Revolutionize Your Business: The Power of Hiring an Expert IT Consulting Firm

Introduction to IT consulting firms

In today’s fast-paced, technology-driven world, businesses need to stay ahead of the game to maintain their competitive edge. This often means partnering with an expert IT consulting firm to maximize the potential of their technology infrastructure and enhance their overall business strategy. IT consulting firms are professional organizations that help businesses optimize their technology investments and align their IT strategy with their business goals.

IT consulting firms come in all shapes and sizes, from large multinational corporations to small boutique shops. They offer a wide range of services, including IT strategy development, system integration, technology assessments, and project management. By partnering with an IT consulting firm, businesses can leverage the knowledge and expertise of industry professionals to stay ahead of the technology curve and drive their business forward.

In this article, we’ll explore the importance of partnering with an expert IT consulting firm, the benefits of working with IT consulting companies, and how IT consulting services revolutionize businesses. We’ll also discuss the top IT consulting firms in Clearwater, New York and Dallas, how to choose the right IT consulting company for your business, and share some success stories of businesses transformed by IT consultants. Finally, we’ll offer tips for a successful collaboration with an IT consultancy and discuss how to embrace the power of IT consulting to revolutionize your business.

The importance of partnering with an expert IT consulting firm

In today’s technology landscape, the importance of partnering with an expert IT consulting firm cannot be overstated. With the rapid pace of innovation, businesses must continually adapt to new technologies and processes to remain competitive. IT consulting firms can provide the necessary expertise and guidance to help businesses navigate this complex landscape and stay ahead of the game.

One significant reason to partner with an IT consulting firm is to gain access to the specialized knowledge and skills that your in-house IT team may not possess. IT consultants have experience working with a wide variety of industries and technologies, allowing them to bring a fresh perspective and innovative solutions to your business.

Additionally, partnering with an IT consulting firm can help your business mitigate risk. IT consultants are well-versed in industry best practices, regulatory requirements, and the latest security threats. By working with an expert IT consulting firm, you can ensure that your business is compliant with all relevant regulations and that your IT systems and data are protected from potential security breaches.

Benefits of working with IT consulting companies

There are numerous benefits to working with IT consulting companies, many of which can lead to significant improvements in your business operations and bottom line. Some of these benefits include:

Expertise: IT consulting firms have a wealth of knowledge and experience in various industries and technologies. By working with an IT consulting firm, you can tap into this expertise to help your business stay ahead of the technology curve and drive innovation.
Cost savings: Partnering with an IT consulting firm can lead to cost savings in several ways. First, you can reduce the need for a large in-house IT staff, as the consulting firm can provide the necessary expertise on an as-needed basis. Second, IT consultants can help you optimize your technology investments and identify areas where you can save money, such as by consolidating systems or moving to cloud-based solutions.
Increased efficiency: IT consulting firms can help your business streamline processes and improve overall efficiency by implementing new technologies and best practices. This can lead to increased productivity, reduced downtime, and faster time-to-market for new products and services.
Strategic planning and alignment: IT consulting firms can help your business develop a comprehensive IT strategy that aligns with your overall business goals. This can ensure that your technology investments support your business objectives and drive growth.
Risk mitigation: As mentioned earlier, IT consulting firms can help your business mitigate risk by ensuring compliance with regulations and industry best practices and protecting your IT systems and data from security threats.

How IT consulting services revolutionize businesses

IT consulting services have the power to revolutionize businesses by driving innovation, improving efficiency, and reducing costs. By partnering with an IT consulting firm, businesses can leverage the latest technologies and industry best practices to stay ahead of the competition and drive growth.

For example, IT consulting services can help businesses implement cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics to gain insights and make data-driven decisions. This can lead to the development of new products and services, improved customer experiences, and increased market share.

Additionally, IT consulting services can help businesses optimize their technology infrastructure, leading to reduced downtime, improved system performance, and lower maintenance costs. This can free up resources to invest in other areas of the business, such as research and development or marketing and sales.

