Cloud for a Good Cause: Microsoft empowers NGOs through Office 365

B
ANGKOK

May 28,
2014 – Microsoft (Thailand) Limited is continuing its long-term commitment to Thailand and its mission of “Making 70 Million Lives Better.” The company made available Office 365 as part of its Software Donation Program – an initiative conceived to enhance IT capabilities among nongovernmental organizations and nonprofits (NGOs). This addition will allow each organization to focus their efforts on their social missions with the same technology that empowers big corporations, SMEs, educational institutions and other for-profit organizations.

Office 365 is an enterprise ready cloud-based productivity tool for mission-driven organizations with limited resources, providing users with anywhere access to Microsoft Office applications as well as professional email, calendar, instant messaging (IM), web conferencing tools, and document editing in the cloud.

Haresh Khoobchandani, Managing Director of Microsoft Thailand, said, “The Software Donation Program for NGOs originated from our commitment to enhance the technological capabilities and operational efficiency of these organizations. The addition of Office 365 will enable them to better focus on their missions to address societal challenges such as poverty eradication, healthcare, education, youth empowerment and workforce training. In addition, Office 365 offers safe and secure environment that protects NGO and their beneficiary data, which is important for all NGOs, but especially true for those that handle sensitive health information or personal data of children.”

Office 365 provides NGOs access to Microsoft’s enterprise ready cloud service, personalized to the needs of each organization, including:

  • Ability to access information from virtually anywhere: Office 365 increases an organization’s ability to work from anywhere, from headquarters to remote field areas, with access to documents and files by using Office applications optimized for use across PCs, smartphones and tablets.

  • Collaborate easily: NGOs are easily able to work together across their own organization and even their donors by using familiar Office applications – email, shared calendar, document sharing, and video conferencing – that already have over 1 billion users.

  • Easy IT implementation: Office 365 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 allows organizations to spend less time on IT maintenance, while providing access to always up-to-date technology that is simple, easy, and highly stable to use.

“For the Thai Red Cross Society, email is an important tool for communications – especially for critical issues such as organ requests. The email system must be reliable and secure enough to deliver messages without delays or interruptions to ensure patient safety,” said Pornchai Timpawat, Director of the Thai Red Cross Information Technology Centre. “The great benefit of using Office 365 is that we now have a stable email system, which is critical to our day-to-day operations. A cloud-based email system can also help reduce support tasks.”

In a study by TechSoup Global, nonprofits reported that the top four advantages of cloud computing are easier IT administration (79%), cost-savings (62%), improved collaboration (61%), and data security (54%). Given the increasing challenges facing nonprofits around the world, it’s more important than ever to make sure they can access the advantages of cloud computing and drive even more social change in the world.

Microsoft’s donation of Office 365 is part of the company’s 30-year history of community support. In fiscal year 2013 alone, Microsoft donated $795 million (FMV) in cash, software and services to 70,286 nonprofits in more than 115 countries around the world. In Thailand, Microsoft has donated $2 million in software to 430 nonprofits nationwide since 2003.

Nonprofits and NGOs interested in implementing Microsoft Office 365 can register for the program at www.techsoup.asia/th. Information on software donations can be found at TechSoup Asia ([email protected]), Supahrat Juramongkol, Microsoft (Thailand) Limited ([email protected]), or The Kenan Institute Asia ([email protected]).

For more information about Office 365 for Nonprofits and other corporate citizenship programs of Microsoft, log on to www.microsoft.com/office365nonprofits, and www.microsoft.com/ngo.

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For further information, (press) please contact:


Thornthawat Thongnab or Pak Krairiksh

Hill+Knowlton Strategies Thailand

Tel: 0-2627-3501 ext. 106, 126 or 083-225-4567, 086-505-9010

E-mail: tthongnab@hkstrategies.com, [email protected]