Dow Chemical, Hyatt Hotels and University of Georgia

Jul 30, 2010 10:30 GMT  ·  By

More and more corporations embrace the natural evolution from on-premise to the Cloud, and Microsoft’s comprehensive line-up of offerings along with it. During its annual Financial Analyst Meeting earlier this week, the Redmond company announced the latest three big corporate customers that have adopted its Cloud solution: Dow Chemical, Hyatt Hotels and University of Georgia.

According to the software giant, all of Dow Chemical’s enterprise users will start leveraging the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite. Some customers might already be familiar with BPOS, a suite which offers Cloud-based alternatives to a range of top Microsoft technologies, such as Exchange Server, Office Communications and SharePoint Server.

“Microsoft’s experience and expertise in the cloud were key factors in our decision to adopt Microsoft Online Services,” noted Mack Murrell, vice president of Information Systems at Dow. “Our implementation requirements and business model were unique, and we are confident that Microsoft will deliver a solution to fit our specific needs.”

BPOS is also at the core of Hyatt Hotels & Resorts’ transition into the Cloud. With over 57,000 licenses, 17,000 for information workers and 40,000 for “deskless” associates, Hyatt Hotels ensures that its workers have access to BPOS even when they’re not at their desks. “Many people working in our hotels aren’t available full time at their desks, but still need access to the same e-mail, instant messaging and other collaboration tools as the rest of our employees,” commented Mike Blake, CIO at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts.

University of Georgia will move no less than 85,000 Georgia students, faculty and staff to Live@edu, enabling them to take advantage of e-mail, calendars and document applications in the Cloud. “With Live@edu, we believe we will have a best-in-class communications and collaboration infrastructure including full-featured e-mail, increased storage space, better spam protection, and mobile phone integration,” added Dr. Barbara White, chief information officer at the University of Georgia.

But the corporate customers mentioned above are only a small part of the Microsoft Cloud adoption story. According to statistics provided by the Redmond its Cloud-based offerings are making headway in terms of customer uptake. 13 of the top 20 global telecom firms, 15 of the top 20 global banks, and 16 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies have already selected the Microsoft Cloud, with over 10,000 companies now leveraging Windows Azure and over 10,000 schools having already enrolled in Microsoft’s Live@edu. “The Microsoft cloud services ecosystem creates new opportunities for our customers,” Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner noted. “It opens up new markets for businesses, improves operational efficiency and productivity, and transforms what IT can deliver to advance business goals.”

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