REDMOND, Wash. — Nov . 15 , 2012 — Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq “MSFT”) today announced availability of cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics business solutions designed to meet the unique security and functionality requirements of U.S. federal government agencies. Delivered in a Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)-compliant, federal-only, infrastructure environment, these solutions enable government organizations to collaborate, manage data, improve processes and access actionable business intelligence while taking advantage of the flexibility, security features, performance and cost savings of a cloud-based delivery model that is hosted by Microsoft partner Layered Technologies Inc.

Designed to meet the rigorous National Institute of Standards and Technology security and control standards required of federal government agencies for FISMA compliance, the Layered Tech environment includes a single-tenancy private cloud with dedicated hardware and physical storage for the tightest security requirements, as well as a federal-only infrastructure environment to take advantage of increased scalability and efficiency and reduced costs associated with public cloud computing.

“Government customers can feel confident in a cloud delivery model that meets federal government mandates such as FISMA and the ‘cloud-first’ policy,” said Amir Capriles, general manager, U.S. Public Sector for Microsoft Dynamics. “This environment allows them to achieve the business benefits of cloud computing while meeting even the most stringent security requirements.”

“Our proven success working with government organizations and close collaboration with the Microsoft Dynamics team has allowed us to deliver a truly innovative cloud platform,” said Brad Hokamp, president of Layered Tech. “We can now extend security compliance far past the FISMA Moderate solutions offered by other cloud providers, to keep in step with the government’s intensifying need for the benefits of business solutions delivered through secure cloud computing.”

A diverse set of Microsoft Dynamics solutions will be available on this new infrastructure, which will enable government agencies to meet their needs, including case management, workforce management, onboarding, correspondence and targeted outreach, task management, field inspection, intelligence gathering, call center interactions, financial management, grants management, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) management, emergency response, economic development, jail and offender management, and 311.

Federal government customers are already taking advantage of Microsoft Dynamics business solutions hosted in the cloud by Layered Tech. One solution enables federal government customers to effectively fulfill their missions and remain in compliance with FOIA and the Privacy Act. The solution for tracking public records requests is one of the only FISMA-certified cloud solutions available on the market to manage FOIA requirements.

Layered Tech Solutions Advisory Committee

With the launch of a Microsoft Dynamics government cloud solution, Layered Tech established a Solutions Advisory Committee to enable certified Microsoft Dynamics partners with years of government experience to rapidly deploy government cloud solutions, maximizing best practices and lessons learned to meet the unique needs of government agencies. Several partners are witnessing the value of Microsoft Dynamics cloud solutions for their customers:

“Layered Tech’s new FISMA-compliant Microsoft Dynamics cloud offering is really exciting for us at Catapult Systems and aligns with a core mission of providing greater customer value at a lower cost,” said Jim Booth, general manager, Catapult Systems Federal. “By partnering with Layered Tech, Catapult can now offer a secure and compliant enclave to our government customers. As security concerns have increased and cost reduction efforts are at the forefront of every agency, the technology advances at Layered Tech can address both in a compliant cloud environment. Coupled with the Microsoft Dynamics application platform for rapid development and Catapult’s preconfigured COTS solutions, lower-cost, more robust complete offerings can be provided to government agencies for a wide range of solutions, from correspondence to security escalation and case management.”

“This cloud solution provides federal independent software vendors with the advantage of optimizing ‘as-a-service’ computing resources to quickly and cost-effectively build out targeted solutions to support specific federal agency requirements while reducing infrastructure maintenance and support costs and delivering a high level of security and regulatory compliance,” said Tom Berger, vice president, Green Beacon. “By offering federal agencies flexible cloud computing solutions that meet a variety of requirements for provisioning and acquiring IT services, federal agencies are now able to optimize their IT spending while improving overall agility.”

“The Microsoft Dynamics Government Cloud provides the opportunity to optimize ‘as-a-service’ computing resources to quickly and cost-effectively deliver targeted solutions to support specific federal agency requirements,” said Annette Rippert, Federal Services senior executive, Accenture. “Being able to provide solutions like Accenture’s Task Management Tool (TMT) as a service will reduce infrastructure, maintenance and support costs, while delivering a high level of security and regulatory compliance.”

