Microsoft bags its biggest cloud order — from AICTE

Microsoft on Friday said it has won its biggest global deal for cloud computing, which will provide free services to the All India Council for Technical Education, or AICTE.

Cloud computing is about software and services delivered through the internet.

The project will afford IT access to 11,000 AICTE affiliated institutions across India.

SS Mantha, chairman, AICTE, said since his organisation had a huge space crunch, there was need for a simple, cost-effective solution.

“We asked Microsoft to develop a cloud solution for this. Thus came about the Live@edu platform, which  will include three main offerings - a project factory, a placement portal and an academic networking site. This will be offered free of cost, as it is part of Microsoft’s CSR initiatives, and will allow 7.5 million students and 4.5 lakh teachers to interact with each other, by drawing resources from the cloud. We have roped in L&T to develop these apps for the cloud.”

While the Project Factory allows students to upload their projects online, enabling viewership by a much larger audience of academicians, students as well as the industry who are part of the AICTE cloud platform, the Placement Portal allows students to send their CVs directly to the HR of a company of his choice, without having to log into paid job sites.

Additionally, companies will also be able to post their exact requirements on the Live@edu platform, allowing for more streamlined placements. The Academic Networking site will be similar to other social networking sites like Facebook, allowing students and teachers to exchange ideas and information. These three cloud apps are expected to be launched by June 1, before the start of the new academic year.

“Microsoft has always seen education as a priority area and believes that technology offers possibilities that can help empower not just teachers and students but collectively India as a nation,” said Sanket Akerkar, managing director, Microsoft Corporation.

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.

— With Reuters