Microsoft Launches Cloud Accelerator Program for Indian Enterprises & Government

To help Indian enterprises and government organizations take full advantage of the cloud, Microsoft India today launched a special Cloud Accelerator Program. This announcement was made by the company’s leadership at India’s largest cloud conference, the 2015 Microsoft Azure Conference. More than 1,500 cloud professionals and IT industry decision makers will attend the two-day conference, with another 15,000 participating via the virtual conference.

Last year, Microsoft announced that it will offer Microsoft Azure and Office 365 cloud services from local datacenters by the end of 2015.  The Cloud Accelerator Program will serve as a catalyst to accelerate the adoption of these services amongst enterprises and government organizations.  This will help organizations to not only plan local cloud roadmaps, but also increase compliance with local regulations.

With the help of in-house experts and trained partners, Microsoft India’s Cloud Accelerator Program is specially designed to help Indian customers start and complete their cloud journey. More than 15 Microsoft partners including HCL, Wipro and Tech Mahindra will be part of the roll out of the Cloud Accelerator Program in India. More partners will come on board with new offerings over the coming months.

In addition, Microsoft has launched cloud training programs - Azure Vidyapeeth and GuruVarta, for partners that will enable SMBs transition to the cloud. The program will upskill partners to help 10,000 SMBs across 250 cities to move to the cloud.

The company also announced the launch of a Cloud Decision Framework for public sector companies, government departments, banks, and financial services companies. The Cloud Decision Framework is an independent, open framework based on industry standards and regulator-guidelines. The framework builds on international ISO standards and incorporates India-specific guidelines from IRDA, IDRBT and the IT Act.

“Microsoft has been a front runner in the Indian IT industry for 25 years, helping India use the latest computing technology to achieve more. The cloud is the only way enterprises and government organizations can scale up IT infrastructure to meet the needs of the discerning digital Indian.  We are investing to provide cloud services from local datacenters to help government, BFSI, state-owned enterprises and other regulated industries to take full advantage of the cloud.  The Cloud Accelerator Program is designed to help India move to the cloud, and in turn, help ‘Make in India’ a reality. This will open up new possibilities in e-governance, financial inclusion, healthcare, and education to positively impact the lives of a billion people,” said Bhaskar Pramanik, Chairman, Microsoft India.

Karan Bajwa, Managing Director, Microsoft India said, “Cloud is real in India today.  Our early-adopter customers are already seeing the benefits of public, private and hybrid cloud. With the Cloud Accelerator Program, we and our partners will be able to move thousands of customers to the cloud over the next few months. We are committed to help government departments, public sector organizations, and banking and financial services companies move forward on their own cloud journeys.”

Microsoft is witnessing rapid growth in cloud adoption in India and across the world.  In the quarter ending December 2014, Microsoft’s commercial cloud revenue grew 114% globally.  This was driven by Office 365, Microsoft Azure and Dynamics CRM Online.