Microsoft and Google are competing for large and small businesses to use their cloud-based productivity services. Google recently claimed they want to steal 90 percent of Microsoft Office users and have them use Google Apps. Today, Google Apps apparently lost a fight for a major government entity to Microsoft Office 365.
Microsoft"s official blog has revealed that the city of Chicago has signed a deal that will enable 30,000 of the city"s employees access to Microsoft"s cloud software. The blog states:
The City will consolidate its three disparate e-mail systems into one Microsoft Office 365 environment in an effort to improve collaboration, enhance security, and provide both mobile and desktop access for anytime, anywhere productivity. This new strategy will deliver more than $1.3 million in cost savings over the next four years – a whopping 80 percent decrease in cost per employee – while ensuring City workers have access to Web-based versions of the Microsoft tools they rely upon every day, including Microsoft Outlook, Word, OneNote, Excel, Lync and PowerPoint.
Microsoft did not give any specifics on the total cost of the Office 365 contract with the city of Chicago. A press release from the city says that the migration to the cloud service will be fully completed by the end of 2013.
Source: Microsoft | Image via Microsoft