Bahrain Polytechnic and Microsoft have signed an agreement that will enable the academic institution to acquire Microsoft software in a cost-effective way.

Bahrain Polytechnic's acting chief executive Dr Mohamed Al Aseeri said through the Microsoft Volume Licensing Enrolment for Education Solutions (EES) agreement, the institution has acquired the technology to support students with the means to carve out successful careers, reported the Gulf Daily News (GDN), our sister publication.

“This deal also helped free the information technology (IT) directorate's team from time-consuming and costly maintenance and the management of IT directorate activities giving them more time to concentrate on other fundamental tasks,” he said.

Bahrain Polytechnic is the first educational institution in the kingdom to benefit from the agreement.

“We essentially wanted a turn-key platform that would deliver easy management, always-on availability and could meet the growing storage needs to cope with the exponential increase in mailboxes without difficulty,” said Bahrain Polytechnic information and communications technology services director Sameera Alatawi.

She said Office 365 and Microsoft Azure, as part of the EES agreement, are being used to address IT management issues and deliver educational services. 'Office 365 and Azure are important technology platforms that are also helping us meet our wider strategic objectives of promoting national economic development,” Alatawi added.

Microsoft in Bahrain and Oman regional general manager Sherif Tawfik said the new licensing programme was simple, smart and affordable. - TradeArabia News Service