Policy | Short Takes

Brief: Maryland, Microsoft Renew Technology Agreement

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 04/08/11

The Maryland Education Enterprise Consortium has renewed a statewide agreement with Microsoft that was originally signed in 1999.

The agreement will extend to 2015 and gives institutions in the MEEC access to Microsoft technologies including:

• Windows;
• Office;
• Microsoft Exchange Server and SharePoint Server;
• Virtualization, infrastructure, and security solutions; and
• Microsoft Live@edu cloud-based communication and collaboration tools.

The MEEC includes more than 250 public and private educational institutions serving more than 1.4 million students. According to information released by Microsoft, the agreement has saved the state of Maryland "tens of millions of dollars each year for the past 10 years in licensing educational technology."

"In a tough economy, the Consortium's agreement with Microsoft has helped us provide a more consistent set of technologies supporting all levels of education across the state of Maryland," said Don Spicer, associate vice chancellor and chief information officer, University System of Maryland. "Without the power of big organizations in the state helping the smaller schools, there would have increasingly been a digital divide."

Further information is available here.