More information on the availability of new cloud-based Microsoft Dynamics business solutions built specifically for federal government agencies can be found here.

About Microsoft Dynamics

Microsoft Dynamics solutions empower your people to be more productive and your systems to last longer and scale as your organization grows, while enabling you to derive the insights necessary to respond quickly in an ever-changing world.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

MADRID, Spain, and REDMOND, Wash. — Nov. 14, 2012 — Telefónica Digital and Microsoft Corp. today announced a multiyear strategic agreement to create a new Global Video Platform (GVP) for all video entertainment services across Telefónica’s Operating Businesses. Based on key Microsoft technologies including the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, the GVP is unique in delivering TV services over both managed (IPTV) and nonmanaged (“over the top”) networks, at global scale, to a range of consumer devices. The first GVP deployments are taking place in Brazil, Chile and Spain, and Telefónica anticipates extending the deployment of TV services based on the GVP to a number of its other Operating Businesses over the next few years.

“Video is a fast-growing market, and we already play a leading role in delivering Pay TV services to customers in Europe and Latin America. This new platform allows us to reflect the deep and rapid changes happening in this market. It offers the ease and convenience of a global, convergent platform while maintaining flexibility over content for our local businesses. Most important, it allows us to meet customer demands for access to video content on an ever-expanding range of devices,” said Vivek Dev, director of Digital Services, Telefónica Digital.

The GVP, and its use of Mediaroom, will enable Telefónica to deliver to consumers high-performance, differentiated and feature-rich TV services over both its managed high-speed broadband networks as well as “over-the-top” nonmanaged broadband networks. It provides a range of advanced features to TV subscribers, including time-shifting and multiscreen among others, enabling Telefónica to take advantage of its multidevice capabilities.

“Telefónica is a close partner to Microsoft, and the Global Video Platform, based on the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, will enable them to grow their business and reach new audiences,” said Tom Gibbons, corporate vice president, Operator TV Business, Microsoft. “This new agreement focused on Telefónica’s GVP further extends our alliance in the world of TV and video entertainment to a range of screens throughout the home and on the go, and the benefits will be enjoyed by many millions of people globally. Through its use of IP-based broadband networks and the Microsoft Mediaroom platform, Telefónica’s next-generation TV services are poised to delight and entertain millions of consumers across their markets in Europe and Latin America.”

These services can be enjoyed by consumers on a range of devices inside and outside the home, including set-top boxes, Xbox 360, tablets and smartphones. Because the Mediaroom platform includes key technologies such as Microsoft PlayReady, Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming and Microsoft Silverlight, the delivery of TV services across these various networks and to multiple screen types can all be done via one common technology infrastructure. This is expected to result in significant efficiencies for Telefónica in time to market, cost of delivery and overall scale.

Earlier this month, Telefónica launched its premium Internet Protocol television (IPTV) service in Brazil, which follows a similar launch in Chile in October. Both services, Vivo TV Fibra in Brazil and Movistar IPTV in Chile, are the first IPTV deployments that take advantage of the new GVP platform and its capabilities, offering an exceptional user experience for their Fiber to the Home customers. In November 2011, Telefónica and Microsoft launched the first service enabled by the GVP: Movistar Imagenio on Xbox 360. It provides subscribers with 12 linear channels focused on sports, including the Spanish First Soccer League (Liga BBVA) under Canal+ Liga Channel.

During the past 14 months, the Microsoft Mediaroom platform has continued to scale its deployments and services, surpassing 11 million consumer households and 22 million set-top boxes across the Americas, EMEA and APAC, further securing its position as the world’s most deployed IPTV platform.*

About Telefónica

Telefónica one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world in terms of market capitalisation and number of customers. From this outstanding position in the industry, and with its mobile, fixed and broadband businesses as the key drivers of its growth, Telefónica has focused its strategy on becoming a leading company in the digital world.

