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Cloud Competition Has Growing Impact for SMBs

redmoney

Over the past few years, major cloud providers have been aggressively competing. At times, it’s been an all out price war with Microsoft, Amazon, Google and others lowering prices to beat the others. But it’s also been a race for new features and capabilities, as innovation and unique services can attract and retain customers.

The challenge for small and mid-size businesses, however, is that much of the competition as been focused on the Infrastructure and Platform as a Service (IaaS and PaaS) segments of cloud computing. And while lower prices on cloud processing and storage are great, most SMBs are using Software as a Service (SaaS) solutions.

Change is happening and you can benefit.

As an incentive for companies with Enterprise Agreement (EA) pricing to move off Microsoft, Google started things off by offering Google Apps for free until customers’ EA agreements end. The program, available to companies with 150 or more licensed users, removes the “double pay” period for companies that want to “go Google”.

More recently, Microsoft lowered the minimum licensed user count from 150 to 50 for its FastTrack program, which provides Microsoft partners with resources and customers with rebates to cover the cost of migration.  Companies with 50 or more licensed users can save up to 75% (or more) on their deployment and migration.

Enter Cumulus Global and More Savings

Focused on serving small and mid-size businesses, these programs are good, but not good enough. So, we are adding to the deals.

New to Google Apps for Work

  • Google Apps for Free through the end of your Microsoft EA term (150 license minimum)
  • 14 months for the price of 12 (5 license minimum, 12 month renewal terms)

New to Microsoft Office 365

  • FastTrack discounts and rebates (50 license minimum)
  • Migration savings of 35% to 70% (5 to 50 licenses)

From Direct to Partner

  • Existing Microsoft O365 and Google Apps for Work customers can save up to 10% on licensing and up to 20% on support and other services through our Switch & Save program.

The Next Step is Yours

To learn more about which discount is best for you, fill out the form, below, and speak with a Cloud Advisor.

Introducing Coffee and Clouds

Clouds in Coffee
One of the challenges we see with cloud computing is the growing complexity of options and solutions, particularly for small and mid-size enterprises.  It’s not as easy as going IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS and deciding on public, private, or hybrid anymore.  Most businesses are finding their path to the cloud is a mix of solutions.

Relax, grab a cup, and join us for some clarity.

We are launching a new series of live and web events, Coffee and Clouds, where we aim to help clear out the clutter. We will help you keep abreast of the market, technologies, and best-practices, and give you an opportunity to network with your peers.  Forget about hype, we will focus on actionable ideas and tangible results. And, we will plan content in response to your feedback.

Our first set of live events are already on our events calendar.  Learn more about the series and register today.