Microsoft recently introduced the world to its Office 2013, which will soon be available to the public along with the latest version of the cloud-based Office 365.

There are several strong reasons that will encourage Microsoft customers to upgrade to the latest software. Some of the most compelling reasons are as follows:

Cost: Microsoft has yet to announce the precise price tag for the new Office 2013. But, Office 365 plans are said to be starting at $4 a month. Small businesses will be able to get access to Exchange, SharePoint, and Lync along with the core Office productivity apps for just $6 a month. Larger businesses that wish to reap the advantage of Active Directory integration will be able to do so for just $8 per user per month.

Accessibility: As Office 365 is a cloud service, the user can access Microsoft Office tools like Word, Excel and Outlook from any Internet-connected device and from anywhere.

Maintenance & updates: With your Office 365 subscription, subscribers will get their own Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and Lync infrastructure. They will be able to maintain their desktop Microsoft Office software, and install the updates every month yourself. Security patches, updates as well as upgrades just take place in the background without requiring the subscriber to worry about it.

Redmond-based Microsoft is widely expected to release the final version of Office 2013 sometime in or around February next year.