Written by:SuperUser Account
11/16/2010 3:31 PM 

Cloud computing is to business what the pocket calculator was to education back in the 1980s.  I’ve already  told you how I was addicted to the Cloud , and your now probably hearing about it daily.  So why should you be interested in this new buzz word.  Well, there are a couple reasons your ears should perk up when you here news about The Cloud, especially when it involves the Microsoft products your company has become dependent upon over the years like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, or Microsoft Dynamics.

1. Cost – costs usually include little to no up-front costs, and monthly per user costs moving forward.  This allows you to convert capital expenditure to operational expenditure which can lower the barrier to entry into new products and services.
2. Freedom – your team can more easily access systems remotely and from multiple devices such as Mobile devices
3. Reliability – cloud computing is ideal for business continuity and disaster recovery.
4. Scalability – you get “on-demand” provisioning of resources on a self-serve basis in realtime.
5. Maintenance - cloud computing application maintenance is done for you by the host, and changes and updates apply to all users independent of location.

One of Microsoft’s most exciting Cloud announcements to date is the release of the Beta version of Microsoft  Office 365 (Formerly called Microsoft BPOS or Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite).  Microsoft Office 365 us a new bundled of Microsoft Cloud Offerings which includes Cloud versions of its Office desktop suite along with Cloud versions of its next generation communications and collaboration services:

• Microsoft Exchange Online
• Microsoft Sharepoint Online
• Microsoft Lync Online (formerly Microsoft Unified Communications Server)

(BTW, there are signup links for a Free Beta version of each of the products listed above via the links provided)

Another new and exciting Microsoft product  available in The Cloud is the availability of Hosted Microsoft Dynamics GP thru our partner RoseASP.  And for those of you in the Education vertical, RoseASP has created myGPcloud, which is a Microsoft Dynamics enterprise resource planning solution for colleges and universities as part of their academic program.

If you are a Microsoft Partner, and you’re wondering how this may affect you, or even better why and how you should get involved, we recently gave a Webcast on this topic which provided a wealth of information.  The webcast was sponsored by Westcon and Microsoft, and is being repeated this week since we had such a large showing the first time, we hit our attendance max and over half the crowd couldn’t get in.  You can learn more, register for this weeks webcast, and view the slide decks from last weeks webcast HERE.  And just FYI, there is a give away of a Free XBOX 360 Kinext Bundle.

So, keep your ear to ground for more exciting Cloud news, and I’ll do the same…….

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PartnerPoint is one of the largest and most active communities of Microsoft Partners on the Web.  Our mission is to help Microsoft customers find Microsoft Partners who are most qualified to help them.  Interested in learning more about cloud computing?  Search our Company Directory for a list of qualified Microsoft Partners from around the globe.

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Categories: Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Microsoft Sharepoint, Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft, Cloud Computing, SaaS, Microsoft Dynamics AX, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Kinect, Microsoft Unified Communications, Microsoft Lync, Microsoft Dynamics SL, Microsoft Office 365

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