The Damson Cloud Blog

Cloud Computing for Small Business

2012-11-13T13:05:00.000Z

What is Cloud Computing
There remains some fear and uncertainty in the market around cloud computing particularly within the small businesses sector. Many people are unsure of what it actually means for them as a business owner. The most common question I get asked is, “What is cloud computing and what does it actually mean for my business?”. Let me begin by addressing those questions.

Firstly, what is cloud computing? Cloud computing is accessing an application (software) over the internet. For instance instead of a document you are writing sitting on your PC it is stored on a server somewhere else in the world that you are accessing over a web browser. As the location of the server is nebulous and non-specific it is referred to as The Cloud. It is similar to lodging your money into your bank account. You can access it from any ATM machine, but you don’t actually need to know where “your” money is physically located.

What does this actually mean for your business? As with ATM’s cloud computing is more convenient. Have you ever had the experience of being away from your desk and needed a file that was on your PC? Or said to your customer I will send that invoice to you when I get back to the office. When your data is stored in The Cloud you can access it from any internet enabled device. A PC, laptop, smartphone or tablet. Cloud computing costs less too, generally having a small monthly or yearly subscription fee for using the software.

Technology Problems for Small Businesses
As small businesses we face many challenges on a daily basis. Cloud computing brings technology to us that helps solve these challenges. In the past this technology was available only to large corporate enterprises, but The Cloud makes it accessible to everyone. Let’s take a look at some common challenges for small businesses and some cool cloud based applications that help us solve them.

Collaboration solutions
Whether it is with our colleagues, contractors or customers collaboration has become essential to how many of us work. Here are some great tools that can help you share documents and work with others.

Dropbox is one of the world’s most popular document sharing application. It syncs your files to multiple computers, backs them up online and gives you access to them via your smartphone. It has a free version and is a great first step towards using the cloud.

Google Docs allows you to collaborate with others on a live, online document. This means that you can see what others a typing as they are typing it. You can be in Ireland and the other person could be sitting next to you, or in New York it doesn’t matter. To do this all you need is a Google/Gmail account. If you already have a gmail account but have never used Google Docs then you are missing out!

Accountancy/Finance
Freshbooks is an online invoicing and billing system which allows you to send out invoices to your customers, track expenses and get basic accounts information. Freshbooks has some amazing features such as the ability to automatically send out reminders to customers, log expenses on their FREE iPhone app and give your customers a login so they can see all their invoices, estimates and an account statement. The most dramatic change we noticed when we moved to Freshbooks was that we got paid faster and who wouldn’t want that.

Xero is a full accounts package online and goes one step further than Freshbooks. It lacks some of the cool automated reminder features, but is great for companies that have more complex accounting methods.

CRM Solutions - Customer Relationship Management
We all have customers and they all need managing. Whether it’s tracking emails, calls, potential sales or simply recalling when was the last time you contacted them. Every business gets to the point where you can no longer keep all of these things in your head. Before choosing a CRM system it is important to decide what you need out of a CRM. Like anything in life you only get out what you put in, so make sure it is easy to use. For the small business user choosing a CRM system is like buying a car, it’s a personal choice. Some people like big cars, some people like fast ones and there is always the balance to be struck between what you can afford and what you need. It is also important to test a few out before committing. Here are a few of my personal favourites:

Capsule CRM integrates with a some of the other web based tools mentioned here such as Freshbooks. It also pulls in information from Linkedin and Twitter, allowing you to see a potential customers’ social media profiles from within the app. They have a good iPhone app which gives you access to your data out on the road.

Nimble is the worlds social CRM, they focus all their attention on the social media content and integrations with these platforms. If social media is important to your business then check out Nimble!

Nutshell CRM has a really nice interface and is easy to use. Definitely a good started for those not familiar with CRM systems. They integrate with products like Google Apps and have an excellent mobile app. Worth a look before committing.

Project Management
Project management is something that doesn’t apply to all businesses, but many service oriented companies have ongoing projects that they need to be able to monitor and manage effectively. The project management space is very crowded and like CRM it can be very personal depending on your preferences and business requirements.

Smartsheets is an amazing project management tool. It is like spreadsheets on steroids. If you are familiar with spreadsheets it means the learning curve is fairly light and you should get the hang of it easily. You can share your projects with your customers and actually allow them to collaborate with you on a project sheet. Within Smartsheets you can attach documents, setup reminders, add comments and much more.

Do.com is a great little project and task management app. It was recently bought by Saleforce and is currently FREE! They have a great iPhone app and it is really simple to use. For those of you that don’t need the complexity of Smartsheets Do.com is perfect.

