Microsoft amends school licensing to allow access to server apps via third parties

Microsoft has amended the Ministry of Education’s Microsoft School Agreement to allow schools to access Microsoft server software hosted by third parties, including the Ministry of Education and other schools the company says.

The change, which is within the scope of the original agreement, was made in response to requests from schools for more flexible server hosting arrangements, Microsoft says in a statement announcing the move.

“This will allow schools to more easily work together to establish shared infrastructure, enabling them to reduce IT costs and focus more resources on learning," says Ministry of Education Manager e-Learning Innovation, Howard Baldwin, in the statement.

The move will also ehance schools' ability to utilise the ultra-fast broadband network, Microsoft says.

Evan Blackman, education manager at Microsoft New Zealand, says: “The combination of high speed connectivity and the amended Microsoft School Agreement will enable schools to more easily adopt local cloud services as they gain ultra-fast broadband capability."