A Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) can be an approachable right-sized partner that you can rely on for purchase, migration, end-user support, interfacing with Microsoft resources, filling gaps in Microsoft’s support, and helping you get the best out of the evolving Office 365 platform.
CSPs Help in Migration
There is always a risk in migrations of downtime or data loss. Therefore, migrations to Office 365 are best handled by an expert team. Microsoft itself will not help in migration for small businesses. A CSP such as Apps4Rent, who has experience in migrating thousands of email, hosted Exchange and SharePoint accounts, can make a difference in eliminating data loss and downtime.
Office 365 is Complex and Evolving
Office 365 is a continuously evolving product, with software updates, new plans, and associated products being released on regular basis. A Microsoft CSP stays on top of these changes for you. Just like a reliable car dealer, who is aware of approved parts, promotions, repair history, warranties, recalls, and software updates regarding your car, a Microsoft CSP knows so much about your Office 365 options that your IT staff doesn’t need to learn as much. You need a CSP to get the best out of Office 365.
Pick a CSP of the Right Size
Microsoft is a great company, but it is huge. They have millions of customers on Office 365 alone. A right-sized CSP provides the right blend of experience, process, service, and familiarity. The difference is between eating out at a nice restaurant and eating at a food court in a shopping mall. With a CSP, the experience is so much better. You can expect better service and form a good working relationship with its support team. Best of all, a CSP has an active relationship with Microsoft that you can take advantage of.
One Stop Shop for Application Support
It is convenient to have one provider for all your application hosting needs. Office 365 and other Microsoft cloud products offered by CSPs probably cover 80 percent of application hosting solutions most businesses need. The rest can be taken care by a versatile CSP such as Apps4Rent that offers managed services expertise on Microsoft, non-Microsoft, and hybrid platforms, domain management, secure certificates, migrations, on-premise implementations, virtualization, design, networking, and hosting, among others.
Support End-users 24/7
Imagine the plight of typical IT administrator in a medium-sized business. He is the go-to person for any IT-related issue in the office or company. There are request tickets and emails popping up, IMs blinking, and calls buzzing on the support desk, all with alarming regularity. A few people are hovering around the administrator’s workstation. The last thing the administrator needs is the load of supporting end-users of Office 365.
However, once Office 365 is up and running, the end-user support is still the internal IT’s responsibility. As per the terms and conditions, the end-users cannot directly approach Microsoft support. All problems have to be routed through a single person, who was designated as the administrator at the time of procuring Office 365.
In such situations, a CSP can add real value. The end-users can directly get in touch with the CSP’s support team, by just picking up the phone, or tapping away on a chat, any time of the night or day. Get responses from real people, in real time. They can get all their questions answered, issues resolved, no matter how small. The IT administrator would have been left in peace, allowing him to look after the IT needs of the business that makes the money in the first place.
