Despite the fact that there has been some seriously good news about the outlook for the UK economy in the last few weeks, there’s no getting away from the fact that SME owners have had, and are likely to continue to have a tough time for a while yet.  Although the forecast for UK economic growth was recently almost doubled by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, at the coalface this optimism mightn’t have quite filtered through yet. 

Anyone running an SME has had a rough ride of late; constantly on the lookout for opportunities to make economies; sniffing out new markets and new methods, all in some cases just to hang on by their fingertips. One thing that has saved the skin of many SMEs in the past decade or so is the savings and efficiencies they’ve made by outsourcing.  Battening down the hatches needn’t mean missing out when it comes to specialist skills or manpower and that’s where outsourcing really comes into its own.

Anyone who funds a payroll week-in and week-out won’t need to be reminded how expensive it is to employ someone.  Not only do you have to think about salary, pension, sick and holiday pay, you also have the constant threat hanging over your head that if something goes wrong you could find yourself hung out to dry in some tribunal or other.  One sure fire way to avoid this cost, hassle and stress is by outsourcing.

Irrespective of whether you use outsourcing as a way of getting the jobs done that you’re struggling to do in-house or if you periodically need a team of bods to do mundane tasks, there’s no getting away from the fact that outsourcing can seriously improve your business performance. 

Put really simply, outsourcing involves using another company to do tasks that you don’t want to employ someone to do or it’s not viable to employ someone to do.  It may be that you already outsource certain tasks, such as office cleaning or marketing but looking beyond these more obvious outsourcing opportunities could have a major impact on your bottom-line.  Specialist skills can be bought in on an ad hoc, needs basis, allowing you to take up a market opportunity that you mightn’t otherwise be able to consider, or you might decide to stop burning the midnight oil and outsource mundane tasks that you’re doing yourself so you can focus your attention on profit-making activities.  Either way, by carefully selecting tasks that can be outsourced and investing the time required to find the right outsourcing supplier, it’s fair to expect a significant upturn in performance.

I’ll be writing a series of articles on outsourcing over the next few weeks, so if this idea has got your mind going, why not bookmark this page so you can find out more?  In this series of articles, I’ll be going through the pros and cons of outsourcing and interviewing some people who embraced the notion of outsourcing and have really made it work for their business.  

About the author: This article was written and submitted by Paul Marsden, Director of Virtual Business Source who offer outsourced payroll and bookkeeping to SMEs and who advise on accounting software solutions.  By qualification Paul is a Tax Accountant, but these days does little in the way of tax accounting.  In his role as accountant he has worked with small and medium sized businesses for over 25 years; a period that has seen many changes, particularly regarding the accessibility and implementation of technology. 

Paul has an exceptionally strong personal and professional interest in technology and gets a real buzz from helping business owners use technology to become more efficient so they have more time to focus on business growth.

He’s spent the last 5 years running an outsourcing business that provides bookkeeping, payroll and accounting software services to SMBs.  Paul is a member of the IAAITC (International
Association of Accountants Innovation and Technology Consultants), a group of UK accountants who combine to promote forward thinking in IT across the accountancy profession.  Currently the IAAITC is developing a framework for SMB’s to deal effectively with Information Security.  

Monday 9^th September at the Microsoft Office, Victoria, London

Join leading MVPs for a two track one day event that tackles the delivery of Enterprise data platforms and analytics solutions.

Please register to attend either track 1 or track 2:

• Track 1 will focus on building the modern enterprise data platform. In a series of three presentations we will tackle the issues of architecture, application frameworks, data integration and data exchange; learning all about the challenges faced by the modern data tier developer. Most importantly, we will learn how to creatively overcome them by enhancing our processing efficiency
  and analytical capability.

Register to attend

• Track 2 will focus on the creation of Business Intelligence and advanced analytics solutions that utilise both structured and un-structured data. We will demonstrate the use of data mining and predictive analytics technologies and also demonstrate how advanced visualisation technologies can be used by business users to deliver the insight and action required to drive real value from data.

Register to attend

Tuesday 10^th September at the Microsoft Office, Victoria, London

Join leading MVPs for a one day event to assist management and virtualization experts to understand the advances in the modern datacentre.