Video Conferencing
Many of us now work from home or travel for business. Video conferencing is a great way to collaborate with colleagues and customers from any location without the need to travel. A lot of my business comes from London, but before I hop on a plane I always arrange a video call with a potential customer before investing the time and money to travel. Thanks to applications like Skype and Facetime (for iPhone) people are much more familiar with video calls. Here are some great apps to start with:

Skype is probably the best known brand in video communication and many people have Skype accounts. This makes it easy to connect with others. You can setup a Skype account in a few minutes, install the software and start testing it out. Multi-person video calls require a paid account.

Go to Meeting does professional level video conferencing and webinars for a reasonable price. It gives you the type of capabilities you would expect from Cisco’s Webex but without the price tag. That said it still isn’t cheap and can set you back €59 per month for Webinar edition. However, if you are planning to deliver online training or presentations with customers it will pay for itself in no time.

Google Hangouts are a great way to try out the video conferencing world at no COST! With Google Hangouts you need a Google+ account and you have access to full video conferences with up to 10 people. You can share your screen for presentations and even do a “Hangout on Air” where Google will broadcast your hangout to the world. This hangout will then be available as a Youtube video afterwards. This is great for online presentations or perhaps a Q&A session with an expert. People have used Google Hangouts on Air in very interesting ways, such as doing cookery demonstrations and musical performances. This year Google hosted a Hangout with Barack Obama that was broadcast to the world. Watch this great video on Google Hangouts: http://youtu.be/NQLhOdTHoXA

Conclusion
The Cloud and the proliferation of tools available can be overwhelming for small businesses. The key is to choose the area that is most important to your business, or that will have the most immediate benefit. Whether it is getting organised with a new project management system, connecting with customers via video call or sending out auto payment reminders with Freshbooks, take your first step into the cloud.

Author
Fintan Murphy is CEO of Damson Cloud a leading cloud computing integrator for enterprises. Damson are on of Google’s top partners in Europe. Here is a link to a recent presentation Fintan gave at Google London on Google’s cloud platform for businesses: http://youtu.be/dtnjWCHwlO4

Contact details
Fintan Murphy
Irl: +353-1-685 4666
UK: +44-2034111175
Email: fintan@damsoncloud.com
Website: www.damsoncloud.com

Damson Cloud team one of the world's first Google Apps Certified Sales Specialists

2012-02-15T22:49:00.000Z

Damson Cloud today announced its Google Partner Certification status. Damson Cloud is proud to have two of the world’s first Google Apps Certified Sales Specialists out of the initial 100 beta testers for Google’s newly announced Google Apps Sales Specialist exam. Partners, individuals and Googlers all took part in the exclusive beta testing period.

As a key partner of Google our Managing Director, Fintan Murphy was asked to assist in developing the exam itself:

“We were delighted to be chosen as one of only four Google Apps partners globally to assist in developing the newly launched Google Apps Certified Sales Specialist exam.” said Damson Cloud CEO, Fintan Murphy. “Google is expanding its array of certifications for partners and this helps customers find the Google Apps Partner that can fulfil their requirements. We are pleased to have such a good relationship with the Google Enterprise team, we feel it gives our customers the confidence that we can deliver.”

The Google Apps Certified Sales Specialist Certification covers key Google Apps fundamentals required to consult on Google Apps as an Enterprise solution. Certification holders will have a knowledge of the full Google Apps suite of tools, its extensibility points and integrations with other solutions. As well as the experience necessary to assist customers in providing a solution validation for their organisation prior to deployment.

The Google Apps Certified Sales Specialist Certification ensures that the sales team at Damson Cloud have the skill set and knowledge necessary to consult and advise our customers on the correct configuration, deployment and migration required for your organisation. Specifically enabling us to assist larger organisations with the level of consultation required in large scale deployments of Google Apps. With 100's of deployments under our belt this certification will certainly help solidify Damson Cloud's position as a leader in Google Apps cloud services.

Google’s certification of the Damson Cloud sales team adds to our already impressive qualifications so far, including Google Apps Deployment Specialists and Google Apps for Education Certified Trainer's.

About Google Partner Damson Cloud

Damson Cloud are a limited company based in Ireland and are one of Google's top partners in Europe. We work closely with the Google Enterprise Team in Ireland and the UK. Some of Damson's notable clients include The British Judo Association, Foroige, Forward Internet Group, uSwitch.com and Inoapps UK.