Overall, IT consulting services have the potential to revolutionize businesses by enabling them to harness the power of technology to drive innovation, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Top IT consulting firms in Clearwater, New York and Dallas

There are many top IT consulting firms in New York and Dallas that can help your business leverage the power of technology to drive growth and success. Some of these firms include:

(Editors Choice) CIO Advise: Headquartered in Clearwater, FL, CIO Advise has built a reputation for delivering desired business outcomes for clients located throughout the continental U.S. Their services include IT strategy development, technology assessments, and project management.
Accenture: A global IT consulting firm with offices in New York and Dallas, Accenture offers a wide range of IT consulting services, including digital transformation, cloud services, and cybersecurity.
Deloitte: One of the largest professional services firms in the world, Deloitte provides IT consulting services in areas such as technology strategy, system integration, and data analytics.
IBM Global Services: As a leading global IT consulting firm, IBM Global Services offers a broad range of IT consulting services, including IT strategy, cloud services, and artificial intelligence.
PwC: With offices in New York and Dallas, PwC is a global professional services firm that offers IT consulting services in areas such as digital transformation, cybersecurity, and data analytics.

Choosing the right IT consulting company for your business

When selecting an IT consulting company for your business, it’s essential to consider several factors to ensure you choose the right partner. Some factors to consider include:

Experience: Look for an IT consulting company with a proven track record of success in your industry and with the technologies you use. This can help ensure that they have the expertise and experience necessary to address your specific needs and challenges.
Reputation: Research the IT consulting company’s reputation in the industry by asking for references, reading client testimonials, and reviewing case studies. This can help you gauge the quality of their work and their ability to deliver results.
Services offered: Ensure the IT consulting company offers the specific services your business needs, such as IT strategy development, system integration, or technology assessments.
Location: If you prefer to work with a local IT consulting company, consider searching for “IT consultancies near me” or “consulting firms near me” to find IT consulting firms in your area.
Pricing: Obtain quotes from multiple IT consulting companies and compare their pricing structures to ensure you choose a partner that offers competitive rates and fits within your budget.

IT consulting services offered by professional firms

Professional IT consulting firms offer a wide range of services to help businesses optimize their technology investments and align their IT strategy with their business goals. Some common IT consulting services include:

IT strategy development: IT consulting firms can help your business develop a comprehensive IT strategy that supports your overall business objectives and drives growth.
System integration: IT consulting firms can assist with integrating disparate systems and technologies to create a cohesive and streamlined technology infrastructure.
Technology assessments: IT consulting firms can conduct technology assessments to identify areas where your business can optimize its technology investments and reduce costs.
Project management: IT consulting firms can provide project management services to help your business successfully implement new technologies and processes.
Cloud services: IT consulting firms can help your business move to the cloud by selecting the right cloud solution and assisting with migration, integration, and ongoing management.
Cybersecurity: IT consulting firms can help your business protect its IT systems and data from potential security breaches by implementing the latest security best practices and technologies.

Success stories: Businesses transformed by IT consultants

Many businesses have been transformed by partnering with IT consultants to leverage the power of technology and drive innovation, efficiency, and growth. Here are a few success stories:

Retail company: A large retail company partnered with an IT consulting firm to implement a new e-commerce platform and streamline its supply chain. As a result, the company saw a significant increase in online sales and improved customer satisfaction.
Healthcare organization: An IT consulting firm helped a healthcare organization implement a new electronic health record system, leading to increased efficiency, reduced errors, and improved patient care.
Manufacturing company: A manufacturing company worked with an IT consulting firm to implement a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, resulting in improved inventory management, increased production efficiency, and reduced costs.

These success stories demonstrate the power of partnering with an IT consulting firm to revolutionize your business and drive growth and success.

Tips for a successful collaboration with an IT consultancy

To ensure a successful collaboration with an IT consultancy, consider the following tips:

Clearly define your goals: Before engaging with an IT consultancy, be sure to clearly define your business goals and objectives. This will help the consultancy develop a tailored IT strategy that aligns with your business needs.

Establish clear expectations: Establish clear expectations with the IT consultancy regarding project timelines, deliverables, and communication protocols. This can help ensure that everyone is on the same page and that the project stays on track.

Communicate regularly: Communication is key to a successful collaboration with an IT consultancy. Be sure to schedule regular check-ins and provide feedback throughout the project to ensure that everyone is working towards the same goals.

Be open to new ideas: IT consultants bring a fresh perspective and innovative solutions to the table. Be open to new ideas and approaches, as they may lead to significant improvements in your business operations.

