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Real World with Microsoft Online Services: Interview with Derek Major of Eligeo IT

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?As part of the Real World with Microsoft Online Services series, we spoke to Derek Major, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Eligeo IT. We asked him why his company switched from Google Apps to the Business Productivity Online Standard Suite from Microsoft Online Services to manage the company’s messaging and collaboration environment. Here’s what he had to say:

Q: Please tell us what Eligeo IT does? Who are your customers?
 
Major: Eligeo IT is a privately owned IT services company with four employees based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. We provide technology solution consulting and support services for network and desktop environments to more than 60 customers throughout the region.

Q: What were some of the challenges Eligeo IT faced that led it to adopt an online services model for its messaging and collaboration infrastructure?

Major: We’re always either on the road or on site with customers, so we need a solution that’s accessible from any location. As a small business, we’re always looking for ways to drive down our operating costs and we can’t afford to spend the time or the expense on maintaining servers and network connectivity, and performing all of the other tasks that go along with using physical infrastructure.

We originally decided to go with Google Apps for Business and we used it for about 14 months. From the start, we ran into problems with Google Apps that cost us valuable time and interfered with our ability to be as responsive to customers as we need to be. First of all, Gmail didn’t provide the functionality to share contacts. I’d have to send contact details to staff via email. If I was unavailable for some reason, they’d have to wait. Plus, the synchronization service through Gmail was totally unreliable. I would need to search through my Gmail account to find missing emails. And I frequently needed to repair the layout and design of documents that staff had edited using Google Docs. All in all, using Google Apps was a frustrating experience.

Q: Why did you choose Microsoft Online Services over the other solutions that you evaluated?

Major: We needed a solution that works everywhere via the web and that provides a high-fidelity, mobile experience. The solution needed to offer seamless compatibility with the Microsoft Office productivity applications we’ve come to rely on. And we also placed a lot of value on the reliability of the service and the quality and responsiveness of the support. Microsoft Online Services meets all of those criteria, so we saw it as a great fit for our business.

Q: What kinds of benefits are you experiencing by using Microsoft Online Services?  

Major: One of the biggest benefits is definitely how easy it is to setup and start using Microsoft Online Services. This goes hand in hand with another major advantage of the solution, which is integration with Microsoft Office tools. The synchronization between Microsoft Exchange Online and Microsoft Outlook is always fast and reliable, so I can quickly access my email messages from anywhere. Simply put: The Microsoft solution works better than Google Apps. Whether I’m on my phone or using my laptop, I can quickly find all the information I need, so I can get more work done.

Because we’re able to shift to a completely mobile operation, we can reduce our overhead costs. We’ll save $15,000 a year by eliminating the need to maintain a physical office. We can redirect that savings to continued innovation, so we further our competitive edge. And, as a bonus benefit, we’ve seen strong interest in Microsoft Online Services from our customers. The word is spreading that Microsoft has a really strong cloud-based productivity and collaboration solution. We’re able to back up that growing perception with our own great experience using the solution, which has given our sales a tremendous boost.

Read the full story online. For more success stories like Derek Major’s at Eligeo IT, read the real-world testimonials from Overland Solutions and Aspeq and tell us what you think about the choices these customers are making.

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