More Clouds in New York

In a previous post we told you about how New York City has agreed to consolidate 45 separate Microsoft contracts into one $20 million multi-agency deal that will feature many cloud computing functions.

Now Microsoft and the State University of New York (SUNY) have agreed to make the Microsoft Live@edu suite of online communications and collaboration tools available to its 64 campuses across the state of New York. SUNY sought to decrease costs while providing its 465,000 students with up-to-date technology necessary for success in college and in today’s workforce. As a result, SUNY students will have access to advanced online software, including hosted e-mail, calendars, online storage, Office Web Apps, instant messaging, document sharing and videoconferencing, among other services.

Live@edu is a no-cost hosted platform for student communication and collaboration, providing industry-leading services to the global education market. E-mail and calendars with a 10GB inbox, 25GB of additional file storage, document sharing, instant messaging, video chat and mobile e-mail are just part of the feature set. Live@edu provides students with the professional tools to prepare them for college or work from day one. Live@edu is accessible through popular Web browsers for Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems — and easy to set up, administer and manage. More than 10,000 schools in more than 130 countries have enrolled in Live@edu, serving tens of millions of students worldwide. More information is available here.

Bill Zack.