Microsoft has released a government-specific edition of
its Office 365 cloud-based email and collaboration
suite.
Office 365 for Government is a new multi-tenant service
that stores US government data in a segregated community
cloud. Like other Office 365 offerings, it includes
Exchange Online, Lync Online, SharePoint Online, and
Office Professional Plus.
Today, Office 365 supports global and regional standards
such as ISO 27001, SAS70 Type II, EU Safe Harbor, EU
Model Clauses, the US Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA), the US Family Educational
Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), and the US Federal
Information Security Management Act (FISMA). To meet
evolving needs, Microsoft also plans to support IPv6 in
Office 365 for Government by September of this year, and
is taking steps to soon support Criminal Justice
Information Security (CJIS) policies.