Everyone knows what Office 365 is, but are you aware of all the benefits of having it in place? Office 365 is more than just Word on the go. It’s a full suite of cloud-based applications to help you increase productivity and collaboration within your business.

Businesses that operate in the cloud will typically see a 33% increase in revenue. Discover how as we explore eight benefits of Office 365.

1. Over 150% ROI

Everyone likes to see a return on investment, right? According to Forrester’s, businesses that implement Office 365 are likely to see more than 150% ROI. Office 365 can provide your business with the ability to save on technology, mobility, compliance costs by eliminating hardware. Say goodbye to servers and you’ll see an instant decrease on energy and the server cost. Whilst moving to the cloud costs money, you’ll see a much higher ROI. There’s never been a better time to move your office online.

2. Have all the tools your business needs to work more efficiently

Office 365 sets your business up with the tools it needs to achieve fearless growth.

Some of the tools included:

• Office suite. This compiles of some of the best Microsoft applications, including Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Skype for Business and OneNote.
• Exchange online. This will include your email and calendar.
• SharePoint. An online web portal for your business to store, share and collaborate on documents within different teams.
• Yammer is your one-stop-shop for company social networking.
• OneDrive is a cloud file storage solution for your business.
• Power BI is a business intelligence tool that will provide you with new insights to make smart decisions.

3. Access your office anywhere, anytime

You can now take your office with you wherever you go, when you’re on the move, out of the office or at home. Office 365 lets you log in and connect to your office anywhere. Microsoft Office 365 is completely cloud-based, meaning you can access your files, email and Office programmes on your mobile, laptop or desktop wherever you like. You’ll have the ability to edit your documents from any location on any device with employees that are out the office or with a client that’s halfway across the world. With current workplace changes taking place, such as remote and flexible working, it’s never been easier to collaborate.

4. Easily scalable

Office 365 applications gives you the opportunity to scale your business. You can create custom solutions for different departments within the business to help maximise productivity. But what about when the company grows and you employ more staff? No need to worry, you can easily add and remove licenses with a couple of admin clicks.

5. Cross-collaboration has never been easier

Does your team work together on tasks or documents? Office 365 comes with plenty of features that will allow you to work better, together.

One of Microsofts growing collaboration tools, that’s on track to be the number one business chat application by 2020, is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams is your hub for business collaboration with it’s calling features, file storage system and instant messenger. Plus, many more. You’ll be able to carry out your daily huddles, department meetings and work with your colleagues on documents from any location. Sounds good, right? But there’s more.

SharePoint is your one-stop shop for sharing documents with colleagues. Within SharePoint you can store any files you want to share with the rest of your organisation, for example, brand guidelines, process templates or your latest team project. SharePoint is accessible from any device, meaning your employees will be able to access their files anywhere, on any device.

Microsoft has now made it easier than ever for you to collaborate with your colleagues. Within Word, Excel and PowerPoint you’ll have the ability to share documents and edit them in real time with other employees or even external people such as partners.

6. Stay updated

Do you get FOMO? No fear with Office 365, as Microsoft will always keep you up to date with the latest product optimisations and security patches. Because Office 365 is in the cloud, you’ll benefit from always be on the latest version. At no extra cost. Microsoft automatically rolls upgrades to all users – meaning your business can avoid any compatibility issues as all employees will be on the latest version.

7. You’ll always be secure in Office 365

Many people still have the impression that the cloud isn’t secure. But this isn’t the case. If anything, it’s more secure, if your cloud environment is built correctly. It’s all about how you use the features available and what security measures you put in place. Some of the security features you can benefit from in Office 365 are:

• Message encryption, which enables you to send encrypted emails that will not allow anyone other than the recipient to open them.
• Advanced Threat Analytics will allow you to identify any suspicious activity in real time, reducing the risk of any damage. This will empower your business to quickly detect any threats, reduce false positive fatigue and easily plan your next steps to protect your business from any suspicious activity.
• Mobile Device Management allows you to manage Office 365 on your employees’ mobile devices. Within this feature, you can manage device security policies, view device reports and can remotely wipe a device if it’s ever stolen.
• Data Loss Prevention helps prevent any sensitive information from leaving your organisation. DLP will help you identify, monitor and protect any sensitive information in your Office 365. When DLP is enabled it will scan for sensitive information e.g. credit card details, passport information or social security numbers.

8. Have the flexibility to mix and match

Office 365 has a variety of plans available for you to find the one best suited for your business needs. What’s best is you’ll have the flexibility to change your plans and users with ease. Meaning you only pay for what you use. If you purchase your Office 365 licenses through a CSP, you’ll have the ability to increase or decrease licenses as required due to its flexible model. What’s best is there’s no multi-year commitment. We’re leading the cloud industry with our PROVIDE portal that allows your business to manage your Office 365 subscriptions in a few clicks.

We’re proud to be a Microsoft CSP, and if you would like to find out more about our flexible Office 365 licenses, then our team would love to provide you with further information.
Want to find out more about the benefits of Office 365, and what your business could achieve in an online office? Get in contact with one of our experts to discover more.

Cloud Direct are proud to have achieved G-cloud status for the seventh year, with all services submitted and accepted across all three cloud categories – hosting, software and support.