Each session will demonstrate how to:

• Deliver best practices with Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2
• Lower costs through effective management of VMware and Hyper-V
• Enable management of datacentres of any size!
• Drive automation of complex applications with service templates

Register to attend

Wednesday 11^th September at the Microsoft Office, Victoria, London

Join leading MVPs for a one day event focusing on technology that make up the Microsoft Integration Platform. Allowing organisations to leverage a combination of cloud and on-premise applications through the hybrid integration pattern.

Sessions will include:

• Windows Azure Service Bus
• Windows Azure BizTalk Services
• Microsoft BizTalk Server (both on-premise and Cloud Virtual Machine)

Register to attend

Thursday 12^th September at the Microsoft Office, London, Victoria

Join leading MVPs for a one day event to understand how to manage your client devices in a single tool while reducing costs and simplifying management. Best of all, you can leverage your existing tools and infrastructure.

Sessions will include:

• Helping with data security and compliance
• Unified device management
• What powers people-centric IT with Cloud OS?
• Real World customer examples

Register to attend

Friday 13^th September at Microsoft Office, Victoria, London

The explosion in devices, connectivity, data and the Cloud is changing the way we develop and deliver software.  New infrastructure services permit existing server applications to be “lifted & shifted” into the Cloud.  Attend a one day event to hear from MVPs about how Microsoft’s data platform and development tools enable you to develop, test, and deploy applications faster than ever.

Sessions will include:

• Infrastructure services,
• Media services,
• Service Bus & Mobile services

Register to attend

 
 
Know your clients

You might have the tendency to believe this is rather trivial, but it’s a really important piece of the puzzle. Get to know the people who are looking at your products, appeal to them with samples and analyse their behaviour. Even if they don’t buy, it’s important to observe them from a distance. Focus on your audience and try to guess what they might like. A great way to attract customers is to have a really enticing window display with your products.

Become an important part of the community

If your business is local you can host a charity event or a social gathering to let people know you a little better. The best way to make them interested in your products is NOT to sell them anything. Allow them to be familiar with you first and then with your merchandise. Being part of the community and helping out builds reputation. Don’t forget to use social media as well. Even if your event is purely social, this doesn’t mean people are not curious. They’ll probably look for your business online after the gathering so you need to be prepared.

Show off but don’t exaggerate

Offering demonstrations and proving the people that your product can be trusted is the best way to generate sales. Regardless of your business type, it’s critical to be creative in order to gain as many clients as possible. Still, this doesn’t mean you can exaggerate. Don’t reveal everything as you’ll have nothing left to surprise your customers with.

Make changes

Don’t be afraid to update your business every once in a while. You don’t need to spend money to make visible changes. Whether you choose to modify your website’s look or you’re interested in adding something new to the table, the goal should be to keep your customers focused. For example, you can launch a new product and not reveal its identity. Instead, you can place a countdown until the big launch to make people curious.

Treat your customer right

If you want to boost sales and attract new customers all the time, it’s vital to have a proper attitude. Be a friend to the people interested in your products and try to build a relationship based on trust. Leave your sales skills aside for a bit, and be human. Generally, sales people are just looking to make money and for that to happen they’re willing to lie and use other unethical methods. Rather than use black-hat techniques to close deal, show off
your sensitive side and your customers will talk about you to their friends and relatives, and so on.

Be memorable

Make a good first impression and use memorable techniques to get started. Draw attention without being too obvious or persistent. Rather than spend tons of money of expensive advertising that makes people look the other way round, you can offer discounts answer people’s questions regarding your product. It’s important to have that ability to sell without sounding irritating.
 

Use word of mouth

There’s no doubt that billboards, campaigns, and TV ads can really boost success. Still, not everyone has the means to spend. As a starting salesperson, you need to find cheaper ways to get known. Talk to people unofficially, doesn’t force them to buy, and if they find your products interesting, they will spread the word around.

Understanding the sales business might seem easy, when in fact there’s more to the industry than meets the eye. You might have great communication skills, but that won’t be enough to get your business off the ground. Try combine you drive to sell with compassion and you’ll have greater chances of success. Nobody likes salespeople who are hungry for the money, so even if your goal is to gain profit, don’t put it out there.

