Podcast Microsoft 365 for Small to Medium Businesses, Part 3
When you’re preparing your business for growth, a simplified IT environment is key.
By Insight Editor / 28 Jul 2021 / Topics: Windows 10 Modern workplace Software Microsoft 365
By Insight Editor / 28 Jul 2021 / Topics: Windows 10 Modern workplace Software Microsoft 365
Minimizing complexity in your technology ecosystem empowers agility. In Part 3 of this TechTalk series, Elliott Baretz and Jesse Anderson discuss why Microsoft 365™ solutions are a smart investment for small to medium businesses looking to streamline and centralize their workforce applications.
Missed the rest of the conversation? Get caught up on Part 1 and Part 2.
To experience this week’s episode, listen on the player above, watch the conversation below, or scroll down to read a complete transcript. You can also subscribe to Insight TechTalk on Apple Podcasts, Pandora, and Spotify.
Audio transcript:
Elliot
Hello, and welcome to Tech talk. My name is Elliot Baretz with insights Microsoft business unit, and I am joined with…
Jesse
Jesse Anderson.
Elliot
How are you, Jesse?
Jesse
Good. Thank you. How are you?
Elliot
Good, good So this is our third episode our end cap if you will in a conversation around Microsoft 365 service platform and what it's doing for today's small business. And how, you know, we really think that this is a great match made in heaven. And so, you know, I know in our first episode we talked a bit about, hey, what is Microsoft 365? What are the offerings where the products, how do how does today's small business best to take advantage of that? And then in our second discussion, it became much more of a financial dialogue a lot about Hey you know how does this subscription-based service help today's small business manage its budget, giving them the financial flexibility they need in any economy. And you know, when you and I were talking, we thought well, in this third part of the conversation, really what we're hoping to do is narrow in on how does making this commitment to the Microsoft 365 platform give today's small business owner the flexibility the latitude that is so important for small business to really succeed. And you know, really what we mean by that is, you know, if you kind of think through all the many challenges for small business it can range from recruiting to cash flow to healthcare turns out to be the most important challenge that's facing today's small business. And none of that has anything to do with them just operating their business in an effective way. And so, anything that helps creates simplicity, giving them the confidence and the time to focus on their core value statement is critical Right? And you know when we talk about 365 of course we're talking about not just hey communication and collaborations, not just email, it's not just, you know, sharing documents, not just teams, but it's also the business systems. You know, it could be dynamics 365 which is accounting and HR e-commerce. And really you know if you're a small business owner you can make your big bet with Microsoft in what is technology. And there's a whole bunch of reasons why that big bet could make a ton of sense, why it could pay off and really place you as a small business owner in a position where you know that IT box is checked giving you the confidence to focus on your business and all those other things that you got to worry about. So that's the question you know why, why, why is that big bets, you know, right when it comes to 365 in Microsoft?
Jesse
Well, you know I think first and foremost that the the idea that these products are all built to kind of work seamlessly with one another is reason number one, right? But if you're making that big bet, then you know that as these products are improved upon advanced et cetera, that all of the features are going to work well across you know from dynamics 365 file share and across everything. So, for a small business making that investment means that you can remain agile and that you know, that you are investing in continuing to be cutting edge in terms of your technology not just on day one but a year from now, 18 months from now et cetera.
Elliot
Yeah, so.
Jesse
It gives you the ability to be agile yeah.
Elliot
Yeah. And it's the, you know, so let's just talk through that. So, you know what, what you're talking about could be the alternative bad alternative would be hey I've got different systems that I've put in place for my business but it turns out they don't really work well together. They don't, they don't integrate well together. They're developing a different paths in different paces. And as a result, it creates dysfunction, which causes, whatever support, challenges, operational challenges by creating this holistic environment. You know, you're going to have much better integration. You're going to work in a much smoother operating environment, reducing support, reducing complexity, all of that. So that, that's the first I think very important point another point that I think, you know, and I think about this, and I don't know if we all talk about it, but so many of us grew has have grown up with Microsoft technology. So, you know, and what that means is we're so used to the user experience, the user interface, the it is become very intuitive. And so, you know, when you make this commitment into Microsoft, you bring that with you, you bring that, hey, I know how this experience works in its entirety. And as a result, I don't have to do the training requirements are less, you know there's a lot less downtime because there is that much more of an intuitive nature behind it. And I think that's real. I mean, that's big.
Jesse
I think you're a hundred percent, right. I think that it's it truly is about as plug and play, as you can get for this scope of a platform or products, right? When a user goes in that not only is it something that's familiar but that that experience user experience transfers great across multiple types of devices or form factors, right? So, if I'm a user and I'm on my laptop or on my phone, or I have to access something, you know, online, you know, through the web portal, all of those things that experience stays consistent. And there's a massive amount of power in that in terms of a company making an investment and knowing that their users or their employees are going to remain productive no matter what you know the scenario is and how they have to access their work environment.
