Cloud computing is simply subscribing to various IT services, such as email, customer relationship management systems or web conferencing, which are provided by a third party. You pay a monthly charge depending on how many PCs you have.
Save money, share documents, keep your data safe, scale up or down as you need - just some of the benefits of harnessing cloud power.
Because it means you don’t have to worry about your IT – you can focus on your business instead. You pay for what you want at the time that you need it, and if your requirements change, you simply change your subscription. It’s also easier to manage your cashflow and you don’t need upfront capital investment.
Of course, you may still prefer to have your IT on-premise, especially if you have very specialised, or older business applications. Many businesses are combining cloud services with on-premise according to their business requirements.
Managing 40million emails a day, Andy Burton the CEO of Rise, a division of Fasthosts, talks about why small and medium-sized businesses are adopting cloud services.
We are constantly developing and evolving our cloud solutions services. Below we have summarised our current offerings.
Microsoft Office 365 for small businesses
Office 365 offers an easy-to-use set of web-enabled tools for small businesses, independent consultants and professionals looking for business-class productivity services. Working with the tools people know and use today, Office 365 provides anywhere access to email, important documents, contacts, and calendars on nearly any device.
Microsoft Office 365 is available from £4 per user per month for up to 25 users and from £6.50 per user per month for 25+ users*.
*Organisations with more advanced needs, such as Active Directory federation, archiving for legal compliance, hosted BlackBerry Enterprise Server, or 24.7 phone support, should consider Office 365 for enterprises.
Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online
If you need a professional customer relationship management system to track your sales and marketing activities, you need Dynamics CRM Online. The power of productivity and the convenience of the cloud can help you:
- Improve sales planning and management
- Automate your lead system
- Boost sales
- Enhance pipeline management
You can get a free 30-day trial of Dynamics CRM today (Internet Explorer 7 or later required) and prices start from a special introductory offer of £22.75 per user per month.
Office Web Apps
If you’re just starting up in business and aren’t quite sure what you need yet, why not try Office Web Apps? For personal use, Office Web Apps on SkyDrive are available for free. These convenient online companions to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote offer you an easy way to access, view, and edit documents directly from your web browser – learn more on our product page.
If you’re out-growing the ‘small business’ label, we have more cloud offerings (with free trials) on our mid-market site.
Windows Intune for example, offers PC management, control and security, along with Windows 7 Enterprise upgrade subscription from £7.25 per PC per month. London-based Pygmalion have some great case study stories on Office 365 and Windows Intune. Get a free trial.
And if you’re developing cloud applications or services, Windows Azure provides on-demand compute and storage to host, scale, and manage web applications on the Internet through Microsoft datacentres. Get a free trial.
Need some advice?
Click on the Pinpoint tool below to find a Microsoft Small Business Specialist Partner near you.
