While small and medium sized businesses have the same basic technology issues as larger businesses, they may not always have access to the same resources as their larger counterparts.  Technologies like Microsoft Exchange, SharePoint and other collaborative tools have historically been cost-prohibitive for SMBs, and as a result, smaller businesses have not been able to take advantage of these applications that larger businesses use on a daily basis to streamline their operations.  Concerto Networks offers SMBs access to hosted solutions that give them immediate access to advanced technology, without the upfront cost and investment that would typically be required.

According to a recently released study commissioned by Microsoft, businesses that use hosted services perform better fiscally than those that do not, with more than 40 percent of the survey respondents that use hosted or cloud technology reporting a revenue increase of 30 percent. 

What is “hosted” Exchange?
Many small businesses start out using POP email, a common email platform that offers very little functionality other than basic email retrieval.  Email is stored locally on a PC or mobile device, rather than a central email server, with no synching between multiple devices or email clients.  Additionally, POP offers no advanced functionality like shared calendars, task lists, file sharing or contacts - all critical tools for businesses today.

Microsoft Exchange is the email platform of choice for larger businesses.  Why?

• With Exchange, everything is stored centrally and up-to-date, so you’ll always have access to the latest version of your email, contacts and calendar – no matter where you are or what device you are using.
• Exchange syncs your email, contacts and calendar on your mobile device – Blackberry, iPhone, Treo, or Windows Mobile.  Changes made on your mobile device are automatically synched to the server over the air.
• With shared calendars, employees can see colleagues’ availability to schedule meetings and events or plan projects.
• Shared task lists allow 'to do' lists to be created and assigned, then shared with team members. Managers can check off items as they are completed.
• Shared contacts give all employees access to a central directory of your customer’s contact details.

“Hosted” Exchange allows businesses to take advantage of this functionality at a fraction of the cost, without having to purchase additional hardware or software, or spend valuable staff resources setting up and configuring an Exchange server.  Your Exchange server is hosted at a world-class datacenter, and is monitored, managed and maintained 24 x 7 x 365 by Microsoft Exchange administrators.    

What is “hosted” SharePoint?
Windows SharePoint Services helps businesses work more efficiently.  SharePoint can be used to build company portals and Intranets, as well as shared document repositories to increase collaboration. 

• Create workspaces to share and collaborate on documents, eliminating the need to send documents through mass emails where drafts can easily get lost.
• Create project-specific websites with built-in task lists, calendar and document collaboration features to help manage projects involving multiple contributors.
• Management and configuration is easy, so adding and removing users, changing permissions, using templates and other important settings are easy to make and happen in real-time.

“Hosted” SharePoint allows businesses to begin taking advantage of these features, without having to purchase SharePoint server hardware and software, or worry about on-going maintenance and monitoring – a huge cost savings for SMBs.  Your SharePoint server is hosted at our data center, with 24 x 7 x 365 monitoring and maintenance. 

How can your business take advantage of Hosted Solutions?
Getting started with a hosted solution is simple.  Concerto Networks offers Hosted Exchange and SharePoint, with plans to fit the budget of any sized business.  We’ll help you figure out the plan that’s right for your company, and we’ll work with you to design an implementation plan to help you transition to the new environment.  It’s that easy!  Soon, you’ll be working more efficiently, and saving money at the same time.

Contact a Concerto Networks representative at (202) 787-3964 today for more information.