Islamabad — June 27, 2012 — Microsoft today announced the commercial launch of Microsoft Office 365, the company’s next-generation cloud productivity service for businesses of all sizes, in Middle East and Africa region, including Pakistan.

Previously available on a trial basis in markets across the Middle East and Africa, Office 365 is now commercially available in 16 countries across the region. The cloud solution will also be available with local pricing in Pakistan.  Leading IT service providers, including CubeXS, Inbox Technologies, Maison Consulting, Premier Systems and Infotech and many more will bring the service to their customers. These leading providers will each integrate Office 365 with its other offerings and market the service to thousands of small and midsize business customers countrywide.

Office 365 brings together Microsoft Office, Microsoft SharePoint Online, Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Lync Online in an always-up-to-date service, at a predictable monthly cost. The service was introduced in limited beta last year with enthusiastic response, particularly among small and midsize businesses. Over a few months, more than 10,000 organizations, many of which were small and midsize businesses, signed up and began testing Office 365, creating one of Microsoft’s largest global beta programs for businesses.

“Today, we are taking a giant leap in IT services in Pakistan. Through Office 365, Microsoft is providing world-class productivity software to business of all sizes, especially Small & Medium businesses, at predictable and affordable costs,” said Salman Siddiqui, Channel Lead, Microsoft Pakistan. “Today’s launch of Office 365 will accelerate that evolution by delivering enterprise-grade collaboration for everyone.”

Moving to the cloud with Office 365 doesn’t require a business to change the way it works, because the service is based on familiar productivity tools people know and trust, including Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access and more. Employees get new ways to work together with ease, on virtually any device or mobile phone, and businesses get the reliability, security and IT controls they need in the cloud, even without a dedicated  IT staff.

“Office 365 was chosen as the productivity cloud platform of choice by Serena Hotels Pakistan, as it enables our employees to work effectively from different locations and improves their productivity by giving them access to the latest versions of familiar tools securely from any device. This is key for us to improve internal collaboration which ultimately will result in improved customer service,” said Moiz Ismaili, Senior Manager IT, Serena Hotels Pakistan which has chosen Office 365 for their email solution.

Microsoft is building a massive partner ecosystem around Office 365, which includes value-added resellers, systems integrators, and service providers such as telecommunications and hosting firms.  Combined, the partners will improve reach and offerings to businesses of all sizes, deliver value-added services and support customers in their journey of moving to the cloud, and integrate Office 365 with their existing services.

Office 365 for small businesses and Office 365 for enterprises are available now. Businesses can try it for free for 30 days by signing up at their website or from their local Microsoft partner.