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| How Moving to SaaS Has Saved Us in a Bad Economy |
I don't need to remind you that times are tough. Just this past week we saw the recession take hold of some of the well-known IT giants, such as Microsoft, Intel, and Oracle to name a few. Virtually every company I speak with is looking for ways to stretch their resources and work smarter.
Here at Bi101. We've made a couple of big moves to that has allowed us to save time, money, and free up resources. The answer for us has been to move to Software as a Service (SaaS) for our internal systems.
Our first move was our messaging system. After running Exchange 2003 for nearly five years, Bi101 is now running Google Apps Premier Edition for mail, calendering and document collaboration. This move has freed up a server and eliminated all the resources associated with maintaining an Exchange infrastructure. Better yet, we now enjoy world class availability, security, and archiving. User acceptance has been great as Google Apps provides each user with 250GB of mail capacity. Did I mention the cost is only $50 per user per year?
Next, we upgraded our financial system from QuickBooks to Intacct for Small Business on-demand financial suite, enabling our staff to securely access financials using only a browser. We no longer deal with the expense and effort of QuickBooks' annual upgrades. Intacct also automates all of our revenue recognition issues and provides us with the reporting flexibility that Quickbooks could not offer.
Since Bi101 is a VAR for both Google Apps and Intacct, you can say we are "eating our own dog food." I like to think we are just being plain smart. The fact is, SaaS allows BI101 to focus on our customers instead worry about the never ending "upgrade treadmill". We are enjoying a significant reduction in costs without sacrificing service levels for our user - something we can all use.
So feel free to check out some of the solutions mentioned above and as always, feel free to call or email if we can be of any assistance!
And oh yes...Happy New Year!
Kevin Lalor
President & Founder
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| Product Updates & New Releases |
NEW PRODUCT: FileWay
Provide your users with today's most in-demand remote file access features - easily, quickly and without scarifying any of your network's performance or security. FileWay ensures uninterrupted access and productivity for enterprises that need to provide reliable access to corporate file shares. Learn More >>
NEW PRODUCT: Quest Access Manager
Access Manager provides a single console that enables you to identify and control user and group access to resources such as files, folders and shares throughout the enterprise. Learn More >>
Product News: PROMODAG Reports 8.5 Wins WindowsITPro Magazine Award
PROMODAG Reports for Exchange Server has won Windows IT Pro Magazine 2008 Silver Award in the Exchange Server Monitoring Tools category. See how this advanced and cost-effective reporting tool allows Exchange Server administrators and IT managers to obtain valuable information about all aspects of their email system. Learn More »
Product News: DirectControl Wins Redmond Magazine Readers' Choice Award
Readers of Redmond Magazine have chosen DirectControl as the Preferred Product in Interoperability. For the second year in a row, Centrify is the preferred choice of Redmond Magazine readers of solutions that integrate UNIX, Linux, Mac, web, database and enterprise application platforms with Microsoft Active Directory. Learn more >>
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| New Learning Tools |
Industry Report: SaaS Showdown: Google Apps Vs. Microsoft Windows Live
With the launch of its first formal reseller program for Google Apps Premier Edition, Google is now battling Microsoft directly in the channel with a full cloud computing productivity suite. Here's a look at some of the differences between Google Apps Premier Edition and Microsoft's Windows Live Essentials cloud computing environment. Learn more »
Upcoming Webinar: Archiving Meets Retention Management
Join Brian W. Hill, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research as he describes the impact of convergence on content management, archiving, and retention policies. You’ll hear about how first-generation archiving solutions tried to address the challenges of managing high-volume user-generated content, but created more problems than they solved. Register now »
White Paper: When On-Demand Financials Make Sense
In today’s business climate, where IT investments are scrutinized more closely than ever for features, interoperability with established systems and the demands they make on resources of both people and money, on-demand software is a true alternative that is worth serious consideration. Click here to download your free white paper » |
| Tip of the Month |
Dramatically Reduce IT and Operating Costs
Remember, the more systems and software you're managing, the more people, processes, maintenance, and other costs you have. Give on-demand solutions an honest look...as a whole, Software as a Service delivers the lowest total cost of ownership of any solution available on the market. |
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