14 DAY TRIAL // As you’ve probably heard by now, Microsoft is becoming more of a devices and services company that builds many other products besides software, so cloud tech is now playing a very important role for its long-term strategy.
How important? Steve Ballmer claims that cloud is the future, so the company is now bragging about its Office 365 productivity suite and the uptime recorded in the last four quarters beginning July 2012 and ending June 2013.
The tech giant says that the overall uptime was above 99.9 percent, which is pretty impressive given the fact that more users are making the switch to Microsoft’s cloud service.
“The uptime number includes Exchange, SharePoint, Lync and Office Web Apps, weighted on the number of people using each of these services. Customers use these services together, so all of these are taken into account while calculating uptime,” the company says.
“We measure availability as the number of minutes that the Office 365 service is available in a calendar month as a percentage of the total number of minutes in that month. We call this measure of availability the uptime number. Within this calculation we include our business, government and education services.”
At the same time, Microsoft continues to sign new deals with companies around the world, pointing out that Office 365 serves as the best solution for those who want increased productivity on the go.
The firm has only recently announced that International Airlines Group, the corporation behind British Airways and Iberia, has decided to provide its 58,000 employees with access to Office 365 productivity apps, including Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and Yammer.
Of course, the company used the occasion to praise Office 365 and emphasize that its built-in solutions not only improve productivity, but also reduce costs on the short term.
“Giving our employees the tools and freedom to achieve more in their day-to-day activities was a key component in our decision to engage with Microsoft,” said Nigel Underwood, chief information officer, IAG.
“Office 365 will allow employees to collaborate and achieve their work tasks regardless of the platform, product or device.”