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Look to the Clouds posted on Saturday, 09 January 2010

New technology solution options give SMBs a platform to compete.

In 1850, the Franklin Health Assurance Company of Massachusetts became the first company in the United States to offer health insurance. But options were limited. You qualified for coverage only if your injury resulted from a railroad or steamboat accident.

Today, technology options for a small and midsize business (SMB) can seem just as limiting. With the proper due diligence, however, you’ll find there are computing solutions that are flexible and accessible enough to help even the smallest organization behave like a large enterprise.

One option is to get your software through a monthly subscription, which enables you to eliminate financing and upfront costs. If you prefer to own the licenses to your software, which allows you to control and customize the applications as you see fit, you must be sure you have a team capable of implementation.

On the other hand, if you prefer a cloud services strategy -- which means you choose to access some of your software online -- you can make frequent adjustments and buy only the amount of computing power you need. This solution allows your company to save physical hardware space and energy usage, and cut down on administrative activities with automated routine tasks. With an influx of factors, like inexpensive broadband access and more-powerful Web servers making it more practical to outsource data, use of online software services is becoming increasingly popular.

With services in the cloud, you can sign up for enterprise-class applications that previously were only afforded by large organizations. Now, any size company can tap into offsite data centers for e-mail and other business applications and access them via the Internet. When used strategically, this option helps companies turn on a dime and react to changes in the market or capitalize on newly discovered opportunities.

One of the greatest advantages of cloud services is the ability to integrate with on-premise technology systems within your organization. This approach gives you greater financial flexibility and addresses technology needs only as they arise.

For example, Microsoft’s Exchange Online and SharePoint Online both offer the same functionality as their offline counterparts. These services provide businesses with powerful applications with high availability, comprehensive security, and simplified IT management. Because Microsoft hosts the service, it reduces the need for onsite IT services. SMBs can choose to provide some or all of their employees the online versions and free their IT staff to focus their attention elsewhere.

Charlotte Russe Holdings, a San Diego-based specialty retailer of fashionable, value-priced apparel and accessories, recently made the switch to a more streamlined version of cloud services.

“We had a number of Exchange and SharePoint systems already in place within our organization, but our analysis indicated a need to standardize our services,” said Giri Durbhakula, vice president of technology for Charlotte Russe Holdings. “Since making the switch to a revamped business productivity online suite, we are experiencing increased up time which is driving improved service levels.”

Just as today’s health insurance offerings have expanded to cover more than railroad or steamboat accidents, subscription-based software solutions are available to the SMB more than ever before. These solutions will help you to compete with larger businesses, become more productive, and communicate more effectively with your customers and partners.

Gerald Choung is Partner Sales Director for Microsoft’s Small and Mid-market Solutions and Partners (SMS&P) Group. For more information about how communication and collaboration hosted services work, visit: www.microsoft.com/business/bpostestdrive.

Posted by Gerald Choung