We, at Microsoft, provide ‘Talking Business’ to help entrepreneurs and business owners’ succeed. We believe in your ability to innovate and in the ability of technology to help, so to support ‘Talking Business’ we have many resources available for businesses like you. We have an informative newsletter, blog posts by people in the industry, and a community looking to help small business succeed. 

Follow us on twitter - @MicrosoftSB, or use the hashtag #TalkingBusiness to find out more information

SME directors and business owners need to be a ‘Jack of all Trades,’ and have a working knowledge of all areas of business. But how can you concentrate on accelerating the growth of your business, if you’re worrying about how to complete your tax return or your annual accounts, or perhaps you’re not sure about the best way forward for your company?

Working with a professionally qualified accountant, such as a member of the Association of International Accountants (AIA), can remove these worries and allow you to focus on the evolution of your business. Working with an AIA qualified accountant, designated as an International Accountant, ensures that you have access to an accountancy and business expert; qualified to the highest standard, with the latest knowledge and information, and who is bound by a Code of Ethics.

AIA members have extensive experience of working with smaller and medium sized businesses, or sole traders, partnerships between relatives or friends, family-run and owner-managed limited companies. Many AIA practices could in fact fit this description themselves; and as a membership organisation, AIA is a champion of SMEs and is committed to supporting small businesses, believing their success to be crucial to the UK economy.

AIA is working with a number of key partners to look at how the growth and development of SMEs can be supported, including Microsoft, and through a number of projects such as the annual SME Snapshot survey and SME
Mentoring Programme.

With the SME Mentoring Programme, AIA Members in Practice have committed to support small businesses to start-up or to expand, through offering SMEs a free consultation. Their accountancy and finance knowledge puts them in a prime position to support the develop of your business and play a crucial role in helping your company grow.

AIA Members can offer a range of services specifically designed to assist you to develop your business and identify the work you need to translate ideas into strategies for the future, they can provide the services you need to ensure your business is compliant and up to date, as well as tax planning services to help you make the most of your money.

For a high level of care that can only come from an accountancy practice that has direct experience of working with SMEs, but with the same service offerings provided by larger firms, find
an International Accountant today and discover how they can help you and your business.

We, at Microsoft, provide ‘Talking Business’ to help entrepreneurs and business owners’ succeed. We believe in your ability to innovate and in the ability of technology to help, so to support ‘Talking Business’ we have many resources available for businesses like you. We have an informative newsletter, blog posts by people in the industry, and a community looking to help small business succeed. 

Follow us on twitter - @MicrosoftSB, or use the hashtag #TalkingBusiness to find out more information

When you market for a small business, it may be easy to gather the team and work around the same conference table on a daily basis. However, when you are working with a corporation that spans across several different offices, sharing information and keeping project management going smoothly is not as simple. Thankfully, the Internet affords an opportunity to share documents, keep your entire marketing team on top of campaign progress, and pitch new ideas. Here are three ways your marketing team can collaborate online.

Cloud Service

Whether it’s a Microsoft Word document or an Excel spreadsheet that tracks the progress of specific marketing tactics, sometimes your team needs to share the same file. Cloud services, such as Google Drive, are often free and allow multiple users to work on the same document from any computer. Without the cloud, the team will have to send the paperwork back and forth over email, which means lots of big attachments that will clog up your email inbox. A cloud service will usually indicate which team member makes changes to a document, so the project manager knows who alters what. You can also upload photos, so your marketing team can keep abreast of the creative scheme changes.

Social Media

When your marketing efforts include social media plans, it often makes sense to get together on social media sites. Fortunately, you don’t have to share your marketing plans with the world just because you’re on a social network. Privacy settings allow you to share photos, comments, files, and polls within your marketing team where no one else can see. For instance, you can create a group with a “Secret” status on Facebook and other users won’t be able to see that your group exists or its content. You can also create an event, such as a marketing team conference call, and invite everyone in the Facebook group. Since social media is accessible via any computer or mobile device with a data connection, checking in with your collaborators is possible from nearly anywhere.

