Optimize Costs of Business IT With Cloud Hosting on Azure

Small business owners, like managers of enterprise workgroups, face daily challenges in keeping business information secure yet available to co-workers and business partners. Each type of user has a different need when it comes to applications and data, and users often work from different locations.

For a small business owner, this may mean keeping a set of books at each of several business locations or maybe packing up the information and bringing home the data to work on at night. For a business enterprise it may be the challenge of providing centralized application and data access to multiple branch offices or a distributed workforce.

The problem is in providing affordable secure access to keep people productive. A great solution is moving from local IT to cloud IT on the Microsoft Azure platform with Noobeh.

QuickBooks on Azure from Noobeh

Anytime, Anywhere Access

Managing business data in a distributed environment or multi-location business is very difficult. When data files are stored on local PCs or on multiple servers, the organization may be spending quite a bit of money to backup and protect only some of its information assets. The data that rests on desktops, laptops and tablets is often overlooked and left unprotected.

Noobeh’s cloud service is a better alternative, hosting business applications and data on the massively scalable, agile and secure Microsoft Azure cloud. The service puts the business information and applications users need where they need them, allowing users to work from any location at any time.

Lower Cost of Supporting Productivity and Uptime

The #1 motivator for cloud adoption is cost optimization, according to the Microsoft Survey SMB Cloud Journey 2018. This is especially true for small and midsize businesses who are often running their businesses on lean budgets.

Compared to the costs traditionally associated with owning and maintaining a business network, managed hosting services can represent significant cost savings while improving the stability and security of the network overall.
It may seem that buying equipment and running it until it can’t go any more is the most cost-efficient way to handle business IT, but the real investment gets realized when businesses face the costs of lost productivity, incompatibility with modern technologies or services, and the risks that outdated systems introduce.

No Penalty For Going Back

Perhaps the most important element of application hosting services is the reality that the business aren’t penalized for making a different choice in the future.  Business conditions change and most small businesses want to know that they could return to localized operation if desired, and much more easily than if they had invested in a purely cloud-based or SaaS solution. When a business migrates to an online application, the process of converting back if it doesn’t work out is a daunting and costly task if it can really be done at all.

With the application hosting approach, you continue to use the applications and data you already have investments in… you simply use them from your cloud environment instead of running everything on your local PCs and server.

Application hosting services from Noobeh allow you to continue using the desktop products your business relies on but to also take advantage of modern platforms and cloud service. Noobeh delivers the applications and data from the Microsoft cloud platform, keeping it all managed and working.

But if you don’t want to keep working that way, you can always discontinue the service and pull your data back to your local computers where you simply install your software and keep working.

Noobeh cloud services help businesses get more from their investments in software, associated data assets and personnel training. Users get all the benefits of managed IT service and anytime, anywhere access to their applications and data plus the security of knowing their systems are running on a highly redundant and robust platform. Even with all of that, if the working model is not to their liking, they still have the option of taking their ball and going home.

Make Sense?

J

Run Your [New, Small, Growing] Business from Anywhere

The office for a small business used to be where all the work got done.  The hub of activity and productivity for a small business, the office was where you could connect with team members and co-workers and generally keep on the same page with what was going on in the business.  Customer orders are taken, those orders are fulfilled, and bills are paid – all from the small business office.  Yet today’s small business isn’t tied to the office location any longer.fishingpoles

Mobility and the cloud now provide businesses with mobile office options that allow users to get their jobs done no matter where they happen to be.  Business moves at a fast pace, and mobility and remote access solutions help companies be more nimble.  Collaborating while on the go and exchanging ideas and concepts quickly helps businesses be more agile and better-able to meet changing customer needs.  Successful small business owners leverage mobility and action to beat the competition.

The cloud and Internet-based computing lets small businesses access and benefit from IT solutions that were previously only available to enterprise organizations.  Better IT means being more competitive, giving smaller businesses a leg up and positioning them among even the largest of competitors. For the business owner, the freedom of being able to manage the entire business from anywhere delivers a freedom and flexibility previously unimagined.

