In one of the most surprising deals, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) announced partnership with Dropbox to allow its users to share and edit files seamlessly on Dropbox through the Office Mobile App. The collaboration came as a surprise considering that most of the tech companies rather prefer to acquire startups instead of getting into a partnership.
According to a post on Dropbox, the online file sharing platform already has over 35 billion Office documents including presentations, spreadsheets, and office documents. The new partnership would provide direct access to Dropbox through Office apps and allow file editing through Dropbox mobile app.
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), said,
“Together, Microsoft and Dropbox will provide our shared customers with flexible tools that put them at the center for the way they live and work today.”
The Windows maker has emphasized over its web and cloud products in the last few years. This collaboration offers seamless document editing and sharing services anytime and anywhere across the globe.
Kirk Koenigsbauer, Head of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)’s Office Engineering team, said,
“Access to Dropbox content popped as one of the very first [Office for iPad] requests that customers had. They want access to where their content is. We’re doing it to make sure customers have a great experience.”
The main target of this partnership is to improve web and mobile document sharing/editing experience.
A similar reaction was received from Ilya Fushman, Dropbox’s Head of produce and Dropbox for Business, who said,
“It’s really about creating a deep connection between Dropbox and Office. We think this is a huge win for our users. We think this will result in the best possible experience for people trying to get work done, and trying to get work done on the go.”
Microsoft announced that the first inclusion of these services would appear in its next Office apps update for iOS and Android. The web integration between the two companies would be over in the first half of 2015.
This article has been written by Prakash Pandey.
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