Los Angeles is buzzing with 12,000 Microsoft partners who are all here to attend the annual Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC). It is these partners who work with you to deploy our products and solutions. Between visiting LA landmarks and celebrity sightings, partners are learning about our latest programs, strategies, and cutting-edge technologies.

One of the hot topics here is Office 365 and how it is a game changer for business. Partners were wowed by a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on the Total Economic Impact (TEI) of Microsoft Office 365 on Enterprise Customers. This June 2011 study found that Office 365 delivered a risk-adjusted 315% return on investment with a four month payback period based on a composite organization. It also determined that Office 365 has a lower total cost of ownership, and it greatly reduces implementation times compared to a similar on premises solution.

So, you may wonder, how did Forrester Consulting come to this conclusion? They interviewed 10 Office 365 enterprise beta customers, analyzed the results, and created a composite corporation that is an aggregate of the results.  Check out some of the benefits – they are truly astounding.

  • Save more than $217,000 over three years on hardware that is no longer required
  • Collaboration and productivity tools mean less travel. This reduction in travel costs saves more than $993,000. And, an added benefit is a CO2 reduction (from air travel) of 238,000 kilograms.
  • Lync Online saves $115,000 that would have been spent on a web conferencing solution over a three year period.
  • Better access to IT resources and documents for mobile workers that translates into approximately a $956,000 productivity gain over three years.

A key finding in this study is the importance for enterprise customers to have the option of taking a hybrid approach to the cloud. While this wasn’t quantified, it is one of the primary benefits of our approach. We want you, our customers, to be in control of your IT decisions – no mandates from Microsoft.

I think you will enjoy reading this study on the TEI of Office 365. Take a look and let me know what your thoughts are.