Why Microsoft Will Win The Small Business Cloud War

We read about the war in the cloud. We have seen how big companies like Google and Apple and IBM offers its services and applications on the network, changing the way people use technology. We watched as the smaller companies like Salesforce.com and Facebook and Groupon have turned into a giant of the (literally) with the beginning of a new cloud based on the industry. We barf every time we see these idiots on commercials that Microsoft forgot to program your TV and are able to do so from the airport by going "on a cloud."

and yet ... know who will win the war cloud a small business? Microsoft. If you want proof? All you need to do is to visit Paducah, Kentucky.

Paducah (population about 30,000) is located about two hours from Nashville and three hours from Memphis, St. Louis and Louisville.Grad was founded in 1815, occupied by Union forces during the greater part of the Civil War and had a great flood 1937.Grad is known for its annual telethon (Betty White appeared in 1959), and is one of only two cities mentioned in the famous song "Hooray for Hollywood". Former NHL player Terry Shumpert was born there. Dippin this point, a candy maker, has its headquarters there. So Bradshaw & Weil.

This is where Jared Morgan does. His family bought a 144 years old insurance agency in 1994 and Jared began working after college. And, except for two year term in youth ministry, this is where Jared always worked. Paducah and the area where he still resides. He married his high school girlfriend.

Bradshaw & Weill has eight employees, each averaging about twenty-five years experience. One employee of the agency with more than fifty years. Jared, on the 29th the dječak.Tvrtka is "light years behind in technology," he says. "The smallest change can make things very difficult for our people."

Jared being modest. His company is not light years behind in technology. In fact, little Bradshaw & Weil, compared to most other small business owners from San Francisco to New York, is a technology leader. For the past few years, they've been using Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite, or BPOs, for their e-mail and document sharing. In Paducah, Kentucky, for God's sake!

Quietly, Microsoft has added more and more of their key applications in the cloud. If you visit their online productivity sites you'll find a bunch of their product offering, such as Exchange Online for e-mail and calendaring, SharePoint Online for portals and share documents, Office Communications Online Communications, Live Meeting for Web and video conferencing, Dynamics CRM customer relationship management, and Windows PC InTune management.

the price is quite low. For example, only the conversion of rental costs $ 5.00 per month per user. Or if you prefer to host your SharePoint system that costs $ 5.25 per month per user. However, the greatest value is to sign up for BPOs. It costs a total of $ 10.00 per month per user, and includes Exchange, SharePoint plus the Office Communications and Live Meeting too.

Of course, there is still something missing here. BPOs do not contain any of the standard Microsoft Office products that you are accustomed to use every day such as Word, Excel, Outlook, Access and PowerPoint. These programs will be available online, according to Microsoft, in 2011 when the company releases its Office 365 hosted service which is currently still in beta. It will be another thing I'll write about it when the time comes.

BPOs has features you'd expect to find in any cloud based ponudom.Sigurnost 2011, uptime, storage, and rapid deployment of online and mobile access. This is what the cloud is all about.

And it's not as if it is not good competition out there. Google offers their e-mail hosting, document sharing, and voice / communications services (but not the meetings). Zoho offers a suite hosted small business applications. Box.net is a great alternative to SharePoint. Citrix Online has products for hosting meetings and webinars. But back to Paducah. And Jared.

Jared appreciate the advantages of going to the cloud. He saw the potential cost savings and time using a different server to host their own programs and not do it alone. Since his 20-ies he was more comfortable with technology than others in the company and had the confidence to move things on a cloud with little argument from senior management.

and he has tried other cloud services, especially the several offered by Google, which currently hosts the company's website. But he eventually decided to BPOs, especially Exchange and SharePoint. Is it able to? He says he likes the way Outlook works so easily with the stock market. And, with SharePoint, he has helped others to create a common file that documents the company processes the settlement of certain clients, scheduling reminders and tracking updates. But I'm not convinced that Jared is doing anything with Microsoft BPOs that he could work with other cloud-based services.

Which is why Microsoft will win the war of the cloud. Look, I'm not the world's biggest Microsoft fan. Yes, my company sells one of their products. But I was brought to tears too many times to mention Windows freeze-ups. I watched the nail to grow in front of my eyes while waiting for my computer to start (or off). Showing symptoms of advanced Parkinson's every time I have to pay to upgrade Office.

cloud has so far mainly on consumers. Cool apps for their devices. Valid for new ways to party attachments and share photos. Great sites for storing videos, talking to friends and finding that perfect new car.

But now the story changes. Microsoft moves into the cloud. In a big way. A company, along with its partners of thousands, will bring hundreds of millions of users in their small and medium-sized business customers. As Bradshaw and Weill. And that is why Microsoft will win the war cloud.

Since the battle will be won and the product features and cool gizmos and applications. People, especially small business people, will be asked to make a choice very brzo.Izbor will be on the company and the services and who we trust with our data and business applications. Small business people are nervous about it. Our data and the loss of our lives can put us out of business. We will not entrust it to just anyone.

Whatever people say about Microsoft, we know them and for the most part, we believe them. We are using your applications for decades. We are pleased with the look and feel of their products. Most small businesses around today, have survived and evolved in part because the technology used to run on Microsoft platforms. Even new companies will have a close look at their offers. Of course, we were frustrated with the technical issues and problems with their products. But we know that these problems are more related technologies, and not company related. We know that the products from Google, Apple and others like them also comes with its own technical headaches.

Of course, Microsoft could screw up. They could make a lousy product. They could fall on the support. They may fall behind in technology. And just because it has a history of getting on the market late, and then crushing its competitors (such as WordPerfect, Lotus, Netscape) does not mean that their current management will be able to do it again.

But they do not have a clear advantage: its products are used and loved by millions of small business people around the world. We do not want to change. We do not want to learn new products to do the same things we are already doing. We just want to do things faster and better. As long as Microsoft makes it easy for us to adapt to the cloud will go along with them.

And while Microsoft keeps winning over businesses from cities such as Paducah, Kentucky they will win the war small business cloud.