Microsoft and HP agree 4-year deal for Office 365

HP and Microsoft have announced a new four-year partnership to deliver public, private and hybrid cloud solutions built around Microsoft Office 365 and its on-premise equivalents.

Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft will offer software including Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft SharePoint Server 2010 and Microsoft Lync Server 2010 using HP’s cloud data centres, whilst HP will become an Office 365 reseller.

The specific offerings include:

  • Private: HP’s Enterprise Cloud Services (including Messaging, Collaboration and Real-Time Collaboration) will deliver Microsoft Exchange Server, SharePoint Server and Lync Server productivity applications as a service from HP’s worldwide data centres.
  • Public: Microsoft will continue to deliver its Office 365 suite over the public cloud.
  • Hybrid: HP will use Enterprise Cloud Services and resell Office 365 alongside it.

The offerings will eventually be available globally, but with initial availability this month in the UK, US, Australia and Canada.

“Large organisations, particularly those in regulated industries like financial services and public sector, have demanding functionality and service level requirements,” said Brandt Faatz, vice president of Workplace Services at HP Enterprise Services.

“This alliance with HP not only broadens Microsoft’s geographic reach, it gives customers maximum flexibility to choose a cloud computing solution that meets their organisation’s specialised messaging and collaboration needs.”