Maintain a strong working relationship: Building a strong working relationship with your IT consultancy is essential to a successful collaboration. Treat them as a partner rather than a vendor and foster open, honest communication to build trust and ensure a positive outcome.

Conclusion: Embrace the power of IT consulting to revolutionize your business

In conclusion, partnering with an expert IT consulting firm can have a significant impact on your business operations and bottom line. By leveraging the knowledge and expertise of industry professionals, businesses can stay ahead of the technology curve, drive innovation, and optimize their technology investments to align with their business goals.

When selecting an IT consulting company, be sure to consider factors such as experience, reputation, and services offered to ensure you choose the right partner for your business. And throughout the collaboration, be sure to communicate regularly, maintain a strong working relationship, and be open to new ideas to ensure a successful outcome.

Embrace the power of IT consulting to revolutionize your business and drive growth and success. Contact CIO Advise, your trusted business-technology management consulting firm, to see how we can help your business succeed. Speak with an agent now by calling (866)246-2387

What is Technology Due Diligence?

What is technology due diligence?

Technology due diligence (TDD) is the process of evaluating a company’s technology assets and infrastructure to assess their value and potential risks. TDD is often conducted as part of a merger or acquisition (M&A) transaction, but it can also be used for other purposes, such as raising capital or entering into a strategic partnership.

Why is technology due diligence important?

Technology due diligence is important for a number of reasons, including:

To identify and assess potential risks, such as security vulnerabilities, compliance issues, and intellectual property (IP) infringement.
To determine the value of the company’s technology assets.
To identify and mitigate any potential integration challenges that may arise after the transaction closes.
To ensure that the company’s technology is aligned with its business goals.

What does technology due diligence involve?

The scope of technology due diligence will vary depending on the specific transaction and the company’s industry. However, it typically includes the following steps:

Gathering information. The first step in TDD is to gather information about the company’s technology assets and infrastructure. This information can be obtained from a variety of sources, such as the company’s IT department, its financial statements, and its public filings.
Analyzing the information. Once the information has been gathered, it must be analyzed to identify potential risks and assess the value of the company’s technology assets. This analysis can be complex and time-consuming, and it often requires the expertise of a qualified technology due diligence firm.
Communicating the findings. The findings of the TDD process must be communicated to the relevant stakeholders, such as the company’s management team, its board of directors, and its investors. This communication is essential to ensure that all stakeholders are aware of the potential risks and the value of the company’s technology assets.

What are the benefits of technology due diligence?

There are a number of benefits to conducting technology due diligence, including:

Reduced risk. By identifying and mitigating potential risks, TDD can help to reduce the risk of the transaction failing or of the company experiencing financial losses.
Increased value. By determining the value of the company’s technology assets, TDD can help to increase the value of the company in the eyes of investors and other stakeholders.
Improved decision-making. By providing insights into the company’s technology assets and infrastructure, TDD can help management to make better decisions about the company’s future.
Enhanced compliance. By identifying and addressing any compliance issues, TDD can help the company to comply with applicable laws and regulations.

How to choose a technology due diligence firm

When choosing a technology due diligence firm, it is important to consider the following factors:

The firm’s experience in conducting technology due diligence.
The firm’s expertise in the company’s industry.
The firm’s reputation.
The firm’s fees.
It is also important to get references from other companies that have used the firm’s services.

Technology Due Diligence Checklist

The following is a checklist of items that should be considered when conducting technology due diligence:

IT infrastructure. This includes the company’s hardware, software, networks, and security systems.
Data. This includes the company’s data storage, backup, and recovery systems.
Applications. This includes the company’s software applications, such as its customer relationship management (CRM) system, its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, and its human resources (HR) system.
Technology Staffing. This includes reviewing current staffing levels, skills and organization structure.
Technology Budget. Analyzing technology current spend against similar companies in similar industries.
Intellectual property (IP). This includes the company’s patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Security. This includes the company’s security policies and procedures, as well as its security systems.
Compliance. This includes the company’s compliance with applicable laws and regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX).

Conclusion

Technology due diligence is an important part of any M&A transaction, capital raise, or strategic partnership. By conducting thorough TDD, companies can mitigate risk, increase value, and make better decisions about their future.

