By Teresa Carlson, Vice President, Microsoft Federal
People don’t accept the standard of “good enough” from their doctors or from safety devices in their cars, so why should federal agencies accept it when it comes to the productivity tools they rely on to do their jobs effectively?
Federal agencies are so large and complex that I always refer to them as an enterprise of enterprises. We have been working with both Defense and Civilian agencies for a long time and understand that they require functionality like robust document security, email reliability, and the flexibility to be creative when presenting information. Some of the new Web-based applications that are now hitting the market simply aren’t there yet.
Competition is a great thing because it keeps us all innovating. Products like Office and Exchange face increasing competition from companies that offer alternatives to (and solutions that connect with) Outlook. But customers that have tried stripped-down, copycat versions of our products tell us that these solutions simply don’t have the functionality to meet their needs. For instance, the Washington, D.C. government is migrating to Exchange 2007, and school systems like Mecklenburg, Virginia have told us that with increasing demand to do more with less, they are looking for enhanced solutions that have more business/mission functionality, rather than solutions and tools that are only “good enough.”
As agencies look for the right mix of productivity tools and email platforms, they are not only looking for good price points, they want real solutions that large organizations demand, security that can withstand Twitter-types of hacks, and the ability to seamlessly work offline. We’re striving to make solutions better, not thinner, which is why our developers are asking customers to vote on how to improve Office. Please join the conversation today, visit MakeOfficeBetter.com.