Here are some ways hosted and cloud-based IT can help small businesses overcome everyday business challenges:

Reduce or Eliminate the Need for a Physical Office

Starting a business is tough, and many small business owners decide to use their own homes as a business location rather than forking over a bunch of lease money to a commercial realtor.  Using hosting application services and cloud technologies can help keep team members and co-workers working together, no matter where they are located.  Many businesses are able to get off the ground and operating successfully without ever having an established office.

Work when it Works for You

Remote desktops and hosted applications deliver functionality to users no matter where or when they need to work.  With ready access to everything needed to get the job done, workers are able to be productive even when they’re not at a desk (or even a computer!).  Smartphone and tablet apps can make working from a mobile device highly effective, extending productivity and capability to workers whenever and wherever it is required.

Keep Everyone on the Same Page

When systems are centrally located and accessed, it is easy to keep everyone on the same version, the same edition, and the same page.  No matter where users are located, documents and application data are kept in sync, ensuring that everyone is working on the most current information available.  Mobile access to applications and data keeps information from being distributed to various devices, making revision control easier and providing better protection for valuable business information.

Mobile computing and the cloud make it easy for small businesses to have better IT that enhances productivity and supports growth.  Reducing capital costs and exchanging large technology investments with affordable monthly subscription service gives small businesses the boost they need to implement the solutions and services which will develop and improve collaboration, streamline workflows, and reduce overhead costs while enabling a fast-paced and agile business ready to meet any challenge.

jmbunnyfeetMake Sense?

J

Why Offering Anytime, Anywhere Work Works

Why Offering Anytime, Anywhere Work Works

An Anytime, Anywhere Work Survey was completed by ConvergenceCoaching, LLC this spring, and they’ve published the results.  In the survey, they asked firms to provide feedback on the results of flexible work programs, asking for both the good and the bad aspects of having an anytime/anywhere working model.  It isn’t much of a surprise that the positive outweighed the negative, given the popularity of cloud computing and mobile working models.

anywhere-anydeviceThe benefits of providing flexibility where and when people work is something that many businesses are just realizing.  It took a while for the idea to catch on (and for the technology to catch up) but enterprise and small business alike are now taking advantage of flexible work programs to improve employee morale and the business bottom line. Keeping employees happy and engaged is critical to running and growing a successful business, and providing a level of flexibility in work programs can deliver a big boost to worker satisfaction.

Supporting a flexible work environment and mobile employees takes some additional attention to detail, especially when it comes to communication. If workers aren’t certain of their responsibilities and boundaries, then expectations may not be fully met.  Training and communication become key elements in the business, making sure that employees understand what to do and how to get it done before they are allowed to operate remotely and with less on-site support.

There may also be some workers who feel that disconnecting is not an option when they are allowed some flexibility in hours and place of work.  Often electing to error on the side of caution, these users may put in more hours than usual simply to make sure that their work and contribution is recognized.  It is the “out of sight, out of mind” scenario they play over and over again, fearing that they will be forgotten or their usefulness minimized simply because they are not present in the office.  On the other hand, many workers describe being more effective in their jobs because they’re able to focus better and find themselves to be more creative or efficient when working away from the office. The company must provide clear lines of communication and work validation which support offsite employees and allows workers to embrace the freedom an anytime/anywhere approach offers if they want positive and productive results.

The survey demonstrated that businesses offering flexibility in work programs saw improvement of employee work/life balance and better overall morale than those offering no such flexibility.  Building and improving trust among teams was another cited benefit, as was the positive impact to the job of finding and retaining staff.  I think the best attribute of the Anytime/Anywhere working model listed from the survey was “It is worth it!”. Maybe it’s just because I agree.

jmbunnyfeetMake Sense?

J

Source: Why Offer Anytime, Anywhere Work? | ConvergenceCoaching, LLC