India Ministry Selects Live@Edu in Microsoft’s Largest Cloud Deployment Ever to 7.5 Million People

Anthony Salcito

This week, the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) branch of India’s Ministry of Human Resources and Development made a big bet on delivering a brighter future for not only India’s up-and-comers, but for the future of India itself. Recognizing that an educated population is one natural resource that increases in value as it increases in size, AICTE announced the deployment of Microsoft Live@Edu to more than 10,000 technical colleges and institutes throughout India.

Now more than ever, governments all over the world face increasingly tough decisions on how, when and where to invest for ensuring economic stability and spearheading growth. India, in particular, continues to push the envelope on innovation with its current strategy to invest heavily in education.

Representatives from Microsoft and the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) announced at a press conference in New Delhi, India, that AICTE is deploying Microsoft Live@edu over the next three months to more than 10,000 technical colleges and institutes throughout India. [From left to right – Yogesh Kocher (Director, Business Development, Microsoft) , Dr. Mantha (Chairman, AICTE), Sanket A (General Manager, Microsoft India) , Kapil Sibal (Hon. Minister for Human Resources & Development, India), Tarun Malik (Director, Product Marketing, Microsoft)].

Today, there are pockets of innovation happening across India’s school systems, but antiquated technology in India’s technical colleges and institutes has undermined opportunities for successful student outcomes. A lot of students experience an inability to access the tools critical to academic success that, for some, translates to a lack of know-how needed to succeed in the workforce. The current IT system does not allow students, faculty and staff to communicate from anywhere at any time. The cloud solves this problem, enabling a seamless collaboration experience.

AICTE selected Live@Edu based on a critical need for a world-class cloud productivity solution for their students that could grow and evolve with ever-changing student needs. The decision means that more than 7.5 million students, educators and staff will soon have access to free, cloud-hosted communications and collaboration services. The impact to students’ improved quality of education extends beyond collegiate success by enabling a smooth transition for students from college to workforce. Live@Edu is the leading communications and collaboration suite in the cloud for education, with more than 22 million people using the service worldwide.

When it comes to belief in the power of education to transform lives and entire economies, India’s Ministry of Human Resources and Development and Microsoft also share a common belief that successful outcomes for students require more than just a product. Unlike other companies, it is Microsoft’s unique ability to offer additional support through programs like BizSpark – a global program that helps software startups succeed by giving them access to Microsoft software development tools and connecting them with key industry players – that inspired AICTE to choose Live@Edu for their students.

A quality education is the key to economic opportunity, not only for individuals, but for their communities. I applaud India for recognizing the time has never been better to commit to providing modern-day classroom tools needed for students to thrive.

Posted by Anthony Salcito
Vice President, Worldwide Education, Microsoft