UAE-based telecommunication operator du and Microsoft have signed a new partnership to provide small and medium-sized business in the UAE with the new Office 365 offering.

The cloud-based productivity applications and services will be available for the first time in the UAE and the operator will provide additional value-added services that complement the offering, said the statement.
 
The Office 365-enabled packages introduced will support the services offered by du for SMBs, allowing them to be able to purchase all the services they require from one supplier, through one support centre, and in one consolidated monthly bill.

The packages are being offered by du across all their mobile, device and broadband portfolio from as low as Dh20 ($5.4) per month, added to the customer’s du monthly bill, said the statement.

The offering will also provide a simple and easy on-boarding for customers to start using the Office 365, as well as providing a choice of support packages giving the customer complete peace of mind while he focuses on running his core business.

It will comprise a variety of services, including business-class email, shared calendars, instant messaging, conferencing, and access to 1TB of storage in the cloud, which is due to become unlimited over the course of next year, in addition to the Microsoft Office suite.

Hany Fahmy Aly, executive vice president, Enterprise Business, du, said: “SMBs represent the fastest growing segment for us, and we believe that this segment has huge potential for growth. We completely understand the needs and challenges of SMBs, and from our experience we have seen that they are early technology adopters, if products are packaged right.

“By offering the Office 365 suite of packages across all our core mobile and broadband services through our new collaboration with Microsoft, our SMB customers will benefit from yet another incredible effort to bring value-packed, enterprise-grade solutions to this market. We are excited to launch the UAE’s first modern office in the cloud.”

Ihsan Anabtawi, regional director Microsoft Office Division at Microsoft Gulf, said: “Nearly three years ago, we made Office 365 available in the UAE. Today we are continuing our efforts by providing an offering with du that is designed to meet the needs of SMBs, with a focus on those with up to 100 employees, providing easy, low-cost access to cloud-based technology with no infrastructure costs.

“Office 365 is transformational for businesses of all sizes, but levels the playing field for SMBs in particular because it makes enterprise-grade tools affordable and easy to set up and manage. We are pleased to work with du to provide the UAE’s SMBs with communication and collaboration tools which have been designed to enhance productivity, promote collaboration and reduce operational costs.” - TradeArabia News Service