70,000 NGOs around the world stand to benefit in the next three years
Hong Kong, June 23, 2016 – Microsoft has long promoted the development of cloud services and the use of innovative technologies by non-governmental organizations (NGOs). Microsoft has announced it is donating over US$1 billion in cloud services to 70,000 NGOs around the world in the next three years. Microsoft Hong Kong will expand the scope of its cloud services support to local NGOs, and help them to enhance their operational efficiency, network security and overall service quality, so that they can provide even better community services to countless people.
Microsoft brings cloud services to the local NGO community
Microsoft believes in the importance of “Public Cloud for Public Good”. It hopes to enable every individual and organization to benefit from the cloud. By relying more on cloud services, NGO staff can be more efficient in what they do and NGO operating costs can be lowered. The savings thus achieved can be ploughed back to the community to provide a wider variety of services, allowing service recipients to enjoy the benefits brought about by IT.
To help NGOs to adopt cloud technology, Microsoft will donate services tailored to the specific requirements of the respective NGOs. Qualified NGOs need only submit their applications at a designated website to receive the cloud services and products donated by Microsoft: Dynamics CRM Online, Office 365, Power BI, Enterprise Mobility Suite as well as Azure which will soon be available to NGOs, and special discounted offers for the purchase of relevant products.
“Microsoft Hong Kong has long been an advocate of promoting community services. Microsoft has donated HK$225 million in software to 600 NGOs in the past decade to improve their technological capabilities and equipment. In recent years, Microsoft has donated over 20,000 complimentary Office 365 accounts to over 200 NGOs. Through our support to local NGOs, we hope to help them make better use of IT and facilitate their work in this “mobile first, cloud-first” world,” said Winnie Yeung, Assistant General Counsel, Corporate, External and Legal Affairs of Microsoft Hong Kong.
All-out embrace of cloud services by NGOs
Early this year, around 80 employees of the Christian Family Service Centre started using Microsoft cloud services and products, such as Office 365, to handle documents and conduct online meetings. Because the Microsoft cloud service can be installed both on the desktop and on a mobile device, employees were able to easily retrieve information and documents and to collaborate online, even when they were outside the office or at different service centers. This greatly improved the operational efficiency of the entire organization. In addition, Microsoft Hong Kong provides training workshops and technical support to Christian Family Service Centre, so that staff can swiftly and smoothly adapt to the new system.
“Cost effectiveness of IT systems is always a concern for NGOs. Since we provide a diversified service to the public, the people and places we service are spread around Hong Kong. For that reason, we really need a mobile operation solution that suits our staff who deliver services outdoors, so that they can easily retrieve documents and information. At the same time, we must ensure on-premises information security, which includes the data of our members, so as to support the daily operations of the entire organization,” said Kwok Lit Tung, JP, Chief Executive of Christian Family Service Centre. “The cloud services donated by Microsoft not only include Office 365 tools for collaborative work and conference functions, but also offer controllable privacy rights of cloud storage space. Therefore, it improves the overall operational efficiency, as well as ensuring data security.”
“The Christian Family Service Centre needs to constantly implement all kinds of innovations in response to social changes and requirements to keep up with the times. Given that cloud technology was still not mature a few years ago, we adopted a wait and see attitude on its usage, especially since there is a lot of personal data involved in our daily work. Now that the current cloud technology has become immensely mature, and is able to deliver reliable network security functions, we are confident to use the technology and encourage our employees to switch to it. We are convinced that with the assistance of cloud technology, we can focus our resources on improving our community services and on providing more intimate support to those in need,” said Eddy Lo, Corporate Affairs Director of Christian Family Service Centre.
The Christian Family Service Centre expects to extend the cloud services to all employees in July when the e-mail accounts of over 1,000 employees will be migrated to Office 365 Outlook. In addition, the NGO has included SharePoint and Yammer in its future internal and external communication plan, with the ultimate goal of migrating the entire system to Azure cloud services to enjoy still more benefits brought by cloud services.
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About Microsoft
Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT” @microsoft) is the leading platform and productivity company for the mobile-first, cloud-first world, and its mission is to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
About Christian Family Service Centre
Christian Family Service Centre (CFSC) was established in 1954. Over the years, the Agency’s work gradually extended and it is now a multi-service agency, with the mission to support and enhance family functioning and to foster an environment for growth and change. We provide multi-services including: Children & Family Services, Youth Services, Elderly Care Services, Active Ageing Services, Services for People with Disabilities, Opportunities & Inclusion for People with Disabilities, Mental Health Services, Medical & Health Services, Community Development Services, Environmental Protection & Green Living, Employee Service Consultancy and Whole Person Development & Professional Training.
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