Live@edu Shows Path to Services

Educational institutions can now provide students with Microsoft-hosted services such as e-mail and online document sharing, reducing ongoing IT costs. The program, Live@edu, shows many of the pros and cons of Microsoft’s “software plus services” initiative, although some unique characteristics of educational institutions make hosted services a better fit for them than for many other types of organizations. Live@edu also hints at how partners may be able to capitalize on Microsoft’s transition to software plus services in the short term, even as long-term opportunities, such as on-premise software installations, might be curtailed.

Live@edu Explained

Microsoft began offering hosted services to universities in the United States and a few other countries in Mar. 2005 under the MSN University and College Program. Since then, Microsoft has renamed the program Live@edu and expanded it worldwide. Microsoft claims that Live@edu now serves more than 6 million students at more than 400 universities in 30 countries.