By Teresa Carlson, Vice President, Microsoft Federal
What does it mean for a solution to be “enterprise-ready”? For Federal agencies, it’s about the highest levels of security, collaboration across working groups, pooling resources for cost savings, and accessing productivity tools from any location. Government leaders are increasingly adopting cloud computing because it’s a revolutionary model for achieving these goals in an efficient way. Cloud solutions like our BPOS offering were designed with this “enterprise-ready” vision in mind, and today Microsoft announced the next evolution in cloud productivity – Office 365.
In today’s Federal climate, budgets are shrinking but missions are expanding. Federal CIOs are being asked to accomplish more with fewer resources, and technology is the one investment that can be a force-multiplier while reducing costs. Productivity tools empower government workers to get more done in less time, and Office 365 brings the best tools together under one roof - in the cloud. Office 365 takes the solutions agencies use on a regular basis – like Sharepoint, Exchange, and Office –and combines them in one solution to form the technology backbone of the modern Federal agency. It includes the latest communications and collaboration tools, and works seamlessly with the world’s most popular phones, browsers and software. Office 365 can also be customized for unique agency needs. For example, if you only want Office, you can access only that tool in the cloud, and you pay only for what you use.
We know that none of this matters to government leaders unless data and applications are secure, which is why Office 365 adheres to the industry’s most rigorous security and privacy standards. We take our responsibility seriously to deliver powerful and easy-to-use applications that meet the government’s rigorous security and privacy needs, and we are humbled by the fact that nearly every Federal agency and arm of the DoD trust Microsoft Office, Exchange and SharePoint today. For government agencies looking to make the jump to the cloud, like Minnesota and California recently have, we think Office 365 provides the enterprise-ready features needed to chart that path in the way that makes the most sense for each individual agency.
Beta starts today, so reserve your spot here! I’d love to use this blog to collect feedback from the Federal community!