2011-10-06T18:02:00.001+01:00

Damson Cloud Ltd are hosting a Google Apps Breakfast Briefing in Dublin on Thursday 27th of October.

Google Apps an Enterprise Solution
Why not come for a visit to Google's Dublin offices on October 27th and learn how more than 4 million organisations worldwide are now experiencing less infrastructure maintenance, reduced systems downtime, lower total cost of ownership and increased employee productivity by switching to Google Apps.
We invite you to our free breakfast briefing, co-hosted with Google Enterprise Ireland, where you will learn how a leading Irish Enterprise transitioned from their legacy in-house collaboration solution and the benefits that they are now experiencing after making the switch.

What you'll learn:

- Google Apps customer success story
- A live Google Apps demonstration
- Google's Vision for the Enterprise

We look forward to seeing you there and helping you learn more about the Google Apps platform and how you can leverage it for your business.

Space is limited.
Reserve your seat now at:

Join Damson Cloud's Managing Director, Fintan Murphy, on October 27th to learn how Google Apps can help your business save money and increase efficiency.

Title: Google Apps Breakfast Briefing
Date: Thursday, October 27th, 2011

We look forward to meeting you and discussing the possibilities of cloud computing

WEBINAR: Google Apps an Enterprise Solution

2011-10-06T12:54:00.000+01:00

Our Sales Director Fintan Murphy will be hosting a live Webinar next Thursday 13th of October. Learn how Google Apps for Business is being used by Enterprises all over the world as an email and collaboration solution. We will have Brian Coffey from the Google Enterprise Team joining us and Fintan Murphy Managing Director of Damson Cloud.

Google Apps an Enterprise Solution
Join us for a Webinar on October 13th

Discussion will include:

- Google's Vision for Enterprise
- Overview of the Google Apps platform
- Google Apps product demo
- Customer Success stories, how our customers are leveraging Google Apps
- Q&A

We look forward to seeing you online and helping you learn more about the Google Apps platform and how you can leverage it for your business.

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

Join Damson Cloud's Sales Director, Fintan Murphy, on October 13th at 2pm BST (GMT+1) to learn how Google Apps can help your business save money and increase efficiency.

Title: Google Apps an Enterprise Solution
Date: Thursday, October 13th, 2011
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM BST

We look forward to meeting you (virtually) next week and discussing the possibilities of cloud computing

WEBINAR - Introduction to Google Apps for Business

2011-09-23T17:18:00.000+01:00

Our Sales Director Fintan Murphy will be hosting a live Webinar next Thursday 29th of September. We will give a brief overview of Google Apps, a demo of the product and go through how some of our customers are leveraging Google Apps for their email and business collaboration

Introduction to Google Apps for Business
Join us for a Webinar on September 29th

Space is limited.
Reserve your Webinar seat now at:

Join Damson Cloud's Sales Director, Fintan Murphy, on September 29th at 2pm BST (GMT+1) to learn how Google Apps can help your business save money and increase efficiency.

Title: Introduction to Google Apps for Business
Date: Thursday, September 29th, 2011
Time: 2:00 PM - 3:00 PM BST

We look forward to meeting you (virtually) next week and discussing the possibilities of cloud computing

Chrome is Ready for Business

2010-12-15T18:22:00.000Z

Google have just announced an MSI installer that enables businesses who use standard deployment tools to install Google Chrome for all their managed users. They’ve also added support for managed group policy with a list of policies and a set of templates that allow administrators to easily customize browser settings to manage security and privacy.

For users that need access to older web applications not yet qualified for Chrome, Google have added group policy support to Google Chrome Frame, an Internet Explorer (TM) plug-in that provides Chrome-quality rendering for the broader Web, while defaulting to host rendering for any web applications that still require IE.

Source: Official Google Enterprise Blog: Chrome is Ready for Business

Google Message Continuity - Disaster Recovery for Exchange

2010-12-09T17:34:00.000Z

Google Message Continuity is a cloud-based email continuity solution—a service that helps ensure that you always have access to your email. Organizations running on-premises email systems, such as Microsoft® Exchange, can run the risk of losing email access—or even worse, their email data—during a server outage, which can impact employee productivity, revenue and even company credibility. Research suggests that a 500-person company could lose nearly £60,000 annually due to email outages*, which a continuity solution could help prevent.

Google Message Continuity works by replicating email accounts hosted on Microsoft® Exchange Servers in the cloud, using Gmail, Calendar and Contacts. If the Microsoft® Exchange Server fails, or requires scheduled maintenance or downtime, all you have to do is log into Gmail and continue regular, up-to-date email communication through Google. Since Gmail and Microsoft® Exchange are constantly synchronized with each other, you can seamlessly switch from one email environment to the other. Additionally, features such as synchronous replication that are built into Google’s architecture help ensure that your data won’t be lost at any point while being delivered to you with maximum efficiency.

