Microsoft Office 365-Really?

I have been a long time user of Microsoft Office apps.  I was using Microsoft Office even back in the 80's when they actually had competition in the word processing and spreadsheet software markets.

So lately I have been reading about the new improvements to Office 365, the online version.  I will on occasion use the products online, but mostly I pay for the subscription to be able to download and use the desktop products.  I do however use a lot of other online apps for things like booking appointments and managing client information.  It seems Microsoft is integrating a lot of those functions into the Office 365 business app.  Based on what I read online, I could pay Microsoft an extra $50 per year and I would get access to their Booking and Outlook Customer Manager.  I am really happy with Acuity Scheduling which I use for online appointment booking and I am satisfied with HubDoc Sales which I use as a customer relationship manager, but I do pay a lot more than $50 per year.

Microsoft has I always though had a good reputation for at least putting out solid products.  They may not always be the most cutting edge, but their products are generally solid and work well.  So last week I made the leap and cancelled my existing Office subscription and signed up for the new and improved version.

Notice that I did not say I upgraded, because there was no option to upgrade.  That should have been a red flag right away that I was going to have to eat the remainder of my old subscription which I prepaid a year for and purchase a new subscription.

Also I am a CPA and I do tax returns.  You would think I would learn my lesson about not making any changes to my workflow in the middle of tax season.  But work flow seemed like a selling feature to me, because I can get unreasonably frustrated with inefficiencies this time of year and I though going with an integrated solution would relieve some of that frustration.

I guess you see where I was going.  I was wrong and Office 365 Business Premium has been a major fail for me.  To the point that I seriously question how Microsoft is staying in business if this is indicative of the products they are putting out.

First off the email and calendar absolutely refuse to talk to Google, which is where my primary email and calendar live.  Not good.  Next, it turns out the Outlook Customer Manager that was supposed to be released back in November and touted as the next great thing, is actually no even really released.  Apparently some people have it, but not everyone and you are simply told to be patient as it will eventually show up in an update.

Then you have the booking app.  It just flat out does not work.  I now have 3 separate businesses set up under the booking app, because I kept thinking I must be doing something wrong.  Only to learn there is no function to delete a booking set up once you create it.  Isn't that like a basic function.  How do you release any product today without a delete, undo or start over functionality?

I can book appointments online, but there is no way to get the booking to look at my Office calendar.  It only looks at its own unique calendar.  So turning it on would only result in double booking me all day every day.

Doesn't Microsoft still have a lot of money?  Why could they not have just purchased a really great scheduler app and put their name on it?  There are a lot of them out there. Oh that is whole other problem.  They did do that with Skype.  Guess what the Skype you get with Office Business is not the Skype you know and love.  It is a re-branded version of Microsoft Lync and it will not share information from your old reliable Skype where you have for years accumulated contacts names and numbers.

Seriously Bill Gates, please come back.  The guys you left in charge are killing me.