Technology & IT | Friday 21 October, 2016 3:38 am |

As part of its Microsoft Philanthropies division and its ‘Modern Non-profit’ campaign, Microsoft has announced that it will be making Microsoft Azure available to eligible non-profit organisations, by offering Azure credits. This offer adds to the existing comprehensive suite of Microsoft cloud services that are available to non-profits to empower their missions.

Microsoft Azure’s cloud services help organisations accelerate innovation with integrated intelligence that powers insights and decision-making, supports a broad selection of operating systems, and provides industry-leading security.

This forms part of Microsoft’s ‘Public Cloud for Good’ initiative. In January 2016 Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, announced that the company will donate $1 billion in cloud computing resources over the next three years to 70,000 non-profits and NGOs worldwide.

Microsoft is on a mission to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more by investing in technology, employees and partnerships, to drive greater inclusion and empowerment of people who do not have access to technology and the opportunities it enables.

The cloud suite available to non-profits already includes Office 365, Power BI, Dynamics CRM, and Enterprise Mobility. These solutions improve NGOs’ agility and flexibility while helping them to optimise operations and increase impact.

"We are committed to helping non-profit groups to use cloud computing to solve basic human challenges. One of our ambitions for Microsoft Philanthropies is to partner with these groups and ensure that cloud computing is accessible to a greater number of people and meets the widest range of societal needs," said Samir Noman, President of Microsoft Arabia.

“Through this campaign, registered NGOs would have the eligibility to access Microsoft data centres around the world, and benefit from the company’s computing and storage power systems, to develop and run their applications and manage relationships with donors, volunteers and beneficiaries. They can also manage all of their devices, applications and data on a cross-platform basis,” said Deemah Al-Yahya, Director of Developer Experience Group at Microsoft Arabia.

With Azure coming online for non-profits, Microsoft now offers the most comprehensive and industry-leading donations programme, providing cloud services that empower non-profit organisations to digitally transform their business, and transform the world.

"Receiving Microsoft cloud services for free allows us to understand the secrets contained in the data in such a way as to create new opportunities and improve the services that we offer. The cloud also improves the quality of communication and problem solving, while helping us to work more productively and efficiently" Al-Yahya added.

Samir also highlighted the importance of making sure that the wave of innovation being unleashed by cloud computing benefits everyone. Recognizing that the rapid pace of change creates concerns and even challenges for some individuals and communities They have also highlighted the importance of ensuring that the cloud is put in service of the public good, as there is a need for tech companies, the community and governments across the Arab world to work together to achieve this.

 

As a contribution to this important debate in the region, Microsoft announced it has released a manifesto called “A Cloud for Global Good” that details 78 public policy recommendations in 15 categories to help make cloud technologies more trusted, responsible and inclusive.

More on “A Cloud for Global Good” can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/cloudforgood.