Rix Bits

I recently had an article published at IT Martini where I discuss the upcoming release of Office 365, Microsoft’s latest cloud-based services offering, and the value that the SharePoint component of that offering has for entrepreneurs and businesses trying to make use of SharePoint for collaboration.

While my focus in the article was on SharePoint specifically, entrepreneurs and small businesses should also be very excited at the opportunities and cost-savings that this offering could present to them.  I spoke recently with a local non-profit organization, and helped them to see potential value in the following areas:

• Office 365 can mean that your organization can upgrade to the latest version of Microsoft Office, while not having to worry about the large software costs of buying licenses of the software for each user – a subscription-based model is now offered.
• Many organizations do not have an IT focus – so why try to be an IT shop. Get rid of the expensive, hard-to-manage servers in your closet, and let Microsoft manage your email and intranet implementation via the cloud.
• Start incorporating effective instant messaging techniques in your office by using the included Lync instant messaging communication tool.  Or, if you’re already using instant messaging, you can now stop using free tools, and use a more reliable, secure and private service that’s tied directly into the rest of your infrastructure.
• Break free from your desk – using cloud services means you can get the same services, performance, and experience whether your’re at your desk, mobile with your laptop, at a public internet kiosk, or even via your phone.

This is a great time to be an entrepreneur, as we continue to see technology level the playing field for the sole proprietor or SMB.  And I think Office 365 will be another step toward getting enterprise-level services in the hands of entrepreneurs at an economical and easily-scalable price point.