WebEx

WebEx lets you not only share a conference call with fellow marketers, but also share your computer screen so they can see your documents and you can talk them through Power Point presentations. When you’re pitching a new campaign or creative agenda, WebEx comes in extremely handy. Each person at the WebEx meeting is invited via email and can RSVP to the meeting creator in just a few clicks. Participants then receive an toll free number to call when it’s time to log in.

Collaborating online is a streamlined way of getting your entire team together, even when you are working from different offices. Thanks to these tools, you can stay in touch with your marketing team and share everything from brochure copy to creative material like photos and colour schemes. Make sure that everyone on your team is savvy enough to handle these online tools, or some members may end up missing important document changes or having trouble logging in to a WebEx meeting.

Pamela Ramos has extensive experience as a website marketing consultant. Her articles mainly appear on business marketing blogs. Check out the Yodle reviews from customers for more ideas.

We, at Microsoft, provide ‘Talking Business’ to help entrepreneurs and business owners’ succeed. We believe in your ability to innovate and in the ability of technology to help, so to support ‘Talking Business’ we have many resources available for businesses like you. We have an informative newsletter, blog posts by people in the industry, and a community looking to help small business succeed. 

Follow us on twitter - @MicrosoftSB, or use the hashtag #TalkingBusiness to find out more information

For businesses stepping into social media for the first time or for companies who have already tried social media but unsure of the results, this topic is aimed to help you define, or re-define, the purpose of your social media programme. 

There are many companies from start-ups to big business still missing the trick with social media as a communication vehicle to connect with customers and prospects. In a recent survey by Barclays (Hospitality and Leisure sector analysis)
of companies in the pub, restaurant, travel and hotel sector, more than 2/3 of those surveyed said they saw only “some” or “limited” opportunity in using social media to engage customers, even though one in ten firms said half of their sales were generated that way. 

Social media is everywhere and the balance of buying power has further shifted into the consumers hands through creating “community” views and opinions.  Building a strong foundation in the design of your social media programme is essential as it not only influences and directly generates sales, but it provides a personal link with consumers, building loyalty and driving repeat business.  Having a presence on Facebook or Twitter is not enough- there needs to be a clearly designed social media programme with core business objectives at the heart of the programme driving it. 

To begin you must define what is important to your organisation and capture this as an objective. Defining the objective can be the most challenging; from the experience with our “Brymba Social Media” clients, the following list is a set of the most common:

1. To acquire new sales leads
2. To improve customer retention
3. To protect a brand in a time of crisis
4. To alert decision makers in your organisation on consumer trends and sentiment
5. To influence consumers to prefer your brand over others
6. To trial a new product idea / concept
7. To reduce marketing overhead through effective use of social media

Take for example “To acquire new sales leads”.  Like most sales campaigns, the target audience for the product or service must be identified.  Next you should have your marketing content as part of an integrated campaign ready, covering all media appropriate to your sector.  For this example let’s consider using e-mail marketing, landing page website and a twitter page with # (hash tag) link to your offering / topic.  Once you launch your campaign, in parallel set up a social media “listening” tool. 

These tools help you to understand what people are saying about the campaign, who they are, their sentiment (happy, annoyed etc) as well as whether they are mentioning your offering or demonstrating buying behaviour from what they are writing. 
Such tools are usually tagged with a high cost and are the toys of the enterprise marketing teams, however new age solutions such as Brymba.com are free to use and designed for small to mid-size companies to gather “social intelligence”.   

This information can be combined with your existing marketing key performance indicators to provide a more rounded and social view of the campaign.  Be careful not to fall into the “Facebook metric trap” of monitoring just likes, shares, and  comments; you should try to demonstrate the impact of your efforts on existing metrics. For example, you can:

-        Track social referral traffic to conversions and purchasing

-        Measure your leads or sales generated

-        Track overall consumer sentiment aligned to the release of your campaigns

-        Track demographics of your audience and your marketing reach through their social network information

-         …. And much more….