Elliot
Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. You know, and then there was this other thought that you and I have talked about which is just the strength in what I mean by that? It's the research and budget of Microsoft. So, you know, and it is so big. It is so substantial that they're in a position where they can look at every facet of this technology platform. Again, whether it's communication or collaboration or on the business system side and their commitment, their investment in these platforms is so significant that they're always going to be in that place where you're providing a competing edge to their customers. Right? So, the feature sets, the functionality is always going to be that much more robust because they can do it. They can afford to do it. And as a result, those subscribers, those customers are benefiting from that. And that's a that's a real advantage. And of course, you know, you're getting all of that at a subscription basis. So, you know, you're, you're really benefiting from their balance sheet and you're paying for it on a per seat per month basis. And it's a great way to manage your budget.
Jesse
Yeah, it's one of the things I love most about the way this subscription service works is that you think, you know, those of us that work with Microsoft and technology for a long time every few years you used to have a release of a new version of a product, and you'd have to understand all of the changes that were coming and figure out how to consume them you know and, and which ones you wanted to use with a subscription-based service, you know, that these are going to be released in a way that it's much more realistic for you to be able to consume and absorb that change and continue to be productive. And these products remain relevant month over month, over month, year, over year, over year. Yeah, totally agree.
Elliot
And you know, and then of course then there's this thing that we call the ecosystem, which is really you know, you could also call it the partner community and, and you know, what you really have to do is separate what is the service, the web service, the platform 365, whether it's office 365, or whether it's dynamics 365, whether, you know, collaboration or business systems separating that technology from working with partners or working with those subject matter experts that can help you optimize those experiences. So, you know, for example if I make a commitment as a customer to dynamics 365 that that's a best-in-class technology but I still have to configure it, customize it, optimize it in a way that's going to work for my business. And in many cases, I'm going to work with a trusted provider and those trusted providers are the Microsoft ecosystem, those Microsoft partners. And it's you know, and I think that's important because that that is a robust ecosystem with world-class organizations that really can help today's small business go from that starting point to a real optimal place where they're really, you know, working IT in the right way. And I, and I think that that's maybe the unsaid factor here.
Jesse
Oh yeah. I completely agree that I think the product people are very aware of what Microsoft brings to them in terms of their cloud products or cloud subscriptions or their products. I think who you partner with is the real differentiator in terms of who you're going to work with to help deliver that technology to you in terms of making sure that, that as you're moving to the cloud as you're absorbing a lot of this change, you've got somebody in your corner that's helping you do it efficiently helping you understand what is changing and how your organization can continue to be as efficient as possible and to your earlier point get rid of all the noise so that I can really focus on. What's important to my business. I want a partner that's going to be able to help me understand what's critical for me to understand what do I need to know and what can I use to optimize my own business as these features that are released as these products are being consumed, et cetera.
Elliot
Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, and then again, the other part to this is from a partner perspective and this is just you and I having I don't want to say been around the block, you're going to have an experience. You know, it's, it's a partner that really can provide a fairly broad amount of expertise. So, it's not just about hey I can help you with 365 but I'm also a partner that can help you understand security. I'm a partner that can help you understand you know other facets of the technology challenge as well as provide you with the right services and assets along the way. And you know, those partnerships are few and far between and of course you and I think have the the luxury of being representing one of those world-class partners at insight. So, we're really well positioned to help our small business customers on a day-by-day basis.
Jesse
I completely agree. Couldn't agree more with everything you just said.
Elliot
Yeah. Excellent. So, you know I really appreciated these last three discussions we've had Jesse it's been a lot of fun. I know that, you know, you and I wake up every day thinking about how Microsoft technology can help today's small business owner and small business. And I know you and I will look forward to all the many conversations that are ahead of us as we do that.
Jesse
Yeah. I look forward to it.
Elliot
Thank you everybody.
Jesse
Alright. Thank you.
Former National Director of Microsoft Business (2019–2022), Insight
Over the last twenty years, Elliott has had an accomplished career within the technology sector; particularly within the Microsoft ecosystem. As a sales and marketing executive, he’s led global, national and local teams with great success — leading to company and industry recognition such as the MC/Icon Award, the Communicator Award and the Business Marketing Association Tower Award.
Senior Manager of Services, Digital Innovation
Jesse has worked in the technology industry for over 20 years, with particular emphasis on strategic Microsoft sales. The past 10 years of his career have been dedicated to helping customers accelerate their adoption of transformative Microsoft technologies, with a particular emphasis on cloud offering development.
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