Microsoft, Dropbox collaboration goes live for early access users

Microsoft and Dropbox forged an alliance this year with the promise of direct access between Office apps and the file sharing service to come soon.

The first phase, similar to Dropbox's Project Harmony roadmap, is now here, albeit only for some initially.

Project Harmony was first unveiled several months ago as Dropbox's plan to bring its editing and collaboration tools to virtually any software app -- starting with Microsoft Office.

The San Francisco-based cloud company followed up on Thursday with news that members of the Dropbox for Business early access program will get a first crack at the ability to access Dropbox directly from Office apps and edit Office files from the Dropbox app.

Matt Holden, a product manager at Dropbox, highlighted in a blog post the presence of the "Dropbox Badge." Holden explained this icon will designate "important information right from within the image-rich PowerPoint files or function-filled Excel spreadsheets you already work in, so you can rest assured your team always works in sync."

Furthermore, when in Microsoft Office apps, the Badge will display other users viewing or editing files, present most recent versions of files, and generate links for sharing content.

Dropbox previously revealed it hosts more than 35 billion Office documents, spreadsheets and presentations as of November 2014.

For a closer look at a Microsoft-Dropbox collaboration, check out the promo clip below:

Image via Dropbox