The 11th iteration of the UK government’s Digital Marketplace went live this week to continue to drive digital transformation in the public sector. This cloud procurement framework has been established to prove best practice and accredited suppliers, to give customers confidence in developing their public cloud adoption.

With almost a decade of experience as one of the earliest adopters of G-cloud, our 21 technologies, consultancy and support services have been expertly designed to support local and regional governments.

Organisations that benefit from G-Cloud 11 include central and local government, health services, education services, devolved administrations, emergency services, defence and not-for-profit organisations. They can now buy the following cloud services from Cloud Direct, under our legal name On Direct Business Services Limited:

Technologies

Azure with Cloud Direct’s cost management tool MyAzure
Citrix On Azure
Backup via SkyKick
Managed Backup
Disaster Recovery as a Service via Azure Site Recovery
Cloud Anti-virus via Webroot
Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS)
Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise
Office 365
Skype for Business as a Service

Consultancy

Azure Consultancy
Digital Transformation Consultancy – Business and Adoption Workshops
Azure Data Centre Modernisation

Support

Azure Migration Service
Azure Managed and Support Services
Cloud Backup Reporting Service (RaaS)
Cloud Direct Server Support
Desktop Support
Email Migration to Office 365
Microsoft 365 Support Services
Office 365 Support Services

Brett Raynes, CEO of Cloud Direct, says:

“We work with several government organisations who enjoy the increased level of security and accreditation G-Cloud 11 awards us. Our business and the services we provide are all about enabling transformation and as we expect to grow, we plan to increase our customer base amongst public sector organisations. The stringent G-Cloud framework shows our continued commitment to provide first class service and support to our clients.”

Cloud Direct is proud to be recognised as a Microsoft Azure Expert Managed Service Provider (MSP) for the second year running. Cloud Direct has not only passed its second annual audit but is one of the first Azure Experts to successfully re-audit.

The Azure Expert MSP programme was set up in 2018 by Microsoft to promote only the most capable and experienced partners. Among the 30,000 partners delivering Microsoft solutions worldwide fewer than 50 have achieved this standard. So being one of them is a huge achievement. In fact, it puts us in the top 0.07% of Microsoft partners globally.

Brett Raynes, Cloud Direct Chief Executive Officer, says:

“The Microsoft Azure Expert MSP program is one we are immensely proud to be part of. For our customers, it provides the confidence that Microsoft has done the due-diligence for them. By working with a Microsoft Azure Expert MSP, that is independently audited and accredited by Microsoft, they know they are working with a partner that provides the security, governance and optimisation required for a successful Azure project.”

In June, the Cloud Direct team spent time with an external auditor as part of the vigorous annual audit. This is a chance for Cloud Direct to show how it’s meeting the ongoing requirements to keep up with the ever-evolving technology standards. But it didn’t stop there. Cloud Direct had to demonstrate their skills, customer successes and the ability to deliver Microsoft Azure managed service offerings at scale. This includes skills to migrate and support infrastructure, data and applications in Microsoft Azure.

But what does being an Azure Expert MSP mean for our customers?

We’ve always been about empowering businesses to achieve ‘Fearless Growth’. We want to help ambitious organisations adopt the cloud and reap all its benefits. As an Azure Expert MSP, we can do so much more for you.

• Better service. It’s simple, really: when you work with an expert, you get expert-level service. Microsoft has made it easier to verify the best partners by awarding this rigorous accreditation to a select few top performing partners. Every service that we offer, every customer interaction, is held to a higher standard. We love raising the bar because it makes us up our game and hop right over it.
• Broader offerings. Whatever your business needs, we can deliver it. Keen on IaaS, PaaS or SaaS? We can advise you. Ready to adopt mobile working or the Internet of Things? We know all about it. Need help with app migration, security or compliance? We have experts in all areas.
• Closer partnerships. Being one of the few Azure Expert MSPs in the UK brings us much closer to Microsoft. Our already close partnership is now much stronger, and all the benefits that come our way get passed directly on to you, our customers. Picture this: Microsoft’s capabilities and software paired with our expertise and skills, all working to better your business. The possibilities are endless.

Gavriella Schuster, Corporate Vice President, One Commercial Partner at Microsoft Corp, says:

“We are pleased to recognize Cloud Direct as an Azure Expert MSP. This new recognition offers our customers certainty that an organization provides excellent services on Azure.”

Cloud Direct is focused on helping businesses achieve their growth goals through the adoption and optimisation of the Microsoft Cloud. Leading the industry as one of the first Azure Expert MSPs to pass the annual audit for the second year running. This is key to helping our customers have the confidence that they can achieve their business objectives with us.

If you want to know more about how Microsoft Azure can help your business innovate get in contact with one of our experts.

According to Microsoft, cloud computing is the delivery of computing services – including servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics and intelligence – over the Internet (“the cloud”) to offer faster innovation, flexible resources and economies of scale. 

Source: https://azure.microsoft.com/en-gb/overview/what-is-cloud-computing/ 

 

What types of cloud are there? 

There are three key cloud deployment models which depending on your business’s needs will determine what model would best suit you.  

