Virtualized Microsoft Office: just around the corner?

I found the following tidbit buried at the bottom of a recent Microsoft Press Release. Titled “Microsoft Announces Vision and Strategy to Accelerate Virtualization Adoption,” the release goes on to note:

Microsoft announced today that the 2003 and 2007 versions of the Microsoft Office system are supported when running in both Microsoft Application Virtualization 4.5 and SoftGrid Application Virtualization 4.2.

This is interesting in that it signals a major shift in Microsoft’s view of its nascent application virtualization platform. No longer a “fringe” technology, “MAV” is now an accepted part of the Windows ecosystem and a key building block in the company’s overall virtualization strategy.

It also sends a clear message to IT shops: It’s now OK to start building around the MAV platform. To date, most shops have been operating under the “old rules,” essentially using MAV’s underlying SoftGrid technology to deliver applications as if it were still a third-party solution. Now, with Microsoft’s formal endorsement of the technology as a delivery vehicle for its most precious of cash cows, Microsoft Office, the training wheels are finally ready to come off. The MAV way is now officially co-equal to the traditional, “fat” client model that has defined Office installations for nearly two decades.

Of course, the story doesn’t end there. Declaring parity between MAV and non-MAV Office deployments is just the first step in a much broader strategy designed to convert Microsoft’s entire business line to a more predictable (from a revenue projection standpoint), manageable subscriptions-based delivery model. That’s why Microsoft is working so hard to make sure IT shops get comfortable with application virtualization. In the not-so-distant future (read: 12 to 18 months, or about the time that “Office 13” ships), MAV will overtake the classic “local” install to become the preferred means for deploying Microsoft’s latest and greatest.

In the meantime, Microsoft keeps seeding the market with bits and pieces of the SoftGrid carcass. First came the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), essentially a loss leader to hook its big-name Software Assurance accounts. Then this past week, it released its MSI Packager tool that allows IT shops to decouple MAV-sequenced applications from the complex back-end streaming components that made SoftGrid so hard to deploy.

I expect the full-court press to continue throughout the coming year, with Microsoft “gifting” more and more of MAV until its biggest customers find the bait irresistible and start dabbling with the technology. Things to watch for: A “free” version of the MAV client software (capable of running MAV-sequenced applications in offline mode); trial versions of key Microsoft products becoming available as MAV-sequenced packages; and the beginning of the real endgame when it’s revealed that Microsoft Office 13 will be available preconfigured for MAV deployment.

And remember: You heard it here first!