Here are some additional tips for conducting technology due diligence:

Start early. The earlier you start the TDD process, the more time you will have to gather information and analyze it.
Get help from experts. If you do not have the expertise in-house, consider hiring a technology due diligence firm to help you.
Communicate regularly. Keep the company’s management team, board of directors, and investors updated on the progress of the TDD process.
Be flexible. The scope of the TDD process may change as you learn more about the company. Be prepared to adapt your approach as needed.
By following these tips, you can conduct effective technology due diligence and protect your company’s interests.

Upgrade Your ERP System to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central and Streamline Your Operations

Expert Solutions to Boost Your Business’s Productivity, Efficiency, and Scalability – Business Central

Are you looking to upgrade your ERP system? CIO Advise offers expert solutions designed to streamline your operations, reduce costs, and improve efficiency. Our latest ERP technology, Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, provides real-time visibility into your business processes, enabling you to make better decisions based on up-to-date data.

Benefits:

Streamline operations: Upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central to streamline your business processes and increase productivity.
Enhanced security: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers advanced security features to protect your data and ensure compliance with industry regulations.
Real-time visibility: With Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, you get real-time visibility into your business operations, enabling you to make informed decisions based on up-to-date data.
Data analysis and reporting: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central provides accurate data entry, analysis, and reporting, helping you make better business decisions.
Business scalability: Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central is scalable and can grow with your business, adapting to your changing needs.

Ready to take your business to the next level? Contact us today to learn how our expert solutions can help you upgrade to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, streamline your operations, and reduce costs.

Understand and Manage Costs in the Cloud

Understand and Manage Costs in the Cloud

Governing costs is a major concern when adopting cloud technologies. After all, who likes a surprise cloud bill? If you can’t explain an increase in your monthly cloud bill because you added new employees, acquired a company, or grew in another way, you need to get to the bottom of it before wasting thousands of dollars.

The best bet is to begin from day one with an idea of what you will be spending, (here’s a pricing calculator for Azure), and an implementation of basic cost management controls and tools. These can be optimized later in the cloud governance maturation journey. Even though computing and storage cost rates are lower in the cloud, you pay for what you use. As physical constraints of infrastructure capacity and speed of availability don’t exist in the cloud, many organizations have been shocked by massive cloud bills that are driven by resource sprawl. It’s like when we all gained weight during COVID because our sweatpants had unlimited capacity!

High-Cost Usual Suspects

Time and time again with clients, we see some of the usual suspects when it comes to driving up cloud costs. Here are some examples:

Continuously running development and test environments
Large scale evaluation and testing infrastructure not deleted after use
Endless backup and replicated copies of unneeded and unused data
Virtual machine, database, and other snapshots
Over provisioned resources

The availability of virtually full instant snapshots and unlimited capacity, combined with the scale of the cloud, is likely to lead to cloud resource usage that dramatically exceeds expected costs. Without automated custodial tools, actual cloud resource consumption will be much higher than planned.

A recent study revealed that public cloud spend was over budget by an average of 13 percent, and organizations expect their cloud spend to increase by 29 percent in the next 12 months.¹ This trend indicates it’s more critical than ever to get a handle on forecasting and cost optimization.

Lack of Visibility is a Major Concern

One of the issues is the lack of visibility that leaders have into their cloud costs. A lag in your cloud billing data makes it difficult to make accurate decisions, which can be the case with spend reports from cloud providers that are 12 to 24 hours old.

A lack of timely visibility into current costs and the inability to forecast future costs leads to cost overruns and blown budgets, which is why having a product that provides the most up-to-date information and continuously monitors your budget is important. There is no use in budgeting if it’s not being monitored.

Timely visibility and monitoring your budget are critical components of cloud governance. Cloud governance includes the development and implementation of budget controls, as well as controls to manage access and ensure ongoing compliance.