Google Message Continuity can also help organizations transition to Google Apps down the road. Since Microsoft® Exchange and Gmail are always in sync with one another, there’s no need to migrate email data when eventually deploying Google Apps. With Gmail, Calendar and Contacts available, users can get familiar with these cloud services without having to abruptly stop using their regular email system.

Google Message Continuity takes Gmail’s availability and extends it to Microsoft® Exchange users, delivering on the cloud’s promise of greater reliability and security for organizations of all sizes. And with research suggesting that on-premises email solutions often face regular email downtime, this extension just seems to make sense.

To find out more information on Google Message Continuity, get in touch with one of our consultants at Catalystic - www.catalystic.com/contact.

*Osterman Research, 2009. “Key Issues in Selecting an Email Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity Solution”

Cross Posted from - Official Google Blog: Introducing Google Message Continuity, powered by Postini

Google Apps - The Cloud Computing Platform for Business

2010-08-17T04:24:00.000+01:00

Sales Force Automation Software

2010-05-19T09:26:00.000+01:00

Salesforce.com is a leading sales force automation solution provider. Their software solutions allow your business to easily share and manage information. Salesforce.com provides award winning software solutions.

You want an easy to use, point and click customisable system with global capabilities from your business software. Salesforce.com is able to deliver this and more and all with over 97% satisfaction rating from their customers.

How can sales force automation help?

Salesforce.com has a superb sales force automation (SFA) application which can give your business easy access to sales data. The system is intuitive and easy to customise. Salesforce.com will help your company to manage people and processes more effectively with less time will be spent on administration allowing for more time to make sales.

The sales force automation software gives your sales team real time analytics allowing them to make quick informed decisions. Your sales team have a very important job you want to make their life easier allowing them to perform to their full potential.

The salesforce.com sales force automation software gives fast access to data and links easily into existing systems in use such as Microsoft Office and Outlook.

Sales teams and sales managers find sales force automation software improves results. Sales managers can use the software to make sales forecasts, report back to the board and identify sales opportunities very quickly.

The data produced and recorded by the salesforce.com SFA software allow business owners to make important decisions. The analytics dashboard is fully customisable so you can see the information which is most important to you.

The extra bonus of using the salesforce.com sales force automation software is there are no downloads and no software to install. If you want to find out how you can use the system to stream line your business and make more money contact Catalystic for your 30 day free salesforce.com trial.

Business Email Hosting

2010-05-11T10:16:00.000+01:00

In the current day and age, business email hosting is an important part of running a smooth and successful company and its popularity is ensuring that there are many great deals around. Cheap email hosting is fairly easy to find but you must ensure you are getting the services you need; even if it seems like a good deal on the surface.

Here are some of the most basic yet important features that everyone should get with an email hosting service:

Protection against spam

A large mailbox

Anti-virus protection

Support systems

Service Level Agreement

A good business email hosting service should always include these offerings. This is because email is hugely important to the successful running of a business on a day-to-day level, it is the most convenient way to communicate. If your business email has ever gone offline you will know it is nearly impossible to work. Email hosting services can be found with ease online and there are many to choose from.

A good business email service with the right spam protection will mean you no longer have to spend time filtering spam or opening spam that has crept into your inbox, thus ensuring that your computers are at a far lesser risk of a virus than ever before. With an email host managing your business emails, which arguably is one of the most important parts of your business, you get to check your mail while someone else handles the running of the mailboxes freeing up time which is spent on IT problems. Upgrades and maintenance are all handled by someone else and a good service level agreement will ensure there is the minimum amount of downtime so as not to interrupt your business day.

If you are looking for the best business email talk to Catalystic we can advise you on which email would be best for your business.

How can cloud computing improve sales

2010-05-02T10:09:00.000+01:00

Cloud computing has many benefits. There is time and cost savings to be had which can increase productivity and grow profits. Cloud computing can be utilised in your business to run a hosted crm online system which will streamline your business processes making you more efficient. All this will have a positive impact on your business and will lead to improved sales resulting in more profits, the ultimate goal of any business.

Using cloud computing in your business can help information to flow better within your organisation which will allow your company to better serve your customers. Cloud computing has been around for at least 10 years and is now being recognised as a great way to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Accessing a software through a web browser can give you access to the best software systems without the hassle of upgrading and maintaining the system internally.