The three types of cloud include:  

• Private Cloud: A private cloud is a cloud environment that has been exclusively created and owned by a business. You’ll have the option to locate your private cloud in the businesses on-site data centre, or even ask a third-party to host it for you. All private clouds infrastructure and services are managed on a private network.  
• Public Cloud: On the other hand, public clouds are operated by third-party cloud service providers such as Microsoft Azure. The third-party provider will offer their services e.g. storage over the internet, and management of all your hardware, software and other supporting infrastructure. You’ll have the ability to manage your services through your web browser.  
• Hybrid Cloud: Hybrid clouds are a perfect combination of public and private clouds that are brought together by technology, allowing your applications and data to be shared between the two. A hybrid cloud environment provides your business with more flexibility and will help optimise your current infrastructure, security and compliance. Meaning you’ll get the best of both worlds.  

 

What types of cloud services are available?  

The possibilities on the cloud are endless. There are three main cloud computing services, Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS). But what are these services and how are they different from each other? 

• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is the core category of cloud services. IaaS is rented IT infrastructure from a third-party cloud provider. Within your IT infrastructure, you will be able to rent servers, network, storage, virtual machines and more. 
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a cloud computing service that offers an environment for you to develop, test, deliver and manage your software applications with ease. With PaaS, it has never been easier for developers to create applications without having to worry about the setup of your underlying IaaS, storage, network and databases needed for development. 
• Software as a Service (SaaS) is a method for delivering your software applications over the internet. This would be offered as an on–demand service on a subscription basis. Your cloud provider will host and manage the software application and infrastructure. They will also take care of any maintenance e.g. software upgrades or any security patching that’s needed. You can connect to the applications over the Internet via your browser on your PC, phone or tablet. 

 

What can cloud computing be used for? 

The cloud is more powerful than ever, and it’s quickly become a part of our daily lives. It allows you to access data, services, emails and documents from any location on any device. The first cloud computing services are barely a decade old, and businesses across all industries and sizes are embracing the cloud for different reasons. Some of these include:   

• Ability to create new apps. The cloud provides you with the opportunity to build, deploy and scale applications with ease, whether they’re for web or mobile.  
• Store and recover data. The cloud will help you protect your data at a more cost–effective price whilst keeping it accessible from any location and device. It will simply transfer your data from the internet to an offsite cloud storage system.  
• Software as a service (SaaS) allows you to provide customers with your latest software updates no matter where they are.  
• Test and build applications in the cloud. This will allow you to easily scale your applications up or down using your cloud infrastructure.  
• Analyse your data across the different teams and locations within the cloud. You can make the most of machine learning and AI in the cloud to help you gain new insights to make smart decisions.   

And the list goes on. The possibilities are endless with the cloud.  

 

Benefits of cloud computing  

41.9% of UK companies have adopted some form of cloud service. And this percentage is still rising. Why? Because there are many benefits of using cloud computing in an organisation. Here are six reasons why companies like yours are using the cloud.  

• Cost effective. Cloud computing will eliminate the cost of purchasing hardware, software and running on-site data centres. Moving your IT to the cloud will not only be more efficient but will allow you to save on the costs.  
• Scalability. Using cloud computing in your organisation will allow your business to achieve fearless growth. You’ll have the ability to scale your business on a global scale by adjusting your resources as and when you need it.  
• Tightened security. Many cloud providers offer a set of policies that can keep your data, apps and infrastructure from any security threats.  
• Speed. Most cloud services are provided over the internet as an on–demand self–service. Resulting in you having the ability to access your resources in a few mouse clicks. 
• Increased productivity. On-site data centres need a lot of looking after with all the hardware setup and software patching. Cloud computing removes a lot of these tasks, allowing your IT team to focus on achieving your business goals. 
• Reliability. Data backup, disaster recovery and business continuity are made easier with cloud computing. 

“We’ve taken a big step forward in terms of flexibility with the Microsoft Cloud. Our staff can access our applications from any site or location. Whenever we need to provide access for any other site, the process is seamless.”

Jason Moon, Head of IT, Simarco

Cloud providers 

There are plenty of Cloud providers out there. But it’s important you partner up with a provider that’s aligned with your business’s needs. So, are you thinking of migrating to the cloud, but unsure of what cloud provider to go with? Microsoft Azure is one of the biggest cloud providers in the UK and will help your business unlock its full potential. If you would like to discover the power of the cloud, then sign up to one of our Azure Roadshows.  

Cloud Direct was born in the cloud, and we’ve helped over numerous companies migrate to the cloud, so it’s safe to say we know a thing or two. We have a team of cloud experts that can provide you with more information on the cloud.  Simply get in contact today and a member of our team will get in touch with you shortly.  

Migrating to the cloud is a big investment, so it’s important you choose the right provider for your business. And really, it comes down to options – Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. Let’s explore these two big players so you can decide which cloud provider best suits your business needs.  

 

What is Azure?

Microsoft Azure is a set of cloud services that can help your business achieve fearless growth. No matter how big or small your company, Azure can provide you with the freedom to build, manage and deploy apps using your favourite tools and frameworks. Azure offers a range of functionalities including, analytics, storage, computing, networking and more – all of which integrates with your cloud environment to help you achieve fearless growth.  

