Office 365 continues to grow in business circles. According to Microsoft over 90 percent of their Office 365 customers have less than 50 employees. Now a new group of companies have entered into the
Azure/Office 365 fold. These are
JetBlue,
Patagonia, and the
American Heart Association. This adds to the existing stack of companies like
Campbell Soup Company,
Marie Claire,
Roush Enterprises,
Hersing Corp,
UL (formerly Underwriters Labs), and
Wunderman. So there are small companies and large companies that have accepted this product. And it shows that the productivity suite can fit the needs of any size business.
Patagonia Why did Patagonia, a leading provider of outdoor gear, move to using Office 365? Answer: to make real-time communications and decision making possible throughout its organization; plus the cost savings made an impact.
Here’s how.
Patagonia expects to save $300,000 in future upgrades and infrastructure improvements, and $15,000 a year in savings by moving to the cloud-based e-mail system that is part of Office 365.
There is also the green effect. Patagonia has a program called “drive-less” meaning that they encourage employees to work from home in order to reduce their carbon footprint. Office 365 supports the company’s “drive-less” program, so it is a win-win situation.
Updates Last year, Microsoft pushed out 30 updates on the Office 365 suite to make it even more user friendly. These included support for Lync for Mac, SharePoint Business Connectivity Services, support for Windows Phone 7.5, and making SkyDrive simpler to use with app-centric sharing for Office.
The updates are beginning to resonate on the market, making an impression on IT managers who are pushing out to enterprise management as a viable alternative to purchasing new equipment and software.
Earlier I wrote about Azure and making the connection as Microsoft’s new OS. Obviously, Azure will not replace Windows 7 or Windows 8. But it is a way of using the computer with connection to the cloud, in a different way. It is a system that lets companies operate in a new way; allowing customers and enterprises to perform their own operations in their unique style and brand.
source:microsoft blog
