Microsoft cloud service deployed by Kentucky schools

The Kentucky Education Department ditches e-mail servers in favor of a Microsoft cloud offering

The Kentucky Department of Education is replacing its e-mail servers with a free cloud-based offering from Microsoft, one that will supply 700,000 students, faculty and staff with e-mail and other information-sharing tools.

By going with a free, cloud-based offering, the state expects to save US$6.3 million in IT-related costs over the next four years.

Each user of Microsoft's Live@edu will get a 10GB e-mail inbox, along with 25 gigabytes of additional file storage. The service will also include document sharing, instant messaging, video chat and mobile e-mail capabilities.

To continue reading, register here to become an Insider. You'll get free access to premium content from CIO, Computerworld, CSO, InfoWorld, and Network World. See more Insider content or sign in.

The Kentucky Department of Education is replacing its e-mail servers with a free cloud-based offering from Microsoft, one that will supply 700,000 students, faculty and staff with e-mail and other information-sharing tools.

By going with a free, cloud-based offering, the state expects to save US$6.3 million in IT-related costs over the next four years.

Each user of Microsoft's Live@edu will get a 10GB e-mail inbox, along with 25 gigabytes of additional file storage. The service will also include document sharing, instant messaging, video chat and mobile e-mail capabilities.

Previously, the state had deployed about 180 distributed Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 on-premise servers to handle educational e-mail duties. The migration for the first 500,000 users took about a weekend.

"Historically, it would have required months and potentially years to migrate hundreds of thousands of people to a new solution," said Chuck Austin, who works in the state education department's Office of Education Technology, in a statement.

More than 10,000 schools across 130 countries use the Live@edu service, according to Microsoft.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.