REDMOND, Wash., Aug. 4, 1997 — Microsoft Corp. today announced results from four studies showing that Microsoft® Office 97 can save time in deployment, administration, support and training by up to 33 percent over previous versions. According to the research, Office 97 achieves lower total cost of ownership (TCO) through a combination of IT-focused administration tools and built-in end-user assistance that solves user problems before they become help desk calls. By incorporating tools and technology available today into Office 97, Microsoft is demonstrating its continued commitment to lowering TCO.
“Lowering the total cost of administering applications is a key concern to IS managers,”
said Dennis Tevlin, director of desktop applications at Microsoft.
“These studies demonstrate that customers are benefiting from the TCO efforts in Office 97. TCO will continue to be a key priority for Office moving forward, and it is our goal to reduce TCO by another 50 percent in future versions.”
International Data Corp. (IDC), Giga Information Group, Technology Business Research Inc. and Kelly Services Inc. each completed studies on topics ranging from reducing TCO to measuring increased worker productivity. Analyst groups that studied organizations currently deploying Office 97 reported the following findings:
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The Office Assistant correctly answers most user questions, negating the need for three of every four help desk calls. Thus, support needs for
“how to”
questions typically posed to help desk personnel are reduced by up to 22 percent for organizations currently rolling out Office 97 with an anticipated further reduction of up to 30 percent once Office 97 is completely installed. This intuitive design directly reduces the amount of end-user training required by up to 33 percent. -
System administrators can realize savings of up to 30 minutes per desktop in deployment time by using comprehensive technologies available only in Microsoft Office such as the Network Installation Wizard, system policies and Systems Management Server. Previously, customers installed Office manually or spent time coding to reach the level of customization required by large organizations.
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End-user productivity is increased by up to 32 percent compared to the productivity of those using previous versions, as a result of new IntelliSense
™
technology built into the product.
The studies, published with permission of the analysts, can be found on the Microsoft Web site at http://www.microsoft.com/office/tco/ . In addition, this site will soon include Interpose’s TCO/ROI Financial Advisor, a downloadable Microsoft Excel-based tool to help organizations estimate the return on investment and cost savings of deploying Office 97.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (NASDAQ
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use, each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of personal computing every day.
Microsoft and IntelliSense are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
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