Microsoft Office365 launches in St Kitts and Nevis; first in the OECS
Basseterre, St. Kitts — The Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis makes Information Technology (IT) industry history Wednesday May 14 with the launch of Microsoft Office365, making it the first country in the OECS to take that all important technological leap.
“As of April 1, 2014, the Federation of St. Kitts and Nevis has been approved for Microsoft Office365, a cloud based platform that offers access to various software solutions built to empower the delivery of electronic services,” says Ms Telly Valerie Onu, Managing Director/Founder of Quintessence Consulting Inc, a Microsoft Certified Partner.
The official launch will be on Wednesday May 14 at the St. Kitts Marriott Resort, where key players in Information Technology in the Federation are expected to attend, with the Federal Minister of Information Technology the Hon Glenn Phillip giving the feature address on behalf of the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and Mr. Jonathan Jagai , Territory Manager on behalf of Microsoft.
“This is a significant step in the thrust towards improving the Federation’s global competitiveness and business climate,” said Ms Onu. “The Federation is only second to Trinidad and Tobago to achieve this elevated Office365 status in the Caribbean and the first in the OECS.”
According to Ms Onu, the selection of St. Kitts and Nevis for this international honour is as a result of the country’s robust economic growth track record, attractive investment climate, extensive broadband infrastructure and Microsoft licence compliance by the Government.
The adoption of Microsoft Office365 provide a number of direct benefits to the Public, Private Sector and the people of St. Kitts and Nevis in terms of enterprise-wide cost savings through the adoption of free voice over internet (VOIP) and other unified communications.
“It will also be providing a robust infrastructure to support the development of a new ICT Industry through the development of solution oriented applications (apps) for Public and the Private Sector, with the establishment of a Living Apps Lab, hence fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the Federation whilst improving productivity and competitiveness,” explained Ms Onu.
Other advantages include, but not limited to, access virtually anywhere, anytime on almost any device, including phones and tablets. It will offer enterprise-class security and reliability with stringent privacy policies.
“It is rated by the European Union as the only cloud solution that helps keep data safe and delivers first rate disaster recovery in the event of unforeseen adversity,” explained Ms Valerie Onu.
Microsoft Office365 will further offer IT control and efficiency thus giving staff more control over user management and service configuration allowing organizations to spend less time and costs on IT maintenance, while providing access to always up-to-date technology that is simple and easy to use.
Users will experience improved accessibility and productivity and a 99.9 percent uptime thus contributing towards a reliable seamless business environment in St. Kitts and Nevis.
“As the second country in the region to offer Office365, Microsoft is preparing a specially tailored incentive package to benefit the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis and the citizens of the Federation to support the advancement of a knowledge based society overall,” observed Ms Onu.
Microsoft and its Partners, in this case Quintessence Consulting Inc., which is based at the Sands Complex in Basseterre for St. Kitts and Nevis, will assist in implementation, transitioning and streamlining process to Office365.