SMB Cloud Computing with Microsoft Online Services

As the primary IT Manager for NSI Partners, I am always looking for new ways to use technology to best serve the company’s communication and collaboration needs.  Cloud computing is on the rise, and despite some limitations contains a very viable set of technology options for the SMB market.  The smaller business and organization has always struggled to fit well within the traditional Microsoft domain server/workstation architecture.  This is increasingly true for businesses that are geographically dispersed, or have multiple telecommuters.

Taking advantage of the benefits offered by products like Microsoft Exchange and Sharepoint have either been cost- or infrastructure- prohibitive for many SMBs, but Microsoft has come into the age of cloud computing with some great offerings.  One set of services, titled Microsoft Online Services, has introduced the benefits of products like Exchange and Sharepoint  to the “cloud”.  What does this mean for organizations like those described so far in this post?

For starters, these services provide a cost-effective, infrastructure-friendly method of bringing Exchange to the geographically-dispersed, telecommuting-heavy organization.  No longer forced to choose between POP and IMAP email accounts, we are now able to tap into the many benefits offered by email hosted on an Exchange server.  What are some of those benefits?  Complete integration with Microsoft Outlook 2007/2010 and other Microsoft Office products, for one.  Shared directories, data storage and integrity provided offsite, enhanced calendar and scheduling features such as the Scheduling Assistant, Out of Office functions, the ability to see in real-time the status of all one’s co-workers, Outlook Web Access with almost full functionality from any web browser, synchronization of mobile phones such as the iPhone directly to the Exchange server, among many other enhancements.

In addition to the benefits realized with the Exchange-based email platform, Microsoft Online Services also provide access to a Sharepoint site for our organization, again hosted offsite by Microsoft with guaranteed data integrity and no additional burden to our own power, hardware, or property.  For those unfamiliar with Sharepoint, think of taking all your files used by your company and organizing them in a familiar folder structure on a server reachable by all through the web or through Windows Explorer.  Including advanced document-management features such as file versioning, checking in and checking out, and integration in real-time into Mocrosoft Word, Excel, and Power Point, Sharepoint sites enable greatly evolved and more efficient sharing of digital resources.  But Sharepoint is not just about file management.  It also includes task management and assignment functions, document workspaces for teams, shared calendars, and many other teamwork-enhancing features.

Beyond the benefits realized by utilizing Exchange and Sharepoint, subscriptions to Microsoft Online Services can include their Instant Messenger client for business, Office Communicator, as well as their screen- and voice-sharing teleconferencing solution, Microsoft Live Meeting.

All these services can be paid for on a monthly subscription basis per user and can range from one standalone product  to all four of the services being bundled.  As cloud computing evolves to offer SaaS and other offsite solutions, it is arguable that technology traditionally too expensive for the SMB market, or unmanageable for organizations with heavy telecommuting and geographic dispersal, is the silver lining in said clouds.  The advantages outweigh the limitations so heavily that I cannot recommend these services enough for organizations historically forced to settle for other more limited technology solutions.

In fact, we are convinced enough of the great value of these services that we are now Microsoft partners in advising and providing these solutions to existing and new clients.  If you are in an organization that fits any of the characteristics described here, or are wondering if  ”life in the cloud” might have anything to offer you, I encourage you to look more into Microsoft Online Services at  http://www.microsoft.com/online/default.mspx or others like it.  Contact our tech team at tech@nsipartners.com if you would like to learn more or get a free trial or quote!