The key is to link your visitors’ social behaviour with whatever you’re already trying to achieve on your websites and other properties. The more you can do this, the more credibility your social strategy will have.  Naturally, there are many more examples aligned to each of the example objectives listed above- for a more in depth view then please feel free to contact n.howard@brymba.com

About the Author

Nick Howard is part of Brymba – a specialist company helping start-ups, to small and mid-size companies drive sales and marketing performance through their Social Media Cloud and Windows 8 App service- www.brymba.com, as well as advising on ideas and techniques. To find out more or for free access to social media listening service, go to www.brymba.com; or through Twitter @brymba1.

We, at Microsoft, provide ‘Talking Business’ to help entrepreneurs and business owners’ succeed. We believe in your ability to innovate and in the ability of technology to help, so to support ‘Talking Business’ we have many resources available for businesses like you. We have an informative newsletter, blog posts by people in the industry, and a community looking to help small business succeed. 

Follow us on twitter - @MicrosoftSB, or use the hashtag #TalkingBusiness to find out more information

Forrester has published an in-depth report into Microsoft Office with three key takeaways: that Office 2013 offers an improved user experience across all products; that integration across the family of products drives value; and that integration can also drive lock-in.

DOWNLOAD THE REPORT HERE.

Aimed at CIOs, the report dives into the benefits – and potential drawbacks – of committing to the Office platform.

According to Forrester, benefits include better integration that will benefit “feature-rich content-centric workloads”, thanks to the continued advances seen in SharePoint.
“The explicit (though sometimes buried) links between SharePoint and Exchange hold big promise as firms look to consolidate their messaging, collaboration, communications, content, and social tools into a single information workplace,” the report says.

It goes on to cite benefits such as:

• A cohesive user experience
• Common information archiving
• Unified search capabilities

The report explains why Forrester Research believes the “Yammer acquisition strengthens Microsoft’s position in social”, with “best-in-breed activity streams that will delight users”.

It goes on to praise aspects of Lync, including a robust architecture that moves the solution “closer to a private branch exchange (PBX) replacement”, but criticises the “Windows, first and best” positioning compared to more mobile-focused rivals.

The report covers many other topics – including Microsoft’s renewed focus on mobile, Office 2013’s enhanced cloud capabilities and the individual enhancements made to individual apps such as Word and Excel – but closes on a number of key questions for CIOs.

For instance, whether a suite of products trumps a best-of-breed solution, whether the pace of innovation matches the needs of your business, and whether a lack of touch-first and cross-platform delivery will hinder adoption.

For full details, download the Forrester report here.

We, at Microsoft, provide ‘Talking Business’ to help entrepreneurs and business owners’ succeed. We believe in your ability to innovate and in the ability of technology to help, so to support ‘Talking Business’ we have many resources available for businesses like you. We have an informative newsletter, blog posts by people in the industry, and a community looking to help small business succeed. 

Follow us on twitter - @MicrosoftSB, or use the hashtag #TalkingBusiness to find out more information

Originally posted here.

I often sit down with IT staff and decision makers from small and medium-size businesses [SMBs] to discuss their unique technology needs and challenges. One of the biggest themes I hear in these meetings is the importance of mobile technology that allows them to be connected to their business from anywhere. Compared to larger enterprises, these small, rapidly growing businesses have fewer resources and employees at their disposal and need the technology that they adopt to wear as many hats as they do. Above all, SMBs want their technology to give them a fast, flexible computing experience so they can stay competitive and always be one step ahead of their customers and competitors.

Meet Glenigan, a construction intelligence supplier.

One such fast-moving midsize company that has taken advantage of Windows 8 Pro is Glenigan,based in the United Kingdom. Glenigan is a construction intelligence supplier; the company provides construction project sales leads, market analysis, forecasting, and intelligence by searching thousands of construction planning apps across the UK and aggregating the information on behalf of their clients. Glenigan helps companies increase their profits by providing timely intelligence about construction jobs. Whether customers are looking to bid for new construction work or refurbishment projects, Glenigan helps them stay ahead of competitors. The company offers access to its continually updated leads database as well as email alerts on construction projects that help customers bid for work contracts at the right time.

At the end of the day, Glenigan’s business depends on technology that helps them outpace competitors. Since January, Glenigan has been using the Lenovo ThinkPad Twist and the ThinkPad Tablet 2to do just that. Tablets and convertibles with Windows 8 Pro help Glenigan’s employees stay connected to their clients, colleagues, and their ever-changing database of customer leads from anywhere.

