As a small-business owner, the world is your office. Technology has had a significant role in allowing SMBs to compete with their enterprise counterparts like never before. The cloud computing revolution has changed the way all companies do business but specifically small companies. What may come as a surprise is that the SMB market is among the leading Cloud computing adapters. According to the 2011 Microsoft Global SMB Cloud Adaption Study, 39% of all small and medium sized businesses expect to be using one or more cloud services within the next three years.
If you are like most small businesses, you are particularly interested in software as a service or SaaS. SaaS is a hosted Cloud computing delivery model that specializes in most business applications such as accounting, collaboration, CRM or data management, content management and any more. SaaS offers the ability to free your workforce to collaborate from anywhere because the software and its associated data is hosted in the Cloud and can be accessed by users through any web browser over the Internet.
One of the most popular SaaS solutions is Microsoft’s SharePoint. Attempting to bring order to chaos, SharePoint offers a centralized document storage repository perfect for document sharing, archiving, organizing, versioning and collaborating on important documents. SharePoint delivers a platform that makes it easy for people within your organization to collaborate.
Here are a few reasons why we love SharePoint at The Launch Pad:
1. File Sharing has Never Been So Simple. SharePoint creates a workspace with multiple document storage and retrieval features. Our favorite at The Launch Pad is the check-in/check-out document feature. When collaborating on a single document, participants can check out the document to make changes without worrying about other changes being made simultaneously.
2. Creating an Intuitive WorkFlow. By activating the appropriate settings, documents can require manager approval before being allowed to be published or go live. This helps ensure that all eyes have checked important business documents before they make their way into client presentation folders.
3. Need the Document 3 Versions Back? No Problem. Unlike the file structure on your S Drive, SharePoint allows you to track changes made to your documents. The versioning feature tracks who, when and why the change was made and also gives you the ability to revert back to prior versions.
4. No Need to Worry About Naming Conventions. When searching for a document, SharePoint relies on file content rather than file name. This means you no longer have to guess what title other people will search for when trying to find the document. Name away – SharePoint will find the document you are looking for strictly on its content.
5. A Two-Way Street to Collaboration. SharePoint integrates with Microsoft Office 2007 & 2010 allowing calendars, documents and email all to be integrated, shared and managed.
SharePoint creates a framework which is flexible, scalable and customizable for your organization. Are you interested in learning more about Freeing Your Technology? Download our latest RevITup TechEd™ Webinar, “Free Your Technology … The Cloud Is Calling.”
For more information visit our website or contact Megan Meisner at mmeisner@launchpadonline.com or 813 920 0788 x210.
