OBS clinches Azure win involving 77 Queensland councils

OBS has secured a Microsoft Azure deployment for the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ).

The integrator will implement Microsoft SharePoint 2013, CRM Online and Microsoft Azure in the coming months for the organisation, which has 77 local councils as members.

The cloud system will be used to store everything from information about roads, rates and rubbish, council amalgamation, as well as conversations and political background. 

Microsoft described the rollout on its company blog, highlighting that the LGAQ was frustrated with its old (unnamed) document management system. Staff were using workarounds to avoid using the previous “cumbersome” technology.

Key to the new system will be connections between on-premise and cloud infrastructure, said OBS branch manager in Queensland Tony Webster. “A big part of this was Azure integration work to connect CRM Online and SharePoint in a Telstra data centre."

By integrating the two systems, OBS aims to make it possible for LGAQ staff to call up documents from SharePoint while working within CRM Online and visa versa, Webster said.

It is not the first publicly revealed win for Azure in Austraia. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that Australian company Hills Limited would move to Azure.

Microsoft has since confirmed that Azure is operating in Australia on a private preview basis, with wider release set before Christmas. The vendor has previously rveealed it will run two Azure data centres in Australia.

OBS was acquired by ASX-listed Perth company Empired for $15 million last year.