Cloud Computing

If you are searching for a better yet cost effective alternative to support your IT infrastructure, Cloud Computing can save you up to 65% of your computer costs and improve the protection of your data. Usually based on a low per user cost, your cash flow is matched to the growth of the company, thus avoiding high initial investments in technology and cash flow commitments for ongoing support.

At this time Microsoft Office 365 is leading the pack in mail and productivity applications for Cloud computing. It is a solid mature choice if you are thinking of moving email to the cloud and are not afraid of being on the bleeding edge of cloud services and technology. If you don't want to make investment in your own servers, you can also host online other applications like QuickBooks, Simply Accounting, Sage Timberline Office etc from servers based in Canada.

What is Microsoft Office 365?

It is a host of applications such as online versions of familiar productivity tools such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Most however works best when they are used in conjunction with your desktop-installed Office applications. Focusing on email, Office 365 offers a Hosted Exchange service, which transforms the mature, business-proven on-premise application called "Microsoft Exchange" to an on-demand service. Working offline is much better with Office 365 when compared to Google Apps. Office 365 supports the SharePoint Workspace offline tool, meaning you can work on your desktop and then sync with the cloud when you are connected. The familiar MS Office style means that it is easy for anyone familiar with Microsoft software to learn thus offering a smoother migration experience.

Cost & Storage:

Microsoft’s Hosted Exchange email service gives users 25GB of storage. Attachment file sizes are limited to 35MB. Additional storage can be purchased for $2.5 per GB per user per month. It's estimated that for companies with fewer than 25 employees, Office 365 will cost $6 per user per month, including email, SharePoint, Lync and extranet. For larger businesses, it will start at $2 per user per month for basic email service, and the full package will be $27 per user per month.

Functionality, Calendaring and Task Management:

Exchange integrates a mature feature set for personal productivity including calendaring, resource management, and task management. As an example tasks can be grouped, color coded and easily sorted. Emails can be converted as tasks and so on. Office 365 accessed via IE8 on Windows 7 lets you view, edit, and format Word documents in the browser, as well as view, edit, format, and work with objects in PowerPoint documents.

Spam filtering, security and reliability:

This is an area where perhaps Microsoft easily shines with Exchange’s roots as an enterprise-class application. It offers spam protection, antivirus and others via Microsoft Forefront Online Protection for Exchange technology. It offers other features such as more full features user management, identity access management, mail archiving, etc. If you are in a highly regulated industry like financial services or healthcare these features may be essential for your business.

Mobile access

Microsoft made sure to support a variety of devices on launch, as well as integration with a variety of device especially stalwarts like iPhones, iPads, BlackBerrys, and Android devices. You may not be able to access all the features but they are functional. Overall Office 365 is a solid choice if you are thinking of moving email to the cloud but may be hesitant with changing the apps your users already know and use. Also if you are a business with strict policies related to security and compliance, Office 365 may be something your auditors and IT people will be more comfortable with compared to any other service out there. Interested in learning more? Can’t decide which to try? Let us know and find out how we can help get you the right balance between your existing IT systems and infrastructure and the cloud.