Benefits of Azure: 

• Create a hybrid cloud environment with ease  
• It has a comprehensive set of compliance offerings 
• Covers more global regions than any other cloud provider 

 

What is AWS? 

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has over one million customers and has been around for over 13 years. You’ll have the ability to scale your business through their services, including compute, storage and delivery.  

Benefits of AWS: 

• It’s one of the longest standing cloud solutions 
• Easy to use application hosting 
• Can use Amazon’s identity and security services 

 

Azure VS AWS: Features 

Azure and AWS have very similar features. However, Azure has some remarkable features that AWS simply doesn’t. These include; Azure Visual Studio Online, Azure Site Recovery, Azure Event Hubs and Azure Scheduler. Microsoft Azure offers a more advanced Hybrid Cloud with its integrated cloud service with multiple deployment options, allowing you to better manage your private and public cloud as one.  

AWS offers a wide range of IaaS solutions, including; Compute, Storage and CDN, Database and Networking. But AWS doesn’t offer as comprehensive hybrid cloud option as Microsoft does.  

Depending on what you’re looking to do in your cloud environment will help determine whether your company would benefit from Azure or AWS. If you decide Azure is the way for you or just want to find out a bit more, then our experts know a thing or two about Azure and will help you identify whether it will provide your business with the cloud environment you’re looking for. 

 

Azure VS AWS: Global coverage  

Having a cloud provider with a global infrastructure will allow you sustainably scale your business across the world. Now, who doesn’t want that? Azure and AWS both have a global footprint and operates in different regions across the world. But who has the most coverage?

AWS has 66 availability zones within 21 graphic regions and has plans to open in four more regions, including Bahrain, Cape Town, Jakarta and Milan. 

Microsoft Azure infrastructure is in 54 regions and is available in 140 countries, with six more announced. That’s more than any other cloud provider. Azure provides you with the infrastructure you need to take your application to a global scale.  

 

Azure VS AWS: Deploying Apps  

Cloud computing can make deploying an application a walk in the park. But what cloud provider offers the best tools for deploying your applications?  

Microsoft Azure provides you with the tools you need to not only deploy your app but scale it to your business’s needs. Azure has multiple application deployment options to ensure you have a smooth deployment process, including; cloud services, container service, batch and application services. 

AWS has similar solutions with Lambda, Elastic Beanstalk and container services. However, Amazon does not offer as many application hosting features as Azure.  

 

Azure VS AWS: Security 

Security is a big concern to many businesses, especially in the cloud. Azure and AWS are two of the biggest cloud providers, and both have the capabilities of making sure your cloud environment is secure. 

Microsoft has created their own version of role-based access control (RBAC) called Azure Directory. RBAC will help you enhance and simplify security as you control users’ permissions. Thanks to Microsoft background on networking, they’ve been able to develop a complex and strong security feature that will allow you to manage users access successfully.  

AWS has also developed its own RBAC, called Identity and Access Management (IAM). It doesn’t have as complex security services as Azure, but it does offer additional services such as GuardDuty and DDoS. 

 

Azure VS AWS: Pricing   

AWS is five times more expensive than Azure for Windows Server and SQL Server. You could save up to 71% on your Windows Virtual Machines with Azure compared to AWS EC2.  

Here at Cloud Direct, we’ve created our own portal to allow you to monitor your Azure spend and usage called PROVIDE. This will help you get a better understanding of your current and future costs in Azure.  

Both AWS and Azure follow a pay as you go model allowing you to only pay for what you use. With Azure you pay by the hour, whereas with AWS you pay by the minute which is a more precise pricing model.  

The good news is, Azure and AWS both offer a free trial of their services – meaning you can try before you buy.  

Depending on what you’re using the cloud for will determine which provider will be more cost-effective for your business. Our experts are happy to help you understand how much you could save in Azure. 

  

Azure vs AWS: Partners 

Working with a partner when migrating to the cloud can make a huge difference. A partner can provide added value to your cloud environment. And if you’re looking to make the most of your cloud, then it’s important you’re choosing the provider that has partners to help you have a seamless migration. 

AWS has over 100,000 partners that can help add value to your business. They have partners that specialise by industry, including; government, education, non-profit and more.  

Azure has slightly fewer partners, with a total of 68,000 MSP partners. But it’s all about quality, not quantity – right? Azure has recently launched the Azure Expert MSP programme to ensure you’re getting the best partners for your cloud migration. This is made up of around 35 Azure Expert MSPs around the world. And we’re proud to be one of them.   

 

More than 95% of Fortune 500 companies use Azure. Why? Microsoft has over three decades of experience, with over 68,000+ partners and over 90 certifications – the most comprehensive set of compliance offerings any cloud service provider has to offer.  

If you would like to find out how Microsoft Azure could support your business, then please get in touch with one of our experts.

We also hold regular Azure Roadshows across the country. If you would like to discover the power of Azure, then visit our events page to find an Azure Roadshow near you.  

 

91% of the Fortune 100 use Microsoft Teams, so why not join them?

