Customer Spotlight: Dow Chemical, Hyatt Hotels and University of Georgia Select Microsoft to Evolve Their Organizations in the Cloud

REDMOND, Wash., July 29 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Dow Chemical Co., Hyatt Hotels & Resorts, and the University of Georgia have each selected Microsoft cloud solutions, Microsoft announced today at the start of the company's annual Financial Analyst Meeting.

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"The Microsoft cloud services ecosystem creates new opportunities for our customers," Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said. "It opens up new markets for businesses, improves operational efficiency and productivity, and transforms what IT can deliver to advance business goals."

With this announcement, Dow Chemical, Hyatt and the University of Georgia join the thousands of businesses and government entities representing millions of people that have purchased Microsoft's online productivity services. Customers include 13 of the top 20 global telecom firms, 15 of the top 20 global banks, and 16 of the top 20 global pharmaceutical companies. In addition, more than 10,000 customers in more than 40 countries have chosen the Windows Azure platform in just nine months. More than 10,000 schools in more than 130 countries have enrolled in Microsoft's Live@edu cloud-based service, serving 11 million students, staffers and educators worldwide.

Dow Chemical

Dow Chemical is moving enterprise users to Microsoft's cloud-based collaboration offering (Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite), including Microsoft Exchange Online, Microsoft Office Communications Online and SharePoint Online. Dow selected Microsoft for its flexibility, enterprise security and reliability.

"Microsoft's experience and expertise in the cloud were key factors in our decision to adopt Microsoft Online Services," said Mack Murrell, vice president of Information Systems at Dow. "Our implementation requirements and business model were unique, and we are confident that Microsoft will deliver a solution to fit our specific needs."

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts

Hyatt Hotels & Resorts also purchased Microsoft's cloud-based Business Productivity Online Suite for approximately 17,000 individuals working at Hyatt's corporate office and Hyatt properties in traditional information-worker roles. In addition, Hyatt purchased licenses for 40,000 "deskless" associates who work in the hotel chain's U.S., Canada and Caribbean locations without access to a PC full time.

"Many people working in our hotels aren't available full time at their desks, but still need access to the same e-mail, instant messaging and other collaboration tools as the rest of our employees," said Mike Blake, CIO at Hyatt Hotels & Resorts. "The flexibility of Microsoft's cloud services allows us to maximize our productivity, helping us focus on those activities that are most critical, such as strengthening guest relationships, generating new revenue streams and improving operations."

University of Georgia

Finally, the University of Georgia selected Microsoft's Live@edu service, a no-cost suite of easy-to-use online communication and collaboration services, based on familiar Microsoft products many people use today such as Outlook, Office and Exchange. With Live@edu, 85,000 Georgia students, faculty and staff can access their e-mail, calendars and documents in the cloud virtually anytime and anywhere, through Web browsers and from any Internet-connected PC or phone. Live@edu fosters better productivity, learning and skills to help students prepare for their futures.

"With Live@edu, we believe we will have a best-in-class communications and collaboration infrastructure including full-featured e-mail, increased storage space, better spam protection, and mobile phone integration," said Dr. Barbara White, chief information officer at the University of Georgia. "Live@edu will help us transform the campus learning environment by connecting our students, educators and staffers through the cloud. This transformation of our infrastructure will also provide capabilities to our students that they will use in their educational pursuits as well as in their future careers."

Microsoft's Proven Cloud Services Expertise

In addition to enterprise cloud offerings, Microsoft runs some of the world's largest consumer cloud services, with more than 600 million unique users on MSN, more than 500 million active Windows Live IDs, and 23 million users of the rapidly growing Xbox Live gaming service, and over 4 billion Bing search queries monthly.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

SOURCE Microsoft Corp.