Cloud computing enables companies to place an emphasis back on what they do best and not have to worry about technology. Spending more time on sales and marketing will lead to an increase in sales.

The scalability of the cloud enables business of any size to plugin into the cloud and off they go. If the business grows or shrinks the cloud will allow you to increase or decrease your users so you have no wastage. The flexibility this offers business is very attractive and in the light of the recent recession is a very attractive option.

If you want to know how cloud computing can help your business to grow sales volume contact Catalystic we can provide you with advice and case studies on which software will help your business depending on the sector you are in and service you supply.

Google Apps the Benefits for Business

2010-04-15T06:27:00.000+01:00

Google are fully behind the cloud computing movement with their Google Apps for business offering. Google apps offer a number of benefits to business; the browser based applications give companies the freedom to innovate by taking advantage of the scalable nature of cloud computing.

Google apps have been designed so upgrades and improvements are pushed out regularly to users. New functionality can be pushed out weekly because the software is designed to do so to ensure all customers have the most up to date software. Don’t forget, none of the software upgrades need to be done in house.

When Google Apps launch a new feature to their web based applications users can get the upgrades just by refreshing their browser. With mobile browser applications, they are kept updated without software updates. With traditional IT, software updates can be a nightmare. They can be time and labour intensive.

Google Apps benefit from anonymous usage statistics from millions of users which help Google to learn which features will benefit business users the most and apply them to Google Apps software very quickly.

Your staff benefit from the continuous updates Google Apps implement and are not subject to learn completely new software applications when a new update comes out, which is often the case when traditional software gets an upgrade.

If you want to take advantage of the benefits of Google Apps contact Catalystic to find out how we can help you use Google Apps in your business.

Email Hosting in the Cloud

2010-04-12T09:14:00.000+01:00

Should companies be looking for business email hosting in the cloud? Google have launched Google Apps Premier Edition which costs only £33 per user per year. This low cost option makes it a very viable choice for business email hosting.

Think about your current email hosting service and how much it costs you every time you need to upgrade, switch and add users. And when you add in the costs of staff, maintenance, storage of servers, email archiving, mobile email, and finance, it can add up.

There are a number of options for business email hosting. These include in house email where most large and medium sized businesses run everything in house this includes the mail server, mailbox storage, archiving and public folders etc. IBM and Microsoft are the dominant suppliers in this area.

Hosted business email, now coming to be known as cloud email hosting is when someone else runs your business email. It is run in someone else’s data centre. Cloud email hosting has always appealed to smaller business as the hassle of all the management is looked after by someone else, but larger businesses are beginning to realise that outsourcing business email can also benefit them.

Alternative options include a hybrid model where some parts of your business email are in the cloud and some are on site. Mailboxes for example would be kept in-house whilst email filtering and archiving would be managed by a cloud computing company.

Hosting in the cloud can benefit your business by providing a pay-as-you-go model which allows you to keep a hold of budgets. You also benefit from always having the most up to date software. You also do not have the hassle of managing it yourself. It’s really quick to add new users to cloud email. New users can be set up very quickly and removed again should they need to be.

To find out more about email hosting in the cloud talk to Catalystic we can provide you with cost saving estimates based on your current system and the number of users you have.

CRM software system

2010-04-01T03:32:00.000+01:00

A CRM software system can help any company run its customer relationships in a more competent way. This simple piece of software enables you and your team to concentrate more time on what is vitally important; your product.

How CRM systems work

The software creates a database of detailed analysis of your customers that is easily accessible from customer service representatives through to management. With this information, customer needs can be matched with products best suited to the customer. This in-turn will give your customers the feel of a truly personalised service and will yield an improved return in sales.

Hosted CRM system

You can choose to have hosted CRM online so all updates for your software can be downloaded with just a few clicks of a mouse. The use of a CRM software system online helps you to keep on top of your ever-changing customer needs so great service and products are always delivered.

The use of CRM software systems is gaining ground in meeting the needs and goals of customer care. The software works directly for the client offering excellent care levels, which is part of the primary programming. It also unites different departments relating to customer care from marketing and sales to aftercare.

Why CRM software systems?

Some people may ask: ‘why should I use a CRM software system?’ The simple answer is it is designed to benefit the customer by delivering excellent service thus making your business more successful. This is just one of the benefits as it will also cut down on man hours and outgoing costs; making the company more cost-efficient.

The main aim for every customer related company is to keep in business by offering an excellent product. Hosted CRM online can give you this and help your company move upwards with great skills in customer relations.

