Now in its 11th version, the world's largest software maker's Office collection of applications has evolved into a tool that lets business workers collaborate on documents, research information from applications and manage data over the Web.

"Microsoft office has been around for more than a decade and the issue was really to address productivity needs of companies," said Microsoft Jamaica country manager Gregory Stewart. "Now we are focusing on driving solutions."

One focus is helping people integrate their processes across the different business units, he said. A second focus is helping users utilise information they have created over the years stored up in different systems through its Extensible Markup Language (XML) application. Through its Windows and SharePoint applications, Office boosts the possibilities for collaboration, said Mr. Stewart. And the tools individual use such as Outlook and Word have been enhanced for ease of use.

NO VALUE

"Technology by itself is of no value," said Robert Davis, general manager of Management Control Systems. "It is when you actually implement that technology to solve your business needs that the technology becomes useful."

"As a partner with Microsoft, we are here to work with you on your strategy and execution," Mr. Davis told the audience. He was speaking at the executive forum held at the Terra Nova Hotel in St. Andrew where the Office system was launched. With the shift in focus of Office towards becoming a business process management tool, executive decision makers have become prime targets in the US$500 million (J$30.2 billion) campaign Microsoft initiated in the United States last month to sell Office 2003 to individuals and businesses, according to a Reuters report. But the company faces a tough selling task in the harsh climate facing many businesses in Jamaica.

"The strategy there is to crawl, walk, then run," in adopting the new software, Mr. Stewart said in response to a question from an assistant manager of one of Jamaica's leading financial institutions. The banking executive had wanted to find out the possibilities for using the new Office software in an environment where others would not be equipped with it.

The biggest challenge for Microsoft and the companies that sell its software will be to convince users to upgrade from previous versions, which generate US$9 billion in annual revenue, nearly a third of Microsoft's total, Reuters reported at the US launch Office.

NUMBERED

As well, Office's days could be numbered, since Microsoft is planning to shift to a new version of its Windows operating system in two to three years, which could require another overhaul of Office.

"This forum is an inaugural one for us," Mr. Stewart said. "We are hoping to have more of these executive type forums."

In the forums to follow, "we will address specific areas of interest based on feedback from the community and partners," he said. "We have already been engaging with several of your IT leaders in your companies to better understand the business challenges which are core IT priorities." A special website had been developed for executives at www.executivecircle.com and the Microsoft executive urged his audience to use the resources available there.

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