Free cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools enable nonprofits to streamline IT and focus on social impact
Hong Kong – 26 September, 2013 — Microsoft today announced the availability of its cloud-based productivity solution Office 365 for free access by more than 1,200 qualifying nonprofits and non-governmental organizations in Hong Kong through its Office 365 Donation Program. The total investment in the program, as part of the worldwide launch across 41 countries around the world and will be extended to up to 90 countries by July 2014, is expected to reach up to HK$44 million per annum.
 |
| (From left to right) Chan Kwok Wing, supervisor (corporate development) of The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong; Daisy Kwan, general manager, Senior Citizen Home Safety Association and Horace Chow, general manager, Microsoft Hong Kong Limited |
“Nonprofits operate in the same way as any other organization or business. However, many lack the resources to implement the latest technology,” said Horace Chow, general manager of Microsoft Hong Kong. “Today we are donating to nonprofits and NGOs access to Microsoft’s best-in-class and enterprise-grade cloud-based productivity and collaboration tools, enabling them to spend fewer resources and time on IT and focus on their missions addressing societal issues.”
While the use of modern cloud computing is prevalent in different sectors, nonprofits in Hong Kong are facing capital and manpower shortages in IT development, and most of them are not taking full advantages of latest technology. In a study conducted by Microsoft’s global software donation partner TechSoup, nonprofits reported that the top four advantages of cloud computing are easier IT administration (79%), cost-savings (62%), improved collaboration (61%), data security (54%). In Microsoft NGO Day 2012, the findings of “Survey on Local NGOs’ knowledge on Cloud Solution and Security Concerns” conducted by HKUPOP showed that improving information sharing (45%), reduced or elimination of capital investment (44%) and reduced workload of supporting system (43%) are the most attractive reasons for NGOs to transfer their IT to cloud service.
As a cloud-based product, Office 365 features the ability to access information anywhere across multiple devices; enables easy collaboration; and offers efficient administrative controls. All these are tailored to the daily operational needs of nonprofits without having them worry their data being compromised. To date, more than 5,300 NGO users have already benefitted from Office 365 with the support of Microsoft’s existing charity programs. Two of the examples are The Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong and Senior Citizen Home Safety Association.
In response to the need for better collaboration among its headquarters and unit centers, the Boys’ & Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong is looking for a cloud-based platform to further improve communication and efficiency. “With the current deployment of Exchange Online and SharePoint Online, staff from headquarters and unit centers can track the latest project status and have better communication as well as collaboration among colleagues. The ‘one-to-all’ communication capability of Office 365 is especially important for our crisis management procedure as it makes the communication instant and much more effective. We have seen a positive return from using Office 365 as it saves 50% of manpower and 15% of costs in terms of manual hardware checkup and annual system maintenance respectively, allowing us to reallocate our limited resources to our core services,” said Chan Kwok Wing, the supervisor (corporate development) of The Boys’ and Girls’ Clubs Association of Hong Kong.
Senior Citizen Home Safety Association is another beneficiary of the Office 365 for Nonprofits program. With Office 365, Senior Citizen Home Safety Association has enhanced its operations with improved reliability and productivity while saving one-third of the costs on hardware and maintenance over a five years period. “As an NGO serving the elderlies in Hong Kong, it is very critical for us to ensure our services are always available. After considering our needs, we decided to deploy Exchange Online and SharePoint Online, the core modules of Office 365,” said Daisy Kwan, general manager, Senior Citizen Home Safety Association. “Senior Citizen Home Safety Association takes advantage of Exchange Online to simplify our email management and administration and to grant the employees access to work from anywhere to keep our services always available. SharePoint Online enables staff to instantly share updated information among colleagues at call centers and facilitate timely case follow-up. We are now looking to extend SharePoint Online to streamline our resource booking procedures and project management.”
As a cloud-based productivity and collaboration tool, Office 365 for Nonprofits targets to address the needs of nonprofits and NGOs, with expected benefits including: –
- Ability to access information online from virtually anywhere: Office 365 for Nonprofits increases an organization’s ability to work from anywhere with access to documents and files by using Office apps optimized for use across PCs, smartphones and tablets.
- Collaborate easily: Nonprofits are able to work together easily across organization by using familiar Office apps with email, shared calendar, document sharing, and video conferencing.
- Easy IT implementation: Office 365 for Nonprofits includes access to easy-to-use admin controls and the ability to install Office without uninstalling previous versions.
- Reliable and up-to-date: Office 365 for Nonprofits allows organizations to spend less time on IT maintenance, while having access to technology that is always up-to-date, simple and easy to use. In addition, Office 365 for Nonprofits is backed by industry-leading security features and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
“In Hong Kong, Microsoft has a long-standing history of philanthropy, providing nonprofits with software donations and cash grants for decades. Since the launch of TechDonation in 2007, 362 NGOs have been modernized with our latest software that worth a total of HK$94 million. Office 365 for Nonprofits is our new, critical investment for local nonprofits. This is a clear evidence of our ever-increasing investment to empower the nonprofits so that they can harness technology innovations to better serve their targeted communities, thus also helping fulfill our corporate mission of empowering the community and advancing Hong Kong’s growth and competitiveness through innovations,” added Chow.
Nonprofits and NGOs interested in implementing Microsoft Office 365 can check for eligibility and apply for donations at www.microsoft.com/office365nonprofits. Those interested may also contact (852) 2388 9600 or [email protected] for any related inquiries.
###
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.