Catalystic can set you up with a CRM software system that will suit your business and budget.

CRM Software Systems are important to Small Business

2010-03-26T09:10:00.000Z

Using a crm software system

In a small business it can be difficult to stay on top of things as there is often not a dedicated customer services department like in larger firms. Often the sales people are the after sales support. This is when a CRM system comes in handy. Managing your customers usefully can lead to the make or break of your business. By using a web based CRM system small companies can benefit fron their ease of use.

The CRM software will manage all of your client relationships. All of their contact details and previous orders will be stored in a central location. All the information you would want to know will be at your disposal at a click of a button. No searching around for data just a quick and simple system saving you time.

By having a good relationship with prospective clients you will know when the right time to approach them is. To stay ahead of the game you should be using a CRM software system. You can get a cheap hosted CRM system that will provide you with everything you need.

There are millions of small businesses in the UK with less than 20 employees. Each of these small businesses faces similar challenges. Looking after your business is about looking after your customers without which you would not be around.

Whether you are a one person company or a there are a team of people working together the aim is to provide your customers, prospective and current, with what they want. This will allow you to grow your business. By knowing what your customers want and need you can be there ready for them waiting to provide it.

Talk to Catalystic about how we can help your small business set up a CRM software system.

Using a hosted CRM online to measure sales

2010-03-17T10:59:00.000Z

For all businesses it is important to measure where sales are coming from. This can be achieved using a crm software system. For online retailers it is easy to measure sales and the source of these sales and enquiries. This is achieved using analytics software.

If you are an offline business where you don’t sell a product online measuring how you generate business can be far trickier. One way to measure the source of sales is to have specific phone numbers which represent each source of enquiry whether this is your website or some other offline advertising.

If your business engages in various forms of promotion you are going to want to know exactly what works and what doesn’t so you know where to spend more money and where to stop pouring in the pennies.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system

A great way to follow where leads and sales come from is to use a hosted crm system. A UK crm company can help you to measure every contact point and where that lead is in the sales cycle. This will indicate to your sales team whether the lead is close to a sale.

Many small businesses feel such a wonderful system that can help you to increase sales and grow your business would be expensive. But using cloud computing technology a hosted crm online system can be purchased at a reasonable price. Everything is managed for you and there is no hardware or maintenance needed in-house to get the system up and running.

The crm software system can be set up very easily by a UK crm company and configured so that it exactly fits the requirements of your business. Whether you are large or small, online or offline the crm system can help you to realise the sales potential of your leads so you don’t let business slip away. Contact Catalystic today to discuss your requirments.

What is a CRM hosted service?

2010-03-09T04:45:00.000Z

A CRM hosted service (Customer relations management) is a computer application that manages all your businesses sales and marketing data. One day all companies around the world will be using this system to help their business grow.

How does the hosted CRM software work?

Using a hosted CRM online could not be simpler and it can generate all the figures you need for past sales, forecasted sales and provides a great return on your investment. By finding an application service provider to maintain and support your hosted CRM software, your company will have the spare time and money to concentrate on your core competencies.

Increasing CRM popularity

A recent study into the usage of services providing hosted CRM online has shown that 80% of the firms that signed up to use the service saw a return on their investment within a year. The cost of CRM software can mount upwith the added expense of maintenance, upgrades and servers. Using a hosted CRM system will prevent all these additional costs.

The benefits of a CRM hosted service

A UK CRM company is the way forward to save on money and time as well as keeping the business ticking along while you have time to focus on your product and growing your business. Managing all your customers data will streamline your business and improve sales results. With data at your fingertips you will be able to make the right decisions for your business.

The CRM model is fast changing as technology is growing at a stupendous rate. A CRM hosted service is the only way to keep up with the competition without costing your business excessive expenditure. Get in with a good UK CRM company who can offer a friendly and efficient service you will be able to take advantage of the support they can give you whilst knowing that they are in the same time zone as you are.

To find out more about how we can help you with a hosted CRM software service contact us today.

What is software as a service?

2010-03-04T03:03:00.000Z

Software as a service (SaaS) has been around for the last 10 years and is a way for a provider to distribute their product to the market. The providers of the software will usually license the product for on-demand usage to the user, the provider hosts the application on their servers.

It is a product that is largely used by businesses, as a way of saving money within the firm. Instead of licensing all the computer devices needed to support every application, they use the on-demand service and save a substantial amount of money.

Benefits of using software as a service

Being able to access the broad range of applications that are on the market whenever you need or want.