SMBs take Windows 8 Pro tablets on a train.

According to Neil Taylor, PC and Network Support Analyst at the company, the biggest benefits Glenigan has experienced while testing Windows 8 Pro has been the speed and mobility of the platform. After interacting with the Windows 8 Pro devices, he notes, “It is always on, always connected, so I can manage my day from anywhere, anytime, anyplace—and it just works. With Microsoft Office 2013, I can connect to Outlook and Word and documents on SharePoint sites, and I can go home and carry on working. That’s the beauty of it.”

The ThinkPad’s twist capabilities in particular help employees stay productive while traveling. Theresa Ferguson, Head of Delivery at Glenigan, describes it like this: “I was sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for the train, filling out a questionnaire, and I was using the laptop to start answering questions. The train arrived, I closed the keyboard, switched to tablet mode, and just carried on. I didn’t even realize I had done it.”

As a company, Glenigan has been increasing its focus on making employees as mobile as possible in recent years and Windows 8 fits into this vision. All of their teams meet with customers onsite, whether representing the research, content, or technical teams. The Windows 8 testers have enjoyed the benefits of the new touch-based operating system over more traditional desktop models while they are on the road. For instance, they can easily take their devices with them when visiting their parent company in London, two hours from the company headquarters in Bournemouth. Mobility also increases employee communication within the office, so colleagues can more easily move around and exchange ideas with each other. This is something Glenigan’s management hopes will increase over time as their core office incorporates more mobile devices.

When comparing the company’s experience with the iPad and Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2, Taylor notes that with Apple, people can’t join to the Windows domain network or install Office, but the Windows 8 tablet is always connected so “you can access the network and you can access your files and it’s just there.”

Outside of the flexibility Windows 8 Pro offers, Glenigan highlights inherent security features like picture password that help the business transmit information securely from anywhere. Taylor calls Windows security over Apple security a “no brainer.”

Deploying Windows 8 alongside other systems.

Glenigan is a perfect example of many of the SMBs I talk with that are actively working within a mixed operating system environment. Glenigan has approximately 110 employees and most of them are currently using Windows 7 32-bit as the standard desktop platform; they also use laptops with Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit. The Windows 8 devices have been integrated into their business operations alongside this existing infrastructure to increase the company’s mobile operations with simple-to-use, lightweight touch devices.

Whether SMBs need a notebook, a tablet, or an all-in-one, whether touch-based or a keyboard-and-mouse system, Windows 8 offers a variety of choices to fit their needs. There is also great compatibility between Windows 7 and Windows 8, and this makes it easier to adopt Windows 8 with existing systems.

Glenigan’s case shows how technology can be a key business enabler. Whether it’s visiting a construction site, traveling to another city by train, or meeting with clients on the road, the devices just have to work. With Windows 8, Glenigan has discovered that they can have it all. They don’t have to sacrifice performance while away from the office or trade flexibility for reliable business functionality. To learn more about Glenigan’s recent interactions with Windows 8 and Office 2013, check out this new case study. And for more information about Windows 8 Pro for small and midsized businesses, click here.

Mobile broadband has, until recently, struggled to fulfil its promise of actually providing a connection with broadband speeds. But with 4G networks deploying across the world, and existing 3G links being upgraded, mobile broadband is finally a realistic alternative to fixed-line services, in some cases providing a much faster connection than landlines.

The flexibility of mobile broadband makes it an intriguing proposition for businesses. Small companies or independent traders may prefer an internet service which is not reliant on a phone line, and for larger companies it’s a great way to keep employees connected when out of the office.

But is mobile broadband right for your business? Here are a few things you should know before kitting out your company.

Some services may be blocked

Operating a mobile data network isn’t cheap and capacity is limited, so carriers place far more restrictions on these connections than you would see on a typical fixed line broadband line.

That means applications you rely on may not work with mobile broadband. This could be particularly problematic for Skype and other VOIP tools, and also VPN connections, which many businesses use for secure remote access.