The company has a significant presence in 25 countries and a customer base that amounts close to 314 million accesses around the world. Telefónica has a strong presence in Spain, Europe and Latin America, where the company focuses an important part of its growth strategy.

Telefónica is a 100% listed company, with more than 1.5 million direct shareholders. Its share capital currently comprises 4.551.024.586 ordinary shares traded on the Spanish Stock Market (Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia) and on those in London, New York, Lima, and Buenos Aires.

About Telefónica Digital

Telefónica Digital is a global business division of Telefónica. Its mission is to seize the opportunities within the digital world and deliver new growth for Telefónica through research & development, venture capital, global partnerships and digital services such as cloud computing, mobile advertising, M2M and eHealth. It is also driving innovation in over the top communications under a new umbrella brand called TU and in Big Data through Telefónica Dynamic Insights. Telefónica Digital will deliver these new products and services to Telefónica’s 314 million customers as well as entering new markets. It is headquartered in London with regional centres in Silicon Valley, Sao Paulo, Spain and Tel Aviv. Jajah, TokBox, Terra, Media Networks Latin America, 48 and giffgaff are all managed under the Telefónica Digital umbrella.

To sign up for news alerts and read commentary on Telefónica Digital, visit http://www.telefonica.com/digitalhub and track them on Twitter @tefdigital.

About Microsoft Mediaroom

The award-winning Microsoft Mediaroom Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) and multimedia software platform is the most widely deployed IPTV platform in the world. Mediaroom is driving the future of television by enabling broadband service providers to deliver new connected TV and entertainment experiences to consumers worldwide. It provides new ways for consumers to experience TV as part of their connected, digital lifestyle, while also creating new business opportunities for broadband service providers, hardware manufacturers, content creators, advertisers and application developers. Over 40 of the world’s leading service providers across four continents have selected the Mediaroom platform to drive their digital TV services. More information on Mediaroom and the opportunity to deliver the best in TV plus all your media in one place is available at http://www.microsoft.com/mediaroom.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

* This is an increase from previously reported 8 million consumer households and 16 million set-top boxes.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.

REDMOND, Wash., and WASHINGTON — Nov. 13, 2012 — The American Public Human Services Association (APHSA), in coordination with Microsoft Corp., today released the results of a new survey of health and human services departments and agencies nationwide. The report, “A Promising Future for HHS Transformation — The Real Impact of IT System Modernization,” includes survey findings that identify the expectations, strategies and practices that health and human services (HHS) agencies use for the planning, acquisition and implementation of their information technology (IT) systems.

APHSA and Microsoft surveyed 67 agency program leaders from 35 states at various stages of modernizing their HHS IT systems, from those who have implemented solutions for eligibility determination and benefit issuance, case management, and online self-service to those who had not yet modernized. The survey focuses on capturing the agencies’ experience with organizational transformation planning efforts, the agencies’ system life-cycle challenges, and the impact and benefits the agencies experienced from IT modernization. The results revealed that with dynamic executive leadership, due diligence and solid program management practices, departments are seeing incremental benefits expected of IT modernization, but a number of challenges remain. With those challenges, a bright path exists to achieve the desired business benefits for transformation through the promise of today’s technology.

The key takeaways from the survey are as follows:

Implementation

• Forty-three percent of agencies have implemented a new HHS IT system within the past 10 years.

• Fifty-seven percent have not modernized, yet most (55 percent) plan to do so over the next three to five years.

• Nineteen percent of respondents had no plans to modernize, mainly due to lack of funding.

• Of the states planning to modernize, approximately 22 percent are very likely to consider the cloud for future system deployment.

Timing

• Forty percent of agencies surveyed experienced an implementation timeframe of more than three years when implementing a new system. Long timeframes generally correlate to agencies with a larger number of business rules and practices to re-engineer complex IT environments with multiple legacy systems, requiring extensive training and support. States with larger constituent populations also report longer implementation timeframes, but the programs themselves (e.g., Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, Child Welfare, etc.) did not have a direct correlation.

