus, Office 2016, Microsoft latest productivity suite, is optimised to bring a new notion of work to Malaysia.
Office: What you get
On top of the modern versions of the Office desktop apps for Windows (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, OneNote, Project, Visio and Access), the new Office now have co-authoring function to allow multiple, real time remote editing on one document on Word, PowerPoint and OneNote. There’s no limit to how many people can edit a document at one time. Plus, with real time auto-saving into the cloud storage, One Drive, you’ll never lose any content anymore.
Customers also receive 1TB of storage on the cloud coupled with enterprise-grade security features so that you know your content are secure. It also has Skype in-app integration in rich client apps to give the Office suite instant messaging function, screen share, talk or video chat right in their documents. So, you can have a discussion with your colleagues or clients while co-authoring a document.
Currently, Office has 1.2 billion user base worldwide but only 25% of them subscribe to the Office 365. With the new productivity enhancing features, you don’t need to worry about compatibility with different OS, be it Android, iOS or Windows. It will work across all platforms.
Bruce Howe, General Manager, Consumer Channel Group for Microsoft Malaysia notes: “Office 2016 encapsulates our ambition of taking the work out of working together.”
Indeed, with the new Office 2016, you can work away from the office and put in the same productivity into the work you are doing. You do not have to lose precious time navigating through the myriad of unefficient tools to get you where you want.
Video of a demonstration for other features, such as Tell me, Smart Lookup and Sway by K Raman, Bruce Howe and Ananthram Balakrishnan, Microsoft Malaysia Business Group Leader, Microsoft Office Division Marketing and Operations Organisation will be coming soon.
Owning the Office 2016
Existing customers can download the completely redesigned Office 2016 as part of their subscription of the Office 365, while new customers can get the new Office 2016 starting from estimated RM 219.99 including GST. If you are interested in bringing the New World of Work to your office or home, you can visit over 330 participating retail outlets across Malaysia to discover and purchase the new Office.
Moreover, 13 stores are holding a promotional event, where you can win exciting and exclusive prizes even if you don’t decide to buy the new Office 2016 when you exit the store.
Participating venues include All IT Hypermarket in Digital Mall, Section 14, Suria KLCC, Plaza Low Yat and Microsoft Authorized Reseller Store in Suria KLCC, Plaza Low Yat, Gardens Mall, Sunway Pyramid and The Curve. The promotional contest will run for two more weekends; 17 & 18 and 24 & 25 October 2015.