Carriers will typically offer business class packages with fewer restrictions, but these come at a higher cost. Before signing on for any mobile broadband you should confirm with the network what restrictions are in place.

Check the network coverage 

Network coverage is the most vital part of a mobile broadband service. Obviously, no signal means no connection, but you also need to make sure that it is strong enough to provide a fast link. If 3G is not available the connection can drop back to 2G, which is too slow for internet access.

Carriers offer network coverage tools, so use these to check signal strength before buying. You can find a list of these tools for different providers in the Broadband Genie mobile broadband coverage guide. However, this is easier for those of you planning to use mobile broadband in the same location(s) on a frequent basis, if you’re travelling around you could check the signal in advance but you might also want to prepare for a frequent loss of connection, particularly if you’re moving around a country by train or car.

Keep an eye on roaming costs

Taking mobile broadband outside its home country can be very expensive, so you need to keep a careful watch if you or your employees do this. Any inclusive data you receive with your package will probably not count abroad so you’ll end up paying a costly per-MB fee.

Local Wi-Fi hotspots will usually be cheaper, but if you do wish to continue using your mobile broadband abroad then ask the network about international roaming add-ons to keep costs down. If you frequently visit the same country then consider purchasing a local SIM card or using a specialist international mobile broadband service.

Security considerations

Mobile broadband actually offers a much more secure connection than public Wi-Fi hotspots, since there’s no chance of someone on the same network sneaking a look at your traffic.

But there are other aspects businesses will need to consider. If you or an employee are using a mobile broadband dongle on personal equipment and accessing business files or systems it’s vital that sufficient security is in place in the form of anti-virus protection and other safeguards.

You should also use the PIN lock feature on dongles to ensure that no unauthorised users can get access. This will help prevent security breaches and large bills in the event of a theft.

This article was written by Matt Powell, the editor for the broadband information site Broadband Genie

We, at Microsoft, provide ‘Talking Business’ to help entrepreneurs and business owners’ succeed. We believe in your ability to innovate and in the ability of technology to help, so to support ‘Talking Business’ we have many resources available for businesses like you. We have an informative newsletter, blog posts by people in the industry, and a community looking to help small business succeed. 

Follow us on twitter - @MicrosoftSB, or use the hashtag #TalkingBusiness to find out more information

Thursday 6^th June, 2013: Microsoft has launched bespoke tablet and mobile demos to showcase the new features of Office 365, as part of its wider ‘Work from Anywhere’ campaign.

The demos, designed and built in partnership with UM London and Mobile5, offer a complex and immersive experience to demonstrate the ‘Work from Anywhere’ functionalities of Office 365, and are available across Android, Windows Phone, Surface and iOS.

Amongst a range of other features, the tablet demo integrates Bing Maps to determine a user’s location as well as offering a sharing functionality, showing how rich an experience can be brought to life on the platform via the Microsoft cloud software.

On mobile, the demo will offer users a ‘parallax’ experience whereby people can scroll down and learn about the new features of Office 365, and for the first time in any advertising campaign uses ‘hotspot’ overlays to bring our specific elements of
content.

The demos will stand alone on tablet and mobile, but will also be housed in interactive banners across relevant IT websites.

As per Microsoft’s wider ‘Work from Anywhere’ campaign, which kicked off earlier this year, the demos are predominantly aimed at IT Decision Makers, the core target audience. The campaign, planned by UM London, has used some unique and innovative media executions, such as WiFi park benches, to show that Office 365 literally allows people to do their work wherever they are.

Britta Anderson, Head of Mobile at UM, said, “The depth and complexity of experience that we have generated through our Office 365 demos certainly goes further than any other work we have developed on tablet or mobile before, so we’re really excited about how people respond to it. What better way to prove the core USP of the product than to actually get people experiencing it for themselves.”

We, at Microsoft, provide ‘Talking Business’ to help entrepreneurs and business owners’ succeed. We believe in your ability to innovate and in the ability of technology to help, so to support ‘Talking Business’ we have many resources available for businesses like you. We have an informative newsletter, blog posts by people in the industry, and a community looking to help small business succeed. 

Follow us on twitter - @MicrosoftSB, or use the hashtag #TalkingBusiness to find out more information