Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the UK has opted to stop using Microsoft’s software in favor of Google Apps.
The move comes after the Cabinet Office and Department for Culture, Media and Sport made the move in March after the Government reported that Google was best suited to its needs.
With over 70,000 staff working for HMRC and 2,500 staff from the Cabinet Office already on Gmail and using Google’s Cloud Services, the move will come as a blow to Microsoft’s enterprise division.
Speaking about the shift to the Cloud, a HMRC representative told TNW:
HMRC has an ambitious digital future planned. This contract will make it easier for staff to collaborate on internal documents – providing greater flexibility and efficiency, while reducing costs. Following a successful pilot, we are planning to roll out Google collaboration tools to more people throughout HMRC later this year. We have carefully considered the protection of customer information and this remains our highest priority.
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The fact that HMRC is trusting Google’s cloud with its official data is a major endorsement for the company.
➤ UK government department swaps Microsoft for Google [Engadget]
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