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.