OFFICE 365: A GREAT CHOICE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

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www.office.com/setup Blogs: With the 50th annual National Small Business Week kicking off June 17th, it’s amazing to think just how vital small businesses are to our economy. Small businesses make up 99.7 percent of U.S. employer firms, 49 percent of private sector employment, and 46 percent of private sector output, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Yet, despite their critical importance, only half of U.S. small business establishments survive five years or longer, and only one-third survive 10 years or longer.

Surviving as a small business requires careful planning and execution; it also entails smart day-to-day decisions, which includes the use of technology. That’s exactly why a growing number of small businesses are adopting Microsoft Office 365: to increase productivity, exemplify professionalism, and stop worrying about IT. In short, they want a competitive edge that enables them to thrive.

BIG BUSINESS BENEFITS AT A FRACTION OF THE COST

Small businesses are continuing to adopt Office 365. Today we welcome customers FLO Wine, Mom Corps, Excel Anesthesia and Two Camel Films.

  • FLO Wine. The company uses Office 365 to send email and share files while also staying on top of day-to-day tasks like organizing corporate information, tracking store sales and hosting a shared calendar. With the shared calendar in Office 365, FLO Wine can maximize promotional activities by coordinating schedules the company. Without adding IT infrastructure, the winemaker now has the technology it needs to compete with larger wine companies.

“Office 365 offers compelling value for a small virtual business,” says Marcus Johnson, CEO & Co-Founder of FLO Wine. “It gives us 100 percent of the capabilities to compete directly with Fortune 500 company at a fraction of the cost.”

  • Mom Corps. Mom Corps, a national virtual staffing firm, uses Office 365 to build a flexible work environment that gives employees the tools to balance work and life, and allows them the ability to tap into resources they otherwise would not have had. Employees have the ability to collaborate and connect from virtually anywhere and without asking any of them to change the way they work.

“It’s so easy to keep in touch,” says Allison O’Kelly, Founder & CEO of Mom Corps. “I’m in Pennsylvania and my CFO is in Atlanta; we are able to use Lync Online to review financial reports through sharing screens and simply talking to each other through our PCs.”

  • Excel Anesthesia. Mobility and security were two key factors in Excel Anesthesia’s decision to deploy Office 365, especially as the 26-physician anesthesia group sought to upgrade compliance procedures. With all of the Dallas, Texas-based physicians accessing information on their personal computers and phones, standardization, let alone security, is difficult to achieve.

“Given the crucial issues surrounding compliance, we asked our attorney-not just our techies-to evaluate Office 365,” says Michael Walsh, M.D. and Head of Compliance. “He told us that we couldn’t do better than to choose Microsoft – with Office 365, we got compliant email at a great value.”

  • Two Camel Films. Reducing dependence on email was the primary driver for filmmakers Emily and Elizabeth Dell to move to Office 365. In order to communicate with the many people that are involved on each film project handled by their company, based in Los Angeles, California, the sisters initially relied on their mobile phones and Yahoo. Given their heavy travel and production schedules, however, the sisters sought greater efficiency and real-time communications, as well as the ability to access materials offline.

“It can be a real challenge to coordinate everything that needs to happen during filmmaking,” says Emily Dell, owner, Two Camel Films. “Using Office 365 to communicate anywhere, anytime, and to collaborate on set has been truly liberating. I love how it doesn’t discriminate about what operating system or browser you want to use.”

THRIVING WITH OFFICE 365

Microsoft understands that when it comes to productivity, one size does not fit all. Office 365 has a number of offerings tailored to the needs and budgets of small, medium and large organizations. Office 365 Small Business Premium is uniquely adapted to the needs of small businesses and gives organizations familiar Office applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, InfoPath and Access. All of these services are delivered in the cloud, meaning they are always up to date.

More small businesses than ever are turning to Office 365 to be successful. In addition to the stories shared today, you can learn how other small companies are enjoying the benefits of Office 365, including Meals on Wheels Greenville County, Mihills Webb Medical, Babesta, Zyvex Technologies, Imagination Yoga and findwell.

And to see what our Windows friends are talking about during Small Business Week, check out their blog here.

Original Post: https://blogs.office.com/2013/06/17/office-365-a-great-choice-for-small-businesses/