Frost & Sullivan recognizes Microsoft Office 365 Offered by Sprint as “… the Most Attractive Offering in a Hotly Contested Field”

Sprint receives 2012 Customer Value Enhancement Award; its growing cloud portfolio helps businesses work easier

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sprint (NYSE: S) has received the 2012 North American Customer Value Enhancement Award in Mobile Communications and Collaboration for its cloud-enabled Microsoft Office 365 offer, which includes the unique Carefree Cloud “white glove” migration and onboarding assistance, along with online support resources and a user friendly portal to manage the services. Specifically, Frost & Sullivan’s report states, “Its Microsoft Office 365 solution reflects a sharpened understanding of U.S. small business needs and offers the most attractive offering in a hotly contested field.”

“We firmly believe that Sprint stands out among its peers by offering not only a tightly integrated, professional communications solution in Microsoft Office 365; the wireless provider also meets real small business needs by providing its personalized “Carefree Cloud”

Frost & Sullivan’s research reveals that the key factors that have contributed to Sprint’s excellence in customer value enhancement are as follows: 1) Products with capabilities that are designed to meet the specific requirements and needs of smaller U.S. businesses, 2) Expert, hands-on support – especially during the onboarding and deployment stage, and 3) An emphasis on providing affordability and minimizing risk exposure. Click here to view more details about Frost & Sullivan’s research.

“We felt we offered a unique approach that would minimize the risk for small and mid-sized businesses to adopt cloud services, as well as offer them the level of migration and ongoing support they need. We’re pleased to receive this validation from Frost & Sullivan,” said John Dupree, senior vice president of business sales – Sprint. “Sprint is focused on simplifying cloud solutions for businesses with an enhanced experience and continued network investment they can trust not just today, but as their cloud and mobile data demands and business challenges evolve.”

“We firmly believe that Sprint stands out among its peers by offering not only a tightly integrated, professional communications solution in Microsoft Office 365; the wireless provider also meets real small business needs by providing its personalized “Carefree Cloud” onboarding and migration services at no additional charge,” said Jeanine Sterling, Principal Analyst – Frost & Sullivan. “Too often, technology can act as a barrier instead of as an enabler. Sprint doesn’t leave small businesses to just cope with day-to-day demands on their own, but instead serves as a true growth partner. These actions place the company in a leadership position, enhancing the value that its fortunate customers receive in this much-needed solution category.”

Small to mid-sized businesses enjoy Microsoft Office 365 offered by Sprint

Businesses enjoy predictable monthly costs with no up-front infrastructure expense, pay-as-you-go plans and savings by bundling all of the necessary tools as well as a single bill and single point-of-contact for all Sprint-bundled services. Productivity Suites from Sprint build on the features of Office 365 by adding extended technical support through IT Helpdesk from Sprint to keep a business up and running without the expense of a dedicated IT staff or outsourced consultant.

Sprint simplifies the purchase, early life, and ongoing support processes with Carefree Cloud along with online support resources and a user-friendly portal to manage the services. Carefree Cloud is available with ALL Office 365 plans offered by Sprint at no additional charge (the onboarding and migration services portion of Carefree Cloud is provided at no additional charge when used within the first 90 days of purchase) to all employees within a business so companies have the flexibility to receive the level of migration and ongoing support they need.

A comprehensive approach to cloud

Teaming with leaders in software and cloud computing while enhancing the services with seamless integration of mobility for virtually anytime, anywhere access from any device is key to Sprint’s cloud strategy. With reliable, secure connectivity over Sprint’s 3G, 4G and all-IP Global MPLS networks, businesses of all sizes can confidently embrace a variety of hosted services to improve their productivity and cost structures.

Sprint has significantly expanded its cloud-based solutions portfolio this year, focusing on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) with Microsoft Office 365, Unified-Communications-as-a-Service (UCaaS) with Sprint Complete Collaboration and Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) to be launched in the coming months. Sprint also delivers an innovative private-label cloud services platform to wholesale customers today, enabling them to quickly deliver simple and affordable brand-name software services to SMBs.

About Frost & Sullivan Customer Value Enhancement Award

The Frost & Sullivan Customer Value Enhancement Award is presented each year to the company that has demonstrated excellence in implementing strategies that proactively create value for its customers with a focus on improving the return on the investment that customers make in its services or products. This Award recognizes the company's inordinate focus on enhancing the value that its customers receive, beyond simply good customer service, leading to improved customer retention and ultimately customer base expansion.

Sprint Network Leadership

The Network Vision initiative is designed to enhance customers’ network experience with faster data speeds, improved voice quality and easier connectivity. Sprint expects to be mostly complete with Network Vision by the end of 2013.

About Sprint Nextel

Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 56 million customers at the end of the third quarter of 2012 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. The American Customer Satisfaction Index rated Sprint No. 1 among all national carriers in customer satisfaction and most improved, across all 47 industries, during the last four years. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in both its 2011 and 2012 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation’s greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.