Unlike Adobe, Microsoft won't abandon packaged software
Microsoft's Office will continue to sell as both packaged software and subscription service. The company also updated its Office Web Apps to work with Android. — A day after Adobe killed its Creative Suite software …
Context & Ripple Effects
Microsoft had already signaled broader multi-platform mobile plans in 2011, while Google’s business-applications push had made browser-based productivity software a clearer competitive front. Adobe’s discontinuation of Creative Suite sharpened the contrast over whether a software vendor must move customers entirely to subscriptions.
Office’s Android-compatible Web Apps update pairs cross-platform browser access with Microsoft’s stated intention to keep both conventional software sales and subscriptions available.
First-order effects
- Office buyers retain a choice between packaged software and subscriptions, rather than being required to adopt a recurring-payment model.
- Android users gain access to Office Web Apps, extending Microsoft’s browser-based productivity offering beyond its traditional desktop environment.
Second-order effects
- Google faces a more direct response to its business-applications strategy as Microsoft makes Office available through the browser on Android while retaining its established purchase options.
- Microsoft must support parallel packaged, subscription, and web offerings, making product consistency across those channels a central execution issue.
Third-order effects
- The move points to a hybrid productivity-software market in which vendors use web access to broaden reach without immediately retiring conventional licensing.
- If Adobe’s subscription-only decision and Microsoft’s mixed model prove durable, software makers will differentiate not only on features but on how much purchasing flexibility they preserve.
The trend: Business software is moving toward browser-based, cross-platform delivery, while vendors test different balances between recurring subscriptions and one-time software purchases.