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Today, we announced worldwide availability of the new Microsoft Office 365 services for business; the most complete Office cloud service to-date has new features and offerings tailored to meet the needs and budgets of small, medium and large organizations.
Since launching in mid-2011, Office 365 is one of the fastest growing businesses in Microsoft history. We are pleased to welcome new customers the Hamburg Port Authority, Sephora, and Midroc Europe to our growing family. Here's a little more about their stories:
As the largest port in Germany, the Hamburg Port Authority (HPA) employs over 1,900 people who manage more than 7,000 hectares of port territory, both by land and sea, ensuring safe navigation of vessels coming in and out of the harbor.
The winter season in Hamburg is particularly grueling for the HPA, with severe storms often resulting in hazardous surges and increased flooding across the region. It's during these times the ability to stay mobile and communicate in real time is crucial. With Office 365, HPA employees aboard water vessels rely on their tablet devices to measure and track wave size and water levels, and communicate directly with the harbor, responsible for monitoring emergency response. In a situation where every minute counts, the ability to connect in real-time and share critical weather updates are vital.
HPA is also looking at the ability to reduce the IT labor hours to test, install, and update Office versions by 75 percent with Click-to-Run in Office 365 Pro Plus. And, by reducing this management time, the IT staff can focus their time on more strategic projects.
Sephora is a specialty beauty retailer with more than 1,650 stores within 29 countries in Europe and 115 locations in China. At Sephora, they don't want their employees to work more - they want them to work smarter by staying connected and able to work wherever they are. And they've found that with Office 365.
A major advantage Sephora staff has discovered is being able to access and edit documents with the roaming capabilities in Office 365 Pro Plus. Instead of carrying a laptop to and from the office, employees can access their files from their PC, mobile device or tablet allowing them to work in the office, on the road, or from home.
Midroc Europe, a Sweden-based organization comprised of 15 companies across Europe and South Africa, focuses on property development and management. With expanding operations and employees working remotely, Midroc Europe wanted to provide improved access to email and collaboration tools for their dispersed teams.
After evaluating several options, including Google Apps, they selected Office 365 to provide over 2,600 employees with an integrated communications experience including email, IM, voice and video capabilities in Office 365. They also see the social capabilities in SharePoint Online as yet another way to connect employees and foster learning. Employees who traditionally did not have a company-issued PC will be able to send or read email from their smartphone, and report their hours from a shared PC directly to SharePoint Online.
We're excited and humbled to work with such a high caliber of businesses that are viewed as leaders in their industry and adopting new ways of leveraging the power of the cloud. We look forward to sharing more with you about how Office 365 is helping customers transform their businesses.
For more information, visit the Microsoft Office Division Press Room.
For a list of Office 365 features available on different phones and tablets, visit http://bit.ly/13hwUzC.
Liz Wilkins is Senior Marketing Manager for Education at Adobe Systems UK. Her involvement with Adobe Education products has seen her work closely with a range of educational institutions, championing the use of digital media tools in the curriculum, and their integration into a number of subject areas in order to better prepare students for the future demands of the workplace. Liz works closely with teachers and administrators integrating software, curriculums, and instructional resources as well as certification options and professional development tools. Through promoting digital literacy in cross-curricular education, teaching essential career skills, and streamlining administrative processes Liz has experience working in partnership with a diverse portfolio of schools and further education institutions. 