Not having to download upgrades, updates etc as it is all done via the provider.

Saving money on license fees and application purchases.

Saving space not having to store you own in-house servers.

Saving man hours by using ready built software.

The latest applications are readily available online for you to use.

Having access to the best practices applications.

SaaS is still in its early stages and will continue to grow in the ever-changing world of technology. As the service gets stronger so will the benefits to the customers who use the product. Software as a service is still a relatively new phenomenon and is rapidly gaining popularity across the world. Many firms have cited that it has saved them many man hours simply by being able to use online applications as opposed to building services from scratch.

With the added bonus of not having to pay for the extras it is seen as something that is a great investment for the future of any company. SaaS is likely to be a term that we all become far more familiar with over the next few years.

Why make the Google Apps transition?

2010-02-23T03:26:00.000Z

Cloud computing companies – Find out how they can help your business by helping you set up Goole Apps.

If you are thinking about making the move to Google Apps then ensure the cloud computing companies you are looking at will be able to make the move smooth and fast. There are numerous reasons why making the change will be of a benefit to your company and firstly you should be thinking about making the change if you want to communicate more effectively within your company both with your clients and your staff.

The benefits of using the services of cloud computing companies means you can often make massive savings, which is always a boost for any business. One of the huge positives about Google Apps is it allows your employees to gain 25GB of email space on your own domain. As a UK Google Apps reseller, Catalystic offers the ability to move your business into the Google Apps mode and email systems such as Microsoft Outlook and Gmail can still be used.

Instant messaging systems are popular and Google Talk is as good as any other IM system available, if not better. The transition can be easy; you just have to make sure you use a professional UK Google Apps reseller such as Catalystic to do it for you. There are seemingly endless Google Apps options and cloud computing companies will be able to offer you advice on which ones will benefit your company.

Use Catalystic to find out more about the setup of Goole Apps and to avoid causing too much unnecessary disruption to your business. Taking your business to the clouds has never been easier…

Cloud Computing Email Hosting

2010-02-10T06:34:00.000Z

Cloud computing continues to increase in popularity amongst businesses large and small. If you are deciding whether to migrate your email to the cloud you have probably asked the following questions:

Should I use cloud computing for email hosting?

What are the benefits of cloud email hosting?

How do we move our emails to the cloud?

What should I know about using cloud email hosting?

The following information may help you to answer the above questions. Using cloud computing for email hosting means there are no more servers to maintain in house. All installation and server upgrades are performed for you. This reduces the need for in-house IT support. This can save your business a great deal of money.

The benefits of cloud computing email hosting apart from the cost is it is ideal for small businesses as you can ‘pay as you grow’. Traditional email hosting can often tie you into long term contracts cloud email hosting is scalable and you can move up or down when you need to.

In a recent survey by Mimecast questioning 565 respondents on cloud computing. 33% are using the cloud for email management and 26% are using cloud computing for email archiving. The research also uncovered 70% of those questioned were planning to increase their use of cloud computing making use of further cloud computing applications.

Once you have decided to move your email service to the cloud how do you do it? This is something Catalystic can do for you. Our team of experts are helping the cloud computing revolution and continuously perform email cloud computing migrations on businesses from 5 – 500+ employees. We will talk you through all the options and help you to make the right choice for your business and budget.

Cloud computing for small business

2010-02-05T07:02:00.000Z

Cloud computing can be an excellent way for a small business to reduce costs and increase efficiency. The use of cloud computing is increasing however many small businesses are still unsure of what it is and how beneficial it can be.

Cloud computing, is when IT services are delivered via the Internet. The benefit of using this technology is the small business no longer remains responsible for IT maintenance, software upgrades and system issues. All of these activities become the responsibility of the service provider. This reduces the need for an in-house IT department saving costs. This is the main reason that software as a service and cloud computing is so appealing to small business.

Examples of cloud computing for small business

There are many ways in which cloud computing can be utilised by small businesses. Here are some examples

Virtual servers – Data can be hosted on a third party server requiring no need to maintain a server in house

Software – Software solutions can be developed and hosted by another company. No upgrades or maintenance are needed if provided through cloud computing

Network storage – All data can be stored in the cloud and synced to allow employees access from anywhere with a web browser

Collaboration – Employees can communicate and work together on projects in a very easy way

If you are contemplating migrating your IT services to the cloud to talk to Catalystic we can help you. Our dedicated team of cloud computing experts can help advise you which IT services would benefit your business and make you cost savings.

