<p>Microsoft says it's making progress in moving cash-strapped public-sector organizations to the cloud, announcing that a group of eight local governments and universities were moving to its Office 365 platform. The suite of applications is a subscription-based, multitenant service offering e-mail, calendars and collaboration applications via a community cloud.</p><p>Eight local government and university organizations are moving to the service, Microsoft said, including Kansas City, Mo.; Seattle and King County, Wash.; and the San Diego Regional Airport Authority. The universities of Miami and Colorado at Colorado Springs, the California Institute of Technology and Sacramento State University were also making the move, Microsoft said.</p><p>Curt Kolcun, vice president of U.S. public sector at Microsoft, said the new sign-ups reflect the requirements of budget-conscious government and education organizations who also want access to some of the management conveniences promised by the cloud.</p><p>"Organizations are achieving significant cost savings through the cloud delivery model while gaining access to the latest collaboration tools, without sacrificing on security or privacy," he said at the firm's recent CIO summit.</p><p><a href="http://gcn.com/blogs/pulse/2013/04/microsoft-office-365-catching-public-sector-agencies.aspx">Keep reading...</a></p><p>Read also:</p><p><a href="http://rcpmag.com/articles/2013/04/01/cloud-gets-serious.aspx">Microsoft Gets Serious in the Cloud with Office 365 Open</a> (Redmond Channel Partner)</p><p><a href="http://www.thedrum.com/news/2013/04/02/microsoft-launches-work-here-initiative-wunderman-promote-microsoft-office-365">Microsoft launches &quot;Work From Here&quot; initiative with Wunderman to promote ...</a> (The Drum)</p><p><a href="http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/applications/3438302/office-365-subscriptions-account-for-25-of-suites-us-retail-sales/">Office 365 subscriptions account for 25% of suite&#039;s US retail sales</a> (ComputerworldUK)</p><p>Explore: <a href="http://news.google.com/news/more?ncl=dSAu-_42ApmjdnM1_4zouJmTcBLeM&ned=us">13 additional articles.</a></p>