REDMOND, Wash. , and TOKYO — Aug. 6 , 2013 — Microsoft Corp. today announced that Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company is deploying approximately 30,000 Windows 8 tablets as new sales devices for its sales personnel under close cooperation between Fujitsu Limited and Microsoft Japan Co., Ltd. This is Japan’s largest and one of the world’s largest deployments of Windows 8 tablets this year. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance will start to conduct sales activities using the new tablets nationwide starting in September 2013.

As part of an effort to enhance its customer service experience, Meiji Yasuda reviewed its procedures and services from the ground up, based on customer feedback, and developed face-to-face services that provide useful information in easy-to-understand terms.

Leveraging the advantages offered by tablets, Meiji Yasuda will enhance communication with its customers by using videos and other content to explain its products. It will also aim to focus more resources on improving service and boosting its competitiveness by streamlining contract processing and helping eliminate the need for printed documentation while providing enhanced security.

Fujitsu, the partner leading the implementation of this deployment, selected Microsoft’s Windows 8 Pro enterprise operating system to develop a specialized Windows 8 tablet to improve customer service by digitizing procedures and providing beneficial information in an easily understandable format. With this development, Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance will be the first Japanese life insurance company to adopt Windows 8 Pro.

More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

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.

REDMOND, Wash. — Aug . 7 , 2013 — International Airlines Group (IAG), the parent company of British Airways and Iberia, and one of the world’s largest airline groups, has selected Microsoft Office 365 as the business communication solution for approximately 58,000 employees, enabling its workforce to collaborate virtually anytime, anywhere around the world.

“Giving our employees the tools and freedom to achieve more in their day-to-day activities was a key component in our decision to engage with Microsoft,” said Nigel Underwood, chief information officer, IAG. “Office 365 will allow employees to collaborate and achieve their work tasks regardless of the platform, product or device. This is an excellent example of IAG enabling change within the group to create a common IT platform for our airlines which will be more efficient and reduce our costs.”

IAG sought an all-encompassing solution for British Airways, Iberia, IAG Cargo and Avios that would provide a new way for employees to easily work together, as well as ensure access to the mission-critical enterprise tools a global airline group requires. The new Enterprise Agreement includes Office 365, with Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and Yammer, and provides the necessary features and security to help British Airways and Iberia transform their businesses and use cloud-based solutions.

In particular, a key part of the airline’s strategy for the future is better internal communication and collaboration through the use of social tools. Yammer brings together the companies’ employees inside a private and secured enterprise network that enables communication, collaboration and information sharing regardless of business unit or location. For British Airways and Iberia, this addresses major areas such as quickly understanding feedback from customers, responding swiftly to market changes, and keeping all levels of the organization engaged in delivering the group’s vision.

British Airways, Iberia and Vueling are part of International Airlines Group, which is the third-largest airline group in Europe and the sixth-largest in the world based on revenue with 420 aircraft flying to 230 destinations and carrying more than 69 million passengers each year.

More information about how organizations are turning to Microsoft technology is available on the Microsoft Customer Spotlight newsroom.

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.