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Real World with Microsoft Online Services: Interview with John G. Pedersen, Editor-in-Chief, Mobilsiden.dk

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As part of the Real World with Microsoft Online Services series, we spoke to John G. Pedersen, Editor-in-Chief at Mobilsiden.dk, about why, after years of challenges with performance and IT support while working with Google Apps, Mobilsiden.dk switched to Microsoft Office 365. Here’s what he had to say:

Q: Can you tell us about Mobilsiden.dk?
Pedersen: Based in Copenhagen, Mobilsiden.dk is a prominent Internet media site that offers the latest news and analyses about the world of mobility. With 860,000 visitors per month, we are one of the most visited sites in Denmark. We provide news, analyses, and a forum for debate about mobile, remote, and portable electronic devices.

Q: What led Mobilsiden.dk to initially adopt Google Apps for its infrastructure?
Pedersen: We have a big focus on getting the most for our money. We needed to keep costs low. That was why we chose to use a cloud-based solution for our productivity and communications environment. We selected Google Apps because it was competitively priced and seemed like a good solution at the time.

Q: Why did you switch to Office 365?
Pedersen: After we adopted Google Apps, at first we experienced no issues. Then we discovered that product changes had been made that resulted in our Danish spellchecker no longer working. As time passed, we found the applications to be unstable. We began to have problems with stability across several different computers and browsers. The applications froze or simply broke. We also were not pleased with technical support. When we submitted queries to support personnel, we felt ignored. By 2011, we determined that we had to find something more effective. We evaluated Microsoft Office 365 when it was released and quickly signed up, abandoning Google Apps. With Office 365, we found the solution that we needed.

Q: What kinds of benefits are you experiencing by using Office 365?  
Pedersen: When we switched to Microsoft Office 365, we achieved our goal of finding a solution that provides a working environment that is stable for employees and offers professional, enterprise-level IT support that we can rely on. Today, we have a fully functioning email solution, central file storage on Microsoft SharePoint Online, and communications using Microsoft Lync Online. It only takes two or three minutes to create a new user account for an employee. We now have improved productivity and fewer miscommunications. Everything functions smoothly with Office 365, which has a rich feature set and is easy to use. Office 365 is light-years ahead of anything else on the market.

Read the full story online. For more success stories like John G. Pedersen’s at Mobilsiden.dk, read other real-world testimonials on the whymicrosoft website.

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