Back in September 2017, Microsoft announced that Teams will build on the capabilities of Skype for Business. Microsoft Teams will bring together chats, meetings, calling, collaboration, app integration and file storage into one system. Skype for Business is now coming to End of Life on 31st July 2021, so it’s time to plan out how you’ll upgrade to Microsoft Teams. 

To start benefiting from the capabilities of Microsoft Teams immediately, we’ve put together this guide to help ensure you have a smooth migration from Skype for Business to Teams.

Five steps to a seamless Microsoft Teams upgrade

Ensuring a successful transition is not just about changing the technology you use. It’s about changing your behaviour and empowering your employees to become Teams gurus. In this simple five-step guide we will show you how to do just that and seamlessly transition from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams.

1. Spread the word

Before upgrading from Skype for Business to Microsoft Teams you need to make everyone aware of the change. The first step to change is getting your stakeholders onboard. Once your stakeholders are excited about Microsoft Teams, it will be easier to engage other employees about the change.

Sending an email announcement is a good starting point. But, why not follow up with an internal webinar to help get everyone on board? This is the perfect opportunity for employees to ask any questions they may have.

2. Prepare your team for Teams

Do you have any Skype for Business advocates in your organisation? They may need a little more persuading than others in adopting Microsoft Teams. Now’s your chance to share the benefits of Microsoft Teams with the rest of your employees.

Reassure them that things are only going to get better. Microsoft Teams has built on Skype for Business capabilities, meaning your employees won’t be missing out on any features they’ve previously been using. Microsoft has improved the way group chats, online meetings and conference calls take place. With Microsoft Teams, it has never been easier for employees to collaborate with Office 365 apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and SharePoint.

They’ll be able to make their very own modern workplace. With the addition of third-party integrations to increase productivity. You can see a full list of the Microsoft Teams apps and integrations here.

No need to worry about governance in Microsoft Teams. The built-in security features of Office 365 extend to Teams, delivering the advanced security and compliance your business expects.

3. Activate the user upgrade notification

The truth is, everyone forgets things from time to time. Your employees will be busy with their daily duties, so it’s important to keep them updated with the progress of the upgrade. Otherwise, they may forget.

In Skype for Business, you can provide a visual alert to ensure employees are reminded of the upcoming upgrade to Teams. Microsoft has put together a simple guide on how you can enable these upgrade notifications.  

4. Upgrade users to Teams

Today’s the day – your business is ready to upgrade from Skype for business to Microsoft Teams. Everyone’s excited about the new communication and collaboration solution to help them get more done.

Here are the instructions given by Microsoft to upgrade to Microsoft Teams:

In the Microsoft Teams admin centre, activate the upgrade switch by setting the coexistence mode to Teams Only. (In the admin centre, go to Org-wide Settings > Teams Upgrade.) Users will receive a notification in their Skype for Business client that they’ve been upgraded to Teams.

Once you’re all upgraded, Microsoft suggests you send an email to your employees and encourage them to start using Microsoft Teams. Highlighting a key point of contact is vital at this point for employees to ask any questions they have and remind them of any resources available to support the transition from Skype for Business to Teams.

5. Maximise user adoption

Microsoft Teams is in place. Employees have started using it. Now’s your chance to maximise user adoption. We have three suggestions to help you to make the most of your upgrade to Microsoft Teams.

Have a launch event. Why not celebrate your upgrade to Microsoft Teams with a launch event? Whether this is a quick ten minute get together in the meeting room or office lunch, it’s worth getting employees excited about the upgrade. If employees are engaged, they’ll be more willing to fully adopt their new collaboration system.
Understand who’s using what. Teams generate several reports to help you understand who is using the app and how it’s being used. Below is just a small sample  of a few reports that can be generated:

 

Image source: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/teams-analytics-and-reports/teams-reporting-reference

It’s important to put time aside to analyse these reports, especially in the first few months of upgrading to Teams. Analysing these reports will help you identify any usage gaps for you to try and close and check to see if users are fully adopting their new collaboration tool. Still seeing a skills gap? Our year of complimentary training with Mandarine Academy will educate your employees on the Microsoft Teams features they aren’t yet utilising.

Offering training to your employees will allow them to fully utilise all Teams has to offer. Once they know how to integrate Teams into their work, they will start to reap all the benefits of the collaboration system.

 

Microsoft Teams is on course to become the top business chat app by 2020. So why not stay ahead of the crowd and start using Teams today? Our experts know everything about Microsoft Teams and are waiting to share their knowledge with you. Get in contact with us today to find out how Teams can support your business.   

Futurist Ray Kurzweil has a lot of faith in the future of AI. If his prediction is correct, the impact on the way everyone does business will be huge: 

‘Artificial intelligence will reach human levels by 2029. Follow that out further…and we will have multiplied the intelligence, the human biological machine intelligence of our civilization a billion-fold.’

It’s fair to say that Kurzweil is bullish about AI, its capabilities in the coming years, and the role it will play in our lives. But what are the facts behind the AI hyperbole? Why does your business need to be ready for it? 

We recently conducted a survey that asked organisations if they’re prepared to implement AI and machine learning. Here’s what we found out, and why the results are significant. 