Benefits and Expectations

• State agencies planning to modernize (55 percent) expect a new system to meet about 63 percent of their needs in the areas of customer-centricity, improved self-service and improved decision-making.

A full report and APHSA webinar on the survey findings can be found at http://www.aphsa.org.

Of the states that modernized, 100 percent cited the need to extend system functionality with nondevelopers, and 80 percent felt the amount of required customization and interoperability across programs and systems was not in line with expectations. These deficiencies were perceived as factors that lead to project delays and contract and scope modifications.

“State human service agencies average spending $40 million over a three-year implementation timeframe, but the time has never been more opportune to benefit from IT advances to achieve the mission of HHS agencies,” said Tracy Wareing, APHSA executive director. “As an organization, we are committed to sharing best practices with one another to ensure that human service agencies are achieving the outcomes we seek.”

Modernization Best Practices

The agencies surveyed also outlined the reasons for their successes, as well as key learnings on the planning and implementation of HHS IT systems:

• Leadership and effective cross-boundary communication is a bedrock requirement to effectively leverage technology. Today’s technology can help facilitate effective communication throughout and across organizations. However, it can only do so when organizations define clear goals for communication and work together to support implementation of the technical tools.

• Technology must be nimble and responsive to change. HHS environments are dynamic and changing rapidly. IT solutions must be able to adapt effectively to this constant change.

• Gaining cost efficiencies requires the use of benchmarks and measurement. IT deployments are long-term projects, typically taking years to complete. To ensure that projects stay on track and focused on the original, key deliverables, it is critical to define benchmarks and track against them.

“Many states are taking a forward-thinking and visionary approach to transforming their programs and modernizing IT systems,” said Laura Caliguiri, managing director, U.S. Public Sector Health and Human Services, Microsoft. “Human services agencies are leveraging technology advancements and best practices, enabling an incremental strategy to ensure immediate benefits from the new systems and are able to accommodate policy and program changes.”

States Achieving Intended Benefits of IT Modernization Efforts

IT can play a pivotal role in government redesign, delivering on strategies to connect systems and streamline data to eliminate redundancies, reduce costs and increase efficiencies of HHS, and several states are already seeing improved outcomes due to these advancements.

Florida’s Office of Early Learning and the Tennessee Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (DIDD) are using Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a customer relationship management solution that can improve access, quality and efficiency in the financing and delivery of HHS programs. By building a foundation that can be configured to work the way an agency needs it to, whether it is on-premises or in the cloud, to help streamline processes, reduce costs, and improve staff productivity and citizen service, agencies and case workers have access to enhanced visibility, streamlined processes, and improved coordination and outcomes.

Florida’s Office of Early Learning is working with HP to deliver the Early Learning Information System (ELIS), built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, for the enhancement of the state’s early learning programs. ELIS is a consolidated information system that manages the early learning programs used by 300,000 Florida families whose children attend the Voluntary Prekindergarten Education and School Readiness programs. The benefits of ELIS will include streamlined administrative processes, reduced potential for fraud and overpayments, data-sharing capabilities across multiple stakeholders, and easy access to child care resource and referral information.

The Tennessee DIDD selected Microsoft Dynamics CRM and Mid-America Consulting Group to help the organization operate more effectively with greater transparency, greater accountability and reduced costs — ultimately delivering greater value for the taxpayer. Most important, the Tennessee DIDD hopes to provide greater protection and significantly improve the lives of the people and families who depend on its services. More information on states achieving the intended benefits of IT modernization can be found here.

About APHSA

APHSA is a bipartisan, nonprofit organization representing appointed state and local health and human service agency commissioners. APHSA is the only association of the nation’s top government human service executives, including states, the District of Columbia, and the territories, their key state program managers, and hundreds of county-level human service directors nationwide.

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.

Note to editors: For more information, news and perspectives from Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft News Center at http://www.microsoft.com/news. Web links, telephone numbers and titles were correct at time of publication, but may have changed. For additional assistance, journalists and analysts may contact Microsoft’s Rapid Response Team or other appropriate contacts listed at http://www.microsoft.com/news/contactpr.mspx.