Looking at the Microsoft offerings for replacing the Small Business Server now that they are stopping support. If you haven’t done it already, the following summary of how to migrate to their new on cloud service may be helpful.

Compare the various options at http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx

Microsoft Mid Sized Business Plan 365

Let’s make some basic assumptions:

• You are using old versions of the Microsoft Office suite of software, and therefore need to include the cost of an upgrade in the overall package.
• You are used to having a corporate email service such as Exchange server and all staff use Outlook email clients.
• You have a reasonable access to the Internet (24Mbps or above) and while it is pretty reliable, you will still want everybody to be able to work even if it goes down.
• Keeping a local copy of everything is of great importance to you.
• You haven’t used Sharepoint, but it looks like it could be a really usefully collaboration tool.

Cost of Microsoft Licenses

Then probably the service you need to get from Microsoft will be their Office 365 Midsized Business account which costs £9.80 / user / year , totalling £117.60 /user / year

What is included

It is an annual contract for

• The latest version of the full Microsoft Office suite of products which run on the user’s PC or laptop
  • Word
  • Excell
  • PowerPoint
  • Notes
  • Publisher
  • Access
  • Outlook
  • Lyncs (for desk top sharing and VOIP calls)
  • InfoPath
• Exchange server on the cloud
• SharePoint on the cloud for up to 300 users and 10,000 external users.
• Anti virus procedures as standard (though you still need it on your local machines)
• Sky Drive Pro

Migration Issues and Admin support

It is no small matter to migrate your entire system without interruption of service, and it will require careful planning.

Local file server

Because you would need to be able to operate off line if the Internet goes down (and because you do not want to become permanently dependent on Microsoft), you would maintain a local file server that is synched with the cloud copies of your documents.  This can be done with ‘Sky Drive Pro’ as long as the file server meets certain requirements.

Exchange server

You will want to migrate all your existing settings from you existing exchange server, to the new cloud version. This will include all your contacts, calendar settings, archiving, mobile devices etc.

Sharepoint

Sharepoint is a very powerful new tool and can really change the way an organization operates (especially if you have a lot of off-site members of the team). It makes it very easy to collaborate on shared documents, chat over Lycos (like Skype), run an intranet to capture data and experience and many other opportunities that will only become apparent once you get started.

Ask us for more information

When you set up an Office 365 account somebody has to be an administrator and you can set them up as a delegated admin – in other words you do not need to buy a license for the admin as a user.

If you need any additional information I suggest you have a word with Geoff on 0775 1239292 or email geoffb@denaploy.co.uk and we will be happy to talk to you.