Organisations are overspending on Microsoft Office licences and could save up to 90% by transitioning to Google Apps in the cloud.
This is according to a benchmark study by SoftWatch, which analyses real usage of Microsoft Office in dozens of enterprises comprising over 150 000 total users.
The benchmark shows that on average an employee only spends 48 minutes a day on MS Office applications, most of it on Outlook for e-mail. It also reveals high numbers of inactive users in the organisations; in particular, PowerPoint was not being used at all by half of the employees.
In addition, most of the users of the other applications used them primarily for viewing and light editing purposes, with only a small number of heavy users: 2% in PowerPoint, 9% in Word and 19% in Excel.
These results are in line with what industry analysts have stated companies overspend on licences that are not being used. According to SoftWatch estimates, by transitioning light users from MS Office to Google Apps, companies can save up to 90% on their Microsoft licensing fees.
Called one of the biggest IT trends for enterprise software in 2014, SoftWatch says the transition to cloud-based solutions from on-premise applications requires sophisticated management tools and methodologies.
SoftWatch has unveiled an analytic application SoftWatch, which it says enables CXOs and IT executives to obtain actual usage data on the omnipresent Microsoft Office so they can determine the benefits and ROI for moving to Google Apps.
SoftWatch provides this data on company-wide Microsoft Office usage patterns, enabling enterprises to make informed decisions about moving to Google Apps and provide management tools for a smooth transition and decommissioning of excessive Microsoft licences.
A SaaS-based solution, SoftWatch helps enterprises manage and optimise their business applications usage as they embark on a move to a cloud environment. Its patent-pending technology detects to what extent employees are actuallyusing MS Office applications - not just who has opened an app, and provides user segmentation to light and heavy users for both on-premise and web-based apps.
Data is displayed in a dashboard, making it easy to determine what an enterprise really needs in terms of MS licences, how to effectively transition to Google Apps, and how much money can be saved.
"By uncovering the fact that MS Office applications are actually used much less than had been thought, SoftWatch removes the fear and doubt that traps decision makers when it comes to transitioning from Microsoft to Google Apps," says Uri Arad, co-CEO, SoftWatch.
"For the first time, they will have real data enabling them to make intelligent decisions about transitioning to Google Apps, enjoy the benefits of an alternative cloud-based solution and significantly cut their software license spending. The analytics provided by SoftWatch are a real game-changer in the competition between Google and Microsoft over enterprise office and collaboration tools."
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