Central Desktop, a purveyor of SaaS collaboration tools, today announced the availability of a version of its technology that integrates with Microsoft Office after first previewing the cloud computing offering at the Web 2.0 Expo earlier this year.
Central Desktop for Office leverages the company’s Web 2.0-based collaboration platform, which provides a common workspace for people to communicate, share documents, and manage a project’s workflow. With the integration to Microsoft Office, users can share, edit, track, and manage Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents in real time, as well as open and save files directly into the cloud, the company said.
Recognized as a 2010 Company to Watch by Managing Automation, Central Desktop offers a subscription-based software model that is, at the core, a Wiki-based system — web pages that anyone with authorization can edit without programming knowledge. Touted as an alternative to Microsoft SharePoint, the Central Desktop platform also includes a workflow engine that allows users to create rules for procedures and document management; an online database to store structured information, such as parts and location lists; and Web 2.0 tools, such as blogs, community forums, and Web and phone conferencing.
Because most users are familiar with the Microsoft Office suite, the next logical step for Central Desktop was to develop a way for end users to easily engage in web-based collaboration while working in those familiar programs, the company said.