Cloud deal between Microsoft and BlackBerry PlayBook

BlackBerry PlayBook is quietly adding more capabilities to its tablet, this time the company has taken the help of Microsoft. Users will be allowed to sync their data with Office 365 cloud suite and it will be offered with BlackBerry Office 365 service, though Microsoft has not given a date for Office 365.

Research In Motion vice president Jim Tobin said, "Cloud based solutions is a more efficient model for everyone. Half of RIM's current clients are expected to migrate their data to cloud systems by the end of 2012".

Office 365 is actually Microsoft collaboration services in a reworked version and will also include Office Web apps and SharePoint collaboration. The Microsoft war with Google for users' mind share is on with Microsoft trying to convince the market that more people are using its services instead of using Google Apps. The war is likely to increase when the transition to Office 365 becomes complete.

At the time of finalizing the deal, Research in Motion must have thought about additional foothold its PlayBook would get among the business customers, although it already is strong among the enterprise customers. The facility of synchronizing emails on Microsoft servers is important for success among businesses. Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync license was taken by Apple also which turned it into an executive email tool.