Microsoft, knowing full well that mindshare equals market share, provides a suite of services to education institutions, bundled together as Live@edu, entirely free, minus the obvious time and costs involved in administration. Since the launch of Live@edu, Microsoft has been able to capture over 4,000 educational institutions ranging from K-12 all the way up to Ivy League universities. Info-Tech has examined the offering for the benefits and potential pitfalls.
At its core, Live@edu provides co-branded services for school faculty and students. Live@edu allows students to bring any Windows Live Passport-enabled e-mail address to the system, negating the need for the school to hand out e-mail addresses to every student. Some other Live@edu highlights include: