Dealership to Boost Collaboration with Move from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services
Let’s learn from Santa Margarita Ford why Microsoft was the best decision for their business' move from Google Apps, gaining new capabilities and support with Microsoft Online Services, and now Office 365!
“By using Office 365, our employees will be able to interact with email, SharePoint sites, and more from any smartphone. That’s very cool” --C. J. Allen, System Administrator, Santa Margarita Ford |
Santa Margarita Ford
Santa Margarita Ford has been selling and servicing Ford vehicles since 1997. With 200 employees, the Rancho Santa Margarita, California–based company is known throughout Orange County for excellent customer service and has been honored eight times with the Ford Motor Company President's Award, which recognizes dealers for superior customer satisfaction.
IT Challenges
Part of what makes Santa Margarita Ford successful is the productivity tools that its employees use to get their jobs done. “We had been using Google Apps for email and online storage, but as our company expanded, we began to need more capabilities than the product could provide. For instance, we couldn't have POP3 Forwarding while syncing emails over the Google Apps network, and there was no real customer support with Google,” says C. J. Allen, System Administrator for Santa Margarita Ford.
Allen notes that the dealership needed a more reliable, secure email solution and an easy way for employees to schedule meetings. It also wanted video and audio conferencing capabilities to use for training purposes and an online workspace where employees could collaborate with customers. “We needed a solution that would help employees and customers communicate in a quick and effective manner,” says Allen.
IT Solution & Benefits
Santa Margarita Ford contacted Managed Solution, a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, for help in selecting the best solution. “Most companies use Microsoft productivity products on-premises,” says Sean Ferrel, CEO and President of Managed Solution. “Because we want to provide them with a consistent online solution, we offer Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite instead of Google Apps or Amazon Web Services. Microsoft Online Services makes the most business sense for us, and we thought it would be a perfect fit for Santa Margarita Ford.”
The dealership agreed and switched to the Microsoft solution in 2010. “Moving to Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite was a great decision. It had the capabilities we were looking for, and it worked great,” says Allen. Since then, Santa Margarita Ford has been using Microsoft Exchange Online for email, Microsoft SharePoint Online for collaborating on documents and spreadsheets, and Microsoft Office Communications Online and Microsoft Office Live Meeting to enhance communications among employees.
When the beta version of Microsoft Office 365 debuted, Managed Solution recommended that the dealership evaluate it. “When we saw the demo of Office 365 we got very excited. Office 365 encompasses all the capabilities that we currently use with Microsoft Business Productivity Online Standard Suite and takes them to the next level by making it even easier to work from anywhere. We are looking forward to using it,” says Allen. Watch the video.
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“Office 365 means three things to me: It’s effective, it’s easy, and it’s exciting,” says Allen. Furthermore, the 200-plus employees at Santa Margarita Ford, who use a variety of smartphones—including Windows Phone, BlackBerry, iPhone, and Android—will be able to access collaboration and communication tools from any device. “By using Office 365, our employees will be able to interact with email, SharePoint sites, and more from any smartphone. That’s very cool,” says Allen.
Allen notes that Office 365 will be easy for employees to learn and for IT to manage. “Because Office 365 has the same look and feel as other Office products, which everyone is familiar with, our employees will be very comfortable using it. It really eliminates the learning curve and the amount of training needed,” says Allen.
It will also be simple for IT to manage and scale. “I like that you can add a single user or do bulk uploads of users at one time, and can designate roles to users on a per person or group basis. It will make my life easy,” notes Allen.
Comments
Anonymous
January 01, 2003
Very goodAnonymous
October 20, 2011
There's a growing body of software out there that let's you keep the best of both Google and Microsoft. Definitely business email-wise, you're going to get the best experience with Microsoft. But Google Voice vs. Lync or Skype? Different story. Don't choose ... http://www.clamr.comAnonymous
October 22, 2011
My favorite capability of Office 365 is the Cloud, being able to connect anywhere anytime, I also like storing my docs in the cloud. MarkAnonymous
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