The Choice Is Clear: Universities Worldwide Select Microsoft Live@edu

REDMOND, Wash. — June 22, 2009 — Momentum continues worldwide for Microsoft Live@edu: several new universities have recently signed on for the no-charge suite of communication and collaboration tools for students, faculty, staff and alumni. By signing up for Live@edu, the schools gain access to Microsoft Office Outlook Live for e-mail, Microsoft Office Live Workspace to share documents and collaborate, Windows Live Messenger for instant messaging, and Windows Live SkyDrive for 25 GB of online data storage space.

“Our goal with Live@edu is to equip the next generation of leaders with a rich set of productivity and collaboration tools as they move from campus to business environments,” said Takeshi Numoto, corporate vice president of the Office Product Management Group at Microsoft Corp. “It is exciting to see students, educators and IT administrators choosing Live@edu to enrich the learning experience and to prepare students for future success.”

The growth in universities, colleges and schools embracing Live@edu includes the following recent customer wins:

  • Washington State University. The university anticipates saving more than $100,000 by providing Live@edu with Outlook Live for its 25,000 enrolled students. A video featuring Washington State University students and administrators is available at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/Officesoftwareplusservices/default.mspx

  • University of Sydney, Australia. The school will move more than 46,000 students to the new Live@edu system. The choice of Live@edu was made following a technical evaluation and consultation with student representatives.

  • Alexandria University, Egypt. Founded in 1938, Alexandria University is one of the most renowned universities in Egypt, and with 130,000 students it is the third-largest university in the country.

  • Sri Lankan Universities. Live@edu will be made available to students at University of Colombo, University of Peradeniya, University of Jaffna, University of Kelaniya, University of Moratuwa, University of Ruhuna, University of Sri Jayawardenepura, Wayamba University of Sri Lanka, Sabaragamuwa University of Sri Lanka, Uva Wellassa University and Eastern University, Sri Lanka.

“The Live@edu service met all our internal IT requirements and offers functionality that the university’s system could not compete with. Our students now have the advantage of a greatly increased mailbox capacity as well as the option to have an e-mail account for life,” said Bruce Meikle, chief information officer at the University of Sydney. “In addition to these student benefits, the IT department now has an easy-to-manage and scalable e-mail service that will help take the university into the future.”

In addition, Microsoft launched a new services management portal that gives IT administrators a one-stop location to access critical tasks and manage services. Another new resource, Outlook Live Answers, gives administrators a convenient forum to post questions and quickly locate answers. Live@edu features 24×7 online and telephone support and is designed to work with campuses’ existing IT infrastructure, including Microsoft Exchange Server, which makes Live@edu a smart choice compared with other free educational offerings.

“Faced with escalating costs in providing e-mail and rising student needs, schools are looking for a better way than going it alone,” said Christopher Voce of Forrester Research Inc. in his June 10, 2009, report, “Case Study: What Enterprises Can Learn From Universities’ Cloud-Based Hybrid Email.” “This initiative has successfully lowered the schools’ e-mail costs and significantly enhanced the student experience.”

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