Microsoft puts Office in cloud

It is heaving its two-decade old set of applications -- including Outlook email, Excel spreadsheets and SharePoint collaboration tools — into an online format so that customers can use them on a variety of devices from wherever they can get an Internet connection.

Microsoft has offered online versions of some Office programmes — chiefly Outlook email — for its corporate customers for several years, and last year rolled out free versions for individual home users.

Microsoft’s plan is to make up for smaller profit margins from web-based applications  by grabbing a larger slice of companies' overall technology spending.