Google Apps Set-up Service

2010-01-18T08:17:00.000Z

Are you looking to move your business to Google Apps? Catalystic offer a Google Apps setup service that will make your move to the cloud quick and easy. Cloud computing offers great cost and savings benefits, Google Apps is the perfect solution for businesses looking to communicate and collaborate more effectively.

Google Apps is set up on your domain where employees can have 25GB of email storage. Gmail offers advanced SPAM filtering and if you prefer to use Microsoft Outlook as your email client you can still do this. Google calendar allows for meetings to be easily scheduled between different people and Google Talk allows for people to send instant messages to each other.

Moving to Google Apps from Microsoft or IBM is easy. Use a professional cloud computing company to set up Google Apps and everything will be handled for you. There will be no hassle for you and you will receive support during the setup process. Get your employees set up using Google Apps with the minimum of disruption to them and your business.

There are many apps available to companies looking to move to the cloud. Cloud computing companies will be able to advise you which tools will be most suitable for your business. The range of apps available is very exciting and for those businesses who don’t want the expense of running a small business server cloud computing is ideal.

Contact Catalystic today to discuss our Google Apps setup service.

Cloud Computing Services for Universities

2010-01-14T05:06:00.000Z

Cloud computing services continue to increase in popularity. Google Apps offer fantastic tools to organisations for messaging and collaboration. Google Apps works well for businesses but Universities can also use the tools which include Google Mail, Docs, Sites and Chat.

Many UK universities have already signed up to the Education Edition including The University of Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam University, the University of Portsmouth and De Montfort University.

Being a student needs organisation. There are lectures to attend, coursework to do and project work in groups is a requirement on most courses. Not to forget all the societies, sporting events and socialising that needs to be done.

Google Apps gives these Universities access to email, messaging and shared calendar, enabling students to schedule lectures, communicate and collaborate with lecturers and each other to organise work and events.

By signing contracts with Universities Google are firmly establishing a connection with thousands of people who will take Google Apps with them into their professional career.

Samantha Peter, business development manager at Google Enterprise says that students can take their account with them after they graduate, they can keep access to their work and effortlessly stay in touch with tutors and friends.

The universities who have implemented Google Apps have nothing but praise for the product suite. Google has the resources and time to invest in development of email systems and other collaborative tools. Universities can save time and money through switching from traditional in-house IT solutions.

Google Apps is gaining momentum in the workplace too as an alternative to Microsoft’s enterprise software. The Guardian News and Media Group and Teh Telegraph both use the Google Apps platform.

If you would like to find out how to migrate to the cloud contact Catalystic today for further information on how your business can utilise cloud computing to save time and money.

Google Apps Company UK

2010-01-13T09:09:00.000Z

If you have made the smart decision to migrate to the cloud you will now be looking for a company that can provide your business with all the apps you will need to collaborate and message.

Google Apps provides UK businesses with a range of features that will help to save time and money. Google Apps premier edition is great value for money at only £33 per user per year.

Business Email Hosting

Google Apps is a great email hosting service each employee will get 25GB of storage for emails. You can still use Microsoft Outlook if this is the email client you are familiar with. There is also the option to access emails on the go with Blackberry, iPhone and other mobile devices too.

Your business needs a Google Apps Company it can rely on. The service level agreement provided by Google is extremely good with 99.9% uptime meaning your business doesn’t have to worry about downtime issues. Research has found that Microsoft Exchange server typically has 60 minutes of unplanned downtime per month, where as Google Apps customers are only likely to experience a quarter of this.

If you are currently using Microsoft Exchange server it couldn’t be simpler to move to Google Apps for your business. If you want to save time Catalystic can migrate all of your employees to Google Apps so you can enjoy the cost savings even faster.

Google Apps Email Delegation

2010-01-04T10:12:00.000Z

What is Mail delegation?

This nifty feature allows you to grant access to others (for example administrative assistants) in your domain to your emails. You may wonder why you would need email delegation but it can be good if a colleague is on leave you can access their email account without them having to reveal you their password.

Mail delegation was introduced to the Google Apps suite as it is very useful to administrative support staff. This functionality allows assistants to screen and send email on behalf of others. To help customers comply with regulations that may exist specific to their industry, email retention has also been added so IT administrators can set up policies to determine when email will be purged.

The introduction of these advanced features makes Gmail and the Google Apps product suite even more appropriate for a businesses email hosting service. Gmail is an ideal solution for business email hosting, whether your business is a one man band or a large multi-national corporation.

If you are interested in finding out how you can use Google Apps top improve your business efficiency contact Catalystic today. We can help you migrate to the cloud and set-up email delegation.