Businesses see AI saving them money – and making it

The applications of AI are countless and are only limited by an organisation’s ability to implement them. As AI moves beyond cost efficiency, expect to see a rise in revenue generated by automation.  

Most of our respondents saw cost efficiency and customer service as the major areas that AI would positively impact for them. Which isn’t surprising. AI automates busy-work and increases productivity(especially when it comes to compliance-related tasks). It makes use of data to benefit operational efficiency and improves customer relations by effectively managing customer service. It does these things already, and does them very well.  

What could you gain?

There is, however, a definite shift taking place. 21% our respondents saw the potential to change their go-to-market strategy. MIT’s investigation of organisations further along in their AI journey found that a significant number of them are ‘prioritising revenue-generating AI applications over cost-saving ones.’ This suggests that AI is poised to not only save these businesses money, but start making them significant amounts, too.

How, though? AI requires a solid infrastructure, as mentioned before, but it also requires machine learning to vastly improve inefficiencies in products and processes. Making use of the technology’s processing power during ideation and market research puts a near-boundless amount of flexible, customisable knowledge at your disposable. While real-time data analysis allows for minute refinements in the production or service-provisioning process.

The ability to manage customer relations is a major part of the money-making puzzle. Developments in machine learning capabilities could lead to applications intelligent enough to successfully handle the sales process from start to finish, with data collection and analysis leading to decision making, product refinement and customer service delivery.

How can you get ready?

Widen your scope. Don’t just think about areas in which AI can help you save money or send the right email to the right lead and start thinking about ways in which it could help you improve your product or service further down the line.

Be imaginative, optimistic and aspirational, and take a wish-list to the experts. They’ll know what you need to reach your AI goals.  

 

Half of businesses have the infrastructure and skills they need to take advantage of AI

Around half of the businesses we spoke to already have the infrastructure and skills they need to make use of AI.Half didn’t.

Investing in infrastructure – in this case, the kind of cloud processing power you’ll need to implement a business-changing AI program – is a necessity. 

A global survey of CIOs across a broad range of industries revealed that 72% of those working in digital-forward organisations – and 58% of those in ‘baseline organisation’s – saw AI and machine learning as a priority in terms of investment in the next three years. 

What could you gain?

Why are these CIOs so interested in AI? Because they know it’s the future of efficient data analysis, decision making and business growth. According to analytics expert Thomas H. Davenport’s The AI Advantage, there are three stages to an organisation’s AI adoption: 

• Assisted intelligence makes use of data on a far greater scale than we’ve ever seen;
• Machine learning mimics human cognitive skills to produce informed analysis of data; 
• And finally, autonomous intelligence brings decision-making into the mix. 

The future of AI for business is bright. Davenport’s three stages point to a future in which AI is making the kinds of business decisions that the C-suite usually managesand is doing so based on an in-depth knowledge of regulations, industry processes and tailored data analysis. Who knows, business decision-making in the future could approach a kind of logical perfection! The C-suite won’t be replaced, but they’ll have an assistant with superhuman brain-power by their side. 

How can you get ready? 

Again, you’ll want to take an inventory of what you already have. Is there a solid foundation to build on, or do you need a ground-up cloud solution to refresh your infrastructure and make room for AI? Consult with your IT department and involve them in the decision-making process, then open lines of communication with an MSP that can take stock of your situation and make structural recommendations.

The same goes for your staff. 80 percent of respondents to an EY survey on AI cited a lack of skills as the biggest hurdle to implementing a successful AI strategy. Make sure you’re training existing staff, hiring strategically and fostering relationships with MSPs to fill in knowledge gaps. Without the skills necessary to make the most of AI technologies, you’ll doubtless miss out on some of its most significant capabilities.  

Only 32% of businesses have a fully mapped-out AI strategy

The majority of businesses aren’t yet ready to implement AI and make use of its benefits.  When we asked whether people were strategising for AI, most respondents either completely lacked a strategy or didn’t yet have a fully thought-through plan.

What could you gain?

The respondents in the not-so-prepared camp need to rectify this. Why? From a positive perspective, AI and automation has the potential to massively benefit organisations no matter the industry they’re in.

A recent study from McKinsey found that businesses in industries such as insurance and travel will see tens of billions of dollars in positive impact with the arrival of advanced automation and machine learning. In fact, an article written earlier this year by analysts at Deloitte began by arguing that: 

‘As AI technologies standardise across industries, becoming an AI-fueled organisation will likely be table stakes for survival.’

How can you get ready?

Essentially, if your organisation isn’t prepared to make use of automation, it’ll be missing out on the two percent year-on-year productivity growth that it creates. Building out a full AI strategy is the first step. Ask yourself whether you’ve got the infrastructure, in-house expertise and budget set aside to make the most of what’s to come. Look for resources on automation and AI infrastructure, and where it might positively impact your existing business model.

If you’re involved in production, for example, installing sensors along the production line will gather masses of data that can save huge amounts of time and money by recommending proactive maintenance and cutting production inefficiencies. Machine learning then makes use of the huge amounts of data that these sensors generate, and are the backbone of the ‘smart factories’ forecast to generate trillions of pounds in the next few years. This will funnel data into an AI platform that can point out inefficiencies, saving you money where it was wasted before. Once you’ve gotten as far as you can with the knowledge you already have, it’s time to bring in the experts.

