MS wins San Francisco cloud contract

cloud computing contract, as the city revealed that it will replace its current on-premise e-mail systems with Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS), reports CRN.

San Francisco CIO Jon Walton said the deal runs $1.2 million per year and will move more than 23 000 of San Francisco's municipal employees from 60 departments to the cloud-based e-mail service.

The cloud e-mail system will cost about $6.50 per user per month, he said during a conference call.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the deal covers only Exchange Online - not the other Office 365 components like SharePoint and Lync Online, and not other cloud computing services.

However, Walton said that he considered Google's cloud apps but went with Microsoft because its e-mail service fits in well with the other Microsoft apps that the city and county already use, reveals ComputerWorld.