The County of Los Angeles moves to the cloud with Microsoft

REDMOND, Wash., June 18, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- On Wednesday, Microsoft Corp. announced that more than 100,000 employees of the County of Los Angeles will move to Microsoft Office 365 for Government, including roughly 20,000 law enforcement personnel.

"The county is constantly looking at opportunities to manage cost and improve service," said Richard Sanchez, chief information officer for Los Angeles County. "Office 365 enables us to best manage our licenses, provide greater services to all 30-plus departments and control cost. Each department is unique in its needs and requirements, but departmental CIOs saw that with Office 365, they would be able to better serve the needs of their departmental employees and of the constituents."

The county views Office 365 as a means to increase collaboration, provide a unified platform and help realize cost savings. These cost savings come in multiple forms. First, the county was able to consolidate 15 department enterprise agreements into one countywide agreement that ensures each department has access to the same Microsoft cloud services. This consistency improves performance in an environment that previously had multiple agency systems, hampering collaboration and increasing cost. Second, the agreement ensures that the county pays for only those services in use by existing employees. This represents a savings since staffing levels across various departments fluctuate from year to year or through seasonal workers. Finally, by moving to a cloud-based service, the county was able to avoid the type of large upfront capital expense traditionally required to modernize and consolidate systems.

The county's transition to Microsoft cloud services also provides a platform for the future.

"The county sees a strong movement toward mobility by its staff and in its services offerings to the public through Web services and smart apps," Sanchez said. "Departments will be able to start realizing the benefits of mobility. Using mobile devices, sheriff deputies can access information from their patrol cars, case workers can access files during a foster home visit, and a food inspector can file a report directly from a remote location. This move will help make county employees' jobs easier by enabling them to exchange information and focus on delivery of services to citizens."

The county's desire to maintain its stringent standards for security and privacy requirements, including the Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) standard and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), was another major factor in its decision to choose Office 365.

"Office 365 provides the level of security and built-in compliance for HIPAA and CJIS that we require," said Dr. Robert Pittman, chief information security officer for Los Angeles County.

"Los Angeles is the most populous county in the U.S. and realizes the importance of the due diligence required to make a move to the cloud," said Michael Donlan, vice president, U.S. state and local government at Microsoft. "This move will afford it not only tangible cost savings but help provide enhanced productivity to government employees and county citizens — all through a cloud solution it is familiar with and can trust."

Los Angeles County joins a long list of state and local government entities across the U.S. that are selecting Office 365. This includes a large number of California cities and counties, including San Francisco City and County and  the cities of San Jose, Oakland, Long Beach and Anaheim, as well as Santa Clara County, Ventura County, and the San Bernardino County and Orange County sheriffs' departments. Working with Los Angeles County, Microsoft Consulting Services will begin the migration to Office 365 in July, and Microsoft partner En Pointe Technologies will manage the agreement.

Microsoft's work with Los Angeles County is part of the company's program to empower people — whether governments, citizens or businesses — to transform their cities and their future. Through CityNext, people can take advantage of a broad portfolio of products and technologies, a global network of partners, and a long track record of successful education and social programs.

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services, devices and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

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SOURCE Microsoft Corp.