What we’ve learned

The results of our survey, which gathered 100 responses from participants in a variety of industries, have given us several valuable insights. The key takeaway, however, is that:  

Getting ready for AI – whether that means training and hiring staff, building your infrastructure or even preparing a basic strategy – is a necessity. 

Almost a third of our respondents already have an AI strategy, and a further third have begun the work. AI readiness is no longer an option; it’s a necessity if you want your organisation to remain competitive and continue to grow. 

There’s a lot to be excited about when it comes to AI’s future in your business. Starting out on the right foot in terms of infrastructure and strategy means you’ll avoid any obstacles that might get in the way of the benefits that the technology promises.To find out more about how your business can build the foundations of automation and get ready for AI, speak with an expert today.

 

If you’re thinking about organising anything in 2019, it pays to consult the newly-crowned queen of tidying, Marie Kondo, for advice:

‘Once you learn to choose your belongings properly, you will be left with only the amount that fits perfectly in the space you own.’ 

While Marie Kondo may specialise in tidying up houses, her advice can also be applied to Azure governance and cost management. The public cloud requires careful management and systematic organisation before you can realise its full benefits for your organisation.  

Azure is an empowering, growth-enabling tool, but if you’re not organised in your approach to using it you risk losing control of your cloud spend. Azure costs can mount and fly under the radar if you don’t have a thought-through cost management plan and governance framework in place. Proper organisation is the key to an efficient, cost-effective Azure experience.  Don’t let the tool’s costs outweigh its benefits.  

Here’s what Marie Kondo would do if she was cost-managing her Enterprise Azure profile. 

Make the most of groups

It doesn’t make sense to deploy an entire program of subscriptions in Azure if you’re not going to keep track of the resources involved. A tool that is designed to save or even make you money can end up costing you quite a lot if you’re paying for things you don’t need, or that aren’t delivering the kind of ROI you expect. 

The Azure Scaffold exists to ensure that your subscriptions are effectively cost- and compliance-managed, and its grouping system plays a big part in making that happen. Management groups are a useful feature within Azure, allowing you to group subscriptions together in ways that make sense for your business. Governance features such as Azure Policies and Role Based Access Control (RBAC) can then be assigned to the Management Groups, providing a consistent and secure standard across the organisation. These groups can be crafted to reflect your internal structure, making it easy to ensure the right department has access to the right Azure subscriptions, and those that don’t need access are kept out. 

Resource groups go into more granular detail, and can be structured in an organised way to ensure all resources are easily identified. If you’re looking to cap your spending on an individual project, you can apply a spend limit to the resource group instead of hoping that someone’s remembered to do it for each individual subscription. 

Naming conventions 

One of the simplest and most effective steps you can take to organise your Azure costs is to ensure that you’ve got a naming convention that everyone follows. Creating and tagging resource groups is much more useful if this is done consistently across your business. If no naming convention is followed, specific resources will be harder to find, and groups of resources or subscriptions could potentially fall by the wayside and continue to accrue costs without your knowledge. 

Naming conventions can be tailored to the specific character of your organisation, reflectingyour internal structure to make finding resources in Azure an intuitive process. Removing barriers to checking up on your subscriptions and resource spending is a crucial step towards ensuring that you’ve got a detailed overview of where your money is being spent. 

Monitoring and management

The transition from budgeting for hardware to budgeting for services – from CAPEX to OPEX – has the potential to be a confusing one. If your subscriptions are disorganised, it’s difficult to take advantage of what’s great about OPEX spending: the ability to scale costs up and down according to your changing business needs. 

If you’ve named, tagged and grouped your resources effectively, they should be easy to find using Azure’s cost-management tools and turned off when you don’t need them. Say you’ve completed work on a web app that you’re no longer using. If you haven’t organised the resources that it used properly, you might end up paying for some of them long after the project finishes because they didn’t show up where you thought they’d be in the Azure portal.

Azure Monitor constantly gathers data from all your subscriptions to show you what’s working and what isn’t. While Azure Advisor crunches the numbers and offers cost-management recommendations to ensure you’re paying for what you truly use.. With this knowledge, you can set workloads on timed schedules to maximise efficiency and unused workloads can be properly terminated, which can add up to significant savings. Switching off a virtual machine for just four hours a day can save 15 percent of its cost. Without proper Azure cost-management organisation you’d never get that insight.  

Work with the experts

Azure Expert Managed Service Providers (MSPs) like Cloud Direct can provide consultancy services,simplified portals and budget tracking to ensure that users at all levels of IT skill can understand and act on the data Azure’s monitoring tools provide. 

The My Azure section of Cloud Direct’s PROVIDE portal, for example, does just this. Behaving like a smart energy meter, it creates a granular breakdown of your spending, allowing you to respond accordingly. This opens the door for a significant increase in ROI. If, for example, one of your subscriptions isn’t performing as well as you’d like (or expected it to), you’ll see that straight away, and be able to make the necessary changes to your resource allocation. 

