(Reuters) – Microsoft announced its biggest-ever customer for cloud computing – software that it
hosts on behalf of clients and delivers over the Internet – after winning a contract to provide free services to a major
Indian education body.
mobile phone as he walks past the Microsoft booth with a logo for cloud computing software application at the CeBit computer
fair in Hanover, March, 6, 2012. REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch
Microsoft, which was built
on the sale of expensive software that is installed on individual computers, has been forced by competition from Google and
others to branch out into the fast-growing world of cloud computing.
The U.S. software giant said on Thursday it would
provide its Live@edu communication and collaboration software to more than 7 million students and half a million teachers
through a deal with the All India Council for Technical Education.
The service, which Microsoft is providing for free
as part of its education initiative, includes email, Office Web applications, instant messaging and storage.
For
users, cloud computing is inexpensive and simple, because it removes the need to spend time and money on installing software
and managing servers.
Large government departments are prime targets for vendors such as Microsoft and
Google.
Last June, Microsoft unveiled a revamped online version of its hugely profitable Office software
suite.
(Reporting by Georgina Prodhan, editing by
Jane Baird)