Microsoft Pays University $250,000 for Migrating to Office 365 Cloud Platform

For reasons such as access to newer technology, greater flexibility and operational savings, the University of Nebraska is replacing its aging IBM (News - Alert) Lotus Notes email and calendar system with Microsoft's Office 365 cloud platform. But, that’s not the real incentive. The real big motivation is that the University will receive $250,000 in compensation from Microsoft (News - Alert) to underwrite the switch under a program Microsoft calls Business Incentive Funds, reported InformationWeek.

 According to InformationWeek, UNL officials said that the funding will pay for some consulting and licenses to convert a large percentage of users from Lotus Notes to Office 365. In a Q&A that was posted on the University's website, UNL officials said, “We will also use that funding to pay for a Microsoft Premier Support agreement covering email and Microsoft Office applications for the entire University.”

As per the InformationWeek report, the University plans to move all students and faculty to Office 365 over the next 12 to 18 months with the exception of the University’s Medical Center. Security is a concern in the cloud and University officials are not convinced that Office 365 cloud platform can meet the security and privacy standards of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). The Office 365 was officially launched last week.  

Other competitors for the Nebraska business included IBM and Google (News - Alert). While IBM offered a cloud-based version of Notes, Google pitched Google Apps service. Although, Google Apps service was in close race because it offered a superior web-based interface and enhanced capabilities over Notes, Microsoft was able to provide a more competitive pricing structure than Google, according to the school officials, wrote InformationWeek.

University officials said the move from Notes to Office 365 will cut its annual email operating costs by about 50 percent, from $1 million to $500,000, wrote InformationWeek. On top of that when you add $250,000 in funds from Microsoft, the deal looks even better, the officials added.

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