If you aren’t already aware, “the cloud” has become industry slang for moving your services and information into datacentres where they are then accessed through the internet.
Moving things into the cloud has become popular for some organisations. However, due to the limitations of internet speeds in Australia, moving all your services to the cloud might not be the best solution for you. A better solution, dependent on the size and structure of your business, may be to move only some services.
This month we’ll concentrate on hosted email, in particular Microsoft Office365.
Office365 is Microsoft’s cloud based email system. It runs on the latest version of Microsoft Exchange, the same software that most businesses use for their own email. Office365 can also give you access to Microsoft Office, SharePoint and OneDrive.
There some great benefits of this service specific to small businesses, including:
· Monthly or Annual subscription pricing based on exactly how many users you have.
· The option to combine Microsoft Office licences into the subscription – never buy Microsoft office again!
· No need for email server upgrades – it runs the latest Exchange server and is updated automatically.
· Integrated logons with your existing username and passwords from your own server.
The other benefit is the cost, with plans starting from around the $4/month mark.