Microsoft Cozies Up to More Cloud Providers
Microsoft Cozies Up to More Cloud Providers
Microsoft today beefed up support for third-party cloud storage in a move that will let you open documents from other services without leaving the Office apps.
Going forward, cloud services can integrate with the “Locations” picker within Microsoft’s Office apps, allowing you to access, edit, and save documents stored on Box or iCloud, for example, within Office.
The option currently works on iPhone and iPad, but Microsoft promised support for Windows 10 universal apps and Office for Android apps at a later date.
“So in the future, no matter what device, platform, or storage provider you’re using, your Office documents will only be a tap away,” Microsoft said.
The move comes after Microsoft in Decemberteamed with Dropbox. Dropbox badge lets you see important information within Microsoft Office documents you’re working on, to help your team stay in sync. In Office documents, the badge will show if anyone else is viewing or editing a file and if there’s a more recent version.
Meanwhile, Microsoft will also let cloud services integrate Office Onlineinto their apps, so you can open, view, and edit documents stored in those services via the Web.
“We’re excited to announce that Box, Citrix, and Salesforce are already working with us on this as a part of our new Cloud Storage Partner Program, and we’re looking forward to working with other service providers in the future,” Microsoft said.
On Box, users can open, edit, and save documents back to Box from within Office for iOS. “We’re committed to delivering innovation that puts the customer first and allows enterprises to choose the tools they want to be successful,” Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box, said in a statement.
As ZDNet noted, Google Drive is not among Microsoft’s initial partners. But interested companies can sign up via dev.office.com.
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