When this ability is given over to managers with specific knowledge of their department’s needs, it translates into real efficiency in your Azure environment and significant opportunities for savings. 

Automate what you can 

Automation goes even further in keeping those who manage spending abreast of the latest developments in your Enterprise Azure program. Azure’s Event Grid lets you create automatic processes when something happens in your portal. This means that any changes are easily flagged, and resources are easily deleted when a project comes to an end. 

Azure Automation gives users the ability to create runbooks that perform routine tasks, so you don’t have to, freeing up employee hours from busywork for more valuable projects.Autonomous tasks such as patching every month, can be automated with Azure automation. With the introduction of Azure Blueprints, Management Groups and Automation work together to provide a time-effective and consistent approach across your organisation. As Microsoft say, automation is ‘a full-time job’ and well worth the investment. 

Everyone is involved 

This isn’t a siloed job. Azure cost management organisation must come from the top down as part of a collaboration with each department, so that there’s consistency across the Azure environment. The effort will pay dividends when you don’t have to waste hours searching for a specific resource. When everything is tagged and named according to the same convention, you’ll know exactly what to look for, and where. Then when you’ve automated your Azure processes and learned how to use the monitoring tools, you’ll be making savings instead of wasting money. 

There you have it. The KonMari method applied to Azure cost-management. Apply this advice to your Azure environment, and you’ll ensure that you’ve got all the resources that ‘spark joy’ in your investors, and none of the ones that don’t. 

 

When Vickii isn’t busy meeting with her accounts, then she’s off training for her next rugby match. We managed to interview her about her role as a Key Account Manager at Cloud Direct whilst being a newly professional Rugby player. Here’s what we found out! 👀

Vickii first picked up a rugby ball aged five, after her Dad took her siblings to Mini’s rugby at her hometown club, Portsmouth, and she hasn’t put it down since. In 2006, Vickii was selected into the England U20’s age group and won multiple Nations Cup titles, before making her debut in Women’s rugby with Richmond Women in 2008. Vickii currently plays in the Tyrells Premier 15s League for Harlequins Ladies. She also represents England at prop – meaning she’s right at the front of the scrums, in the centre of the action. We asked her what it was like playing for both her club and country. This is what she had to say:

“I’m very lucky to play for an elite team at Harlequins, so the transition between Club and Country is seamless and shows the progression of women’s rugby.”

When Vickii’s not on the rugby pitch, she’s busy at Cloud Direct as a Key Account Manager. She’s been with Cloud Direct for four years and “has enjoyed every minute of it”. Her role as a Key Account Manager involves finding new ways to delight her accounts and support their business growth – meaning she often travels across the country for meetings. Which suits her just fine as Vickii has never been one to sit behind a desk all day. Regular contact with her accounts has helped her build up strong relationships with them – most of which now support her on the pitch. Vickii said the reason for her success as a Key Account Manager at Cloud Direct is “because I’m always striving for excellence and pushing myself to be the best I can be.”

Every job comes with demands, and when you’re balancing two, you’re doubling the demands. Vickii looks at each role as if it’s a break from the other – this helps her to fully focus on what she’s currently doing. As a professional both on the pitch and in the workplace, she’s constantly growing in her roles. With a strong passion for both her clients and rugby, Vickii can’t see her life without either of them.

There’s no such thing as an average week in Vickii’s life. Every day is different, and she believes this is the reason for her development as a Key Account Manager and rugby player.

“If every day was the same, I would never be able to progress. It makes life very exciting when every day is different!”

Any successful athlete knows you need the combination of being out on the field and in the gym. As a full-time athlete, Vickii has weekly gym focusing on heavy lifting, mixed with speed and conditioning sessions, interspersed with rugby skills with her Harlequins teammates.

Vickii’s secret to managing her busy schedule? Preparation. Time management is key. Being successful both on and off the pitch is a real achievement, and Vickii makes it look easy. She’s always strict on herself and what she needs achieve, which has really helped her push herself during the 6 Nations.

“Cloud Direct has been very supportive of me becoming a professional athlete. I couldn’t have done it without them.”

Women’s rugby is one of the fastest growing sports in England. Vickii feels honoured to be at the heart of the women game as it grows. World Rugby has seen a 60% increase in female participation globally and the sporting dynamic is changing – they’re making massive leaps and improving the environment for the next generation.

 “Women’s rugby has come into an elite league of its own.”

Want to watch Vickii Cornborough in action? England has one game left in the Six Nations, a doubleheader with England Men:

• 16^th March at Twickenham Stadium, Kick Off 19:40

So far, so good, with England Women on track for a Six Nations Grand Slam. Vickii says:

“We’ve done fantastically this season, and we’re always looking at the next game as the next challenge. If we carry on with the same performances that we’ve had this tournament, hopefully the result will take care of itself.”

You can watch England Women’s games on Sky Sports, but if you want to watch the Red Roses in action then come along to their games!

Harlequins Ladies will be playing against Gloucester Hartpury Women in The Game Changer, hoping to make history once again. They’re looking to break the record for the highest attended women’s premier league match.

Once the six nations are over, Vickii will be going straight back into the Tyrrells Premier 15s and has a big run of games coming up, in the hopes of winning the League with Harlequins Women.