Office 365 and Cloud CRM in Finland

I'm glad to introduce this post working with Aki Antman, CEO of the Finnish cloud services integration firm, Sulava. With expertise in Microsoft services, SharePoint integration and social media, Aki's work brings to mind the productivity boost that Microsoft customers like his new firm get through extending their Microsoft Office 365 and Office 2010 environment, adding Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online. So, why are Microsoft's combination of Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM cloud services more effective than Google's approach?

Google's CRM Integration is Basic
Google customers need to secure third party CRM software to sync with Google Apps, yet the most robust list of Google Apps CRM integrations is basic,: (1) Single Sign On (SSO) from Google Apps, (2) integration between CRM and Google's Gmail, (3) synchronizing contacts, and (4) the ability to attach and share Google Docs with a third party CRM system. Google's approach is much different than Microsoft's approach. Office 365 and Microsoft Dynamics CRM both use the familiar Office interface to keep me productive, and I can use CRM capabilities without leaving Office. Of course, Office 365 also brings Exchange, SharePoint and Lync capabilities right with it.

Unlike for Google Apps, Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics CRM Online boosts sales productivity through capabilities like online meetings and videoconferencing with customers and colleagues. I'm able to track users' presence and availability, and can collect, manage security for, and share sets of documents related to customer accounts through SharePoint. Not only does email integrate with CRM in the Microsoft suite, the integration allows me to update a support case, or log customer requests for support received via email within Office.

Turning to Aki Antman and his new firm, Aki has been chosen six times as one of the top IT influencers in Finland. Providing perspective from broad experience as a Microsoft partner since 1996, he works with social technologies and Microsoft cloud services that he recommends and implements for customers, and sees his clients benefitting from Office 365's features.

Cloud Services I have been a huge fan of Office 365 and other Microsoft cloud services since they were announced. Actually I like them so much, that I co-founded a new company, Sulava, completely focused on Microsoft cloud services and social technology. Watching the cloud very closely for a long time, last year I concluded the cloud is really here and it'll impact businesses very rapidly. Of course, trends like mobility, consumerization, gamification and social technology in general shape the way we work – and go hand-in-hand with the cloud.

Collaboration Tools Businesses Need
Here in Finland and often elsewhere, most people have better collaboration tools and devices at home than at work. But the cloud is changing that rapidly for businesses– and that is absolutely great because people expect their employers to provide them with modern tools and ways of working. So, about a year ago I founded this new company with a business partner to help transition firms to these new technologies. Our concept is very simple; we help our clients to move to the Microsoft cloud and to start using social technologies in their daily work. While our own infrastructure is completely based on the cloud, including Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, and Windows Intune, Office 365 is the key element in our portfolio. Today, our clients range in size from a small nonprofit, to organizations which plan to use Office 365 in 20+ countries.

Cloud Service Features for Businesses to Use First
People typically use Exchange Online and Lync Online services first in Office 365. They are best-of-breed products, giving you the same experience you are used to with on-premises solutions and Outlook, plus the Lync client. Both offer a modern, browser-based user interface and you can work with email when offline, too. Lync Online integrates with Office and SharePoint and you can collaborate across networks and with many different clients. Google Apps does not offer features even close to these.

SharePoint Online gives you the real advantages of the cloud. First of all, I have seen too many on-premises SharePoint 2010 projects failing due to an overly extensive specification period, resulting in too complex customizations. It's completely different with SharePoint Online. You can start using or piloting it right away. – What a difference that makes in any specification period!

SharePoint Online doesn't currently offer all the features in SharePoint, yet it definitely offers enough features to really change the way we work. Things like My Sites, Office Web Apps and extranet access to selected workspaces are all available out of the box. And don't forget the deskless workers. Most companies have hundreds or thousands of employees who don't work constantly with a computer. They don't usually have access to company documents and electronic processes, often due to lack of cost-effective license fees for employees needing occasional use of the tools. Office 365 changes that with Kiosk Works Plans starting at $4/month.

Mobility
Mobility and remote working are becoming key factors in modern work. SharePoint Online directly supports working anywhere with almost any device (including PC, Mac, browser and almost any modern, mobile device). And of course Office 365 supports Windows Phone 7 devices, including browsing and editing documents stored in SharePoint Online. And with the new Lync and Skype Windows Phone 7 clients coming soon, the unified communications on mobile will take a big leap towards better mobile productivity.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online, Exchange Online and Lync
SharePoint Online and Lync help you to reduce an unwanted volume of email traffic. However, for some people who rely on email, Exchange Online is a perfect solution. Not only does it give you access anywhere with virtually any device, but the huge mailboxes with unlimited archive are a sure bet to make end users very happy. Users have unlimited email storage in the personal archive with up to an unlimited retention period. Security in Office 365 is a very important aspect, and it includes state-of-the-art spam and virus/malware protection.

Of course, you can combine other Microsoft cloud services with Office 365. Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online integrates automatically with Office 365. More and more clients are starting to combine tailored Windows Azure solutions with Office 365. And soon we'll have new products in the Microsoft Online cloud; including Dynamics AX and NAV. Naturally, Office 365 and Dynamics integrate easily and effectively with Microsoft Office. No other platform can offer anything even remotely close.

Cloud Implementations in Finland
We have been in business for eight months and are now working with around 25 clients, including some of the top 10 companies in Finland, the City of Helsinki, some of Finland's biggest banks and mutual insurance companies and, of course, some smaller organizations. There is no way we could have achieved this with any other platform than Microsoft. The reception toward Microsoft cloud services has been unbelievably positive. People who have used old CRM tools like Salesforce can't believe how easy Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online is to use and configure. When we show them the Outlook client they are simply blown away. I think most companies would choose Dynamics CRM over Salesforce even if Microsoft Dynamics CRM were to cost as much as Salesforce!

Companies which have investigated Google Apps are maybe a bit confused about the possibilities in the Office 365 pricing plans. Then they start to realize the true potential, including working offline and using the same Office client version on PC's and Mac's as before, while adding Web Apps. Most of the Finnish companies didn’t start using Google Apps, yet the story with Office 365 is completely different. People love the concept, and many have started a pilot or implementation project. You can see how Google Apps and Office 365 are different here.

The interest in Microsoft cloud services is already huge, and it's only growing. If you are not yet prepared for the cloud, now is the time to start building your own cloud adaptation roadmap.

 

Thank you, Aki. You can reach Aki through email, LinkedIn or Twitter to learn more.