Building a Cost-Conscious Cloud Governance Model

A cost-conscious organization can divide its thinking into three different areas:

Visibility: For an organization to be conscious of costs, it needs visibility into those costs. Your cloud governance team is responsible for ensuring consistent, reliable cost reporting and performance telemetry. Visibility in a cost-conscious organization requires consistent reporting for the teams adopting the cloud, finance teams who manage budgets, and management teams who are responsible for the costs. This visibility is accomplished by establishing:
- The right reporting scope
- Proper resource organization (management groups, resource groups, subscriptions).
- Clear tagging strategies
- Proper access controls
Accountability: Accountability is as important as visibility. Accountability starts with clear budgets for adoption efforts. Budgets should be well established, clearly communicated, and based on realistic expectations. Accountability requires an iterative process and a growth mindset to drive the right level of accountability. The cloud governance team can help optimize deployed assets, change discounting options, or even implement automated cost-control options like blocking deployment of unplanned assets.
Optimization: Optimization is the action that creates cost reductions. During optimization, resource allocations are modified to reduce the cost of supporting various workloads. This process requires iteration and experimentation. Each reduction in cost reduces performance. Finding the right balance between cost control and end-user performance expectations demands input from multiple parties. The cloud governance team is responsible for ensuring that the monitoring and cost-reporting tools are consistently deployed.

More Cloud, Less Cost

Many organizations take advantage of Microsoft Azure’s discounting mechanisms, including Azure Reserved Virtual Machine Instances. It can help you significantly reduce costs—up to 72 percent² compared to pay-as-you-go prices—with one-year or three-year terms on Windows and Linux virtual machines (VMs). When you combine the cost savings gained from Azure Reserved Instances with the added value of the Azure Hybrid Benefit, you can save up to 80 percent.

Lower your total cost of ownership by combining Azure Reserved Instances with pay-as-you-go prices to manage costs across predictable and variable workloads. In many cases, you can further reduce your costs with reserved instance size flexibility.

What’s more, you can now improve budgeting and forecasting with a single upfront payment, making it easy to calculate your investments. Or lower your upfront cash outflow with monthly payment options at no additional cost.

Wherever you are in your cloud journey, CIO Advise, Inc., is here to help. Reach out to us for a cloud governance evaluation and cost-benefit analysis to ensure you’ve got the best pricing model that works for your organization.

Successful Cloud Governance: 7 Key Components

Successful Cloud Governance: 7 Key Components

The cloud allows organizations to save money, improve and accelerate innovation, and be agile in meeting market trends and competitive pressures. However, without a solid cloud governance model, costs can skyrocket and security becomes risky. Companies must create access, cost, and security rules to manage data and applications in the cloud without impeding employees’ ability to take advantage of cloud benefits.

It’s a tricky balance, and every organization will have slightly different requirements, but cloud governance best practices should follow these seven general guidelines.

1. Security Management

In more than 80 percent of today’s ransomware attacks, cybercriminals exploited common configuration errors in software and devices, which can be remedied by following security best practices.

This means that ransomware actors are not often using new and novel techniques. The same guidance around timely patching, credential hygiene, and a thorough review of changes to software and system settings and configurations can make a difference in an organization’s resilience to these attacks.

Three best practices for security management include:

Prepare to defend and recover: Adopt an internal culture of Zero Trust, with assumed breach, while deploying a system of data recovery, backup, and secure access.
Protect identities from compromise: Minimize the potential for credential theft and lateral movement, where attackers attempt to find cloud admin privileges, with the implementation of a privileged access strategy should an attacker gain entry.
Prevent, detect, and respond to threats: Defend against threats across all workloads by leveraging comprehensive prevention, detection, and response capabilities with integrated security information and event management (SIEM) and extended detection and response (XDR) capabilities. Risky behavior notifications should be coming to you in real-time.

2. Compliance Management

Organizations must ensure that if they are storing data in the cloud, they are taking the necessary steps to maintain data compliance, or substantial penalties can result. You must consider high-impact data privacy and data governance regulations such as GDPR, PCI and HIPAA. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives rights to people to manage personal data collected by an organization. HIPAA health record compliance varies state by state. Payment card industry (PCI) compliance helps ensure the security of each one of your business’s credit card transactions.

Cloud governance ensures that sensitive data such as credit card or health record information isn’t emailable. GDPR controls ensure that personal data doesn’t leave the country if you have global offices.

3. Financial Management

Many businesses are finding that cloud costs can become out of control if not properly governed. And worse, there is very little insight into how much is being spent. Instances fired up for one project may never be deleted. Increasing capacity to support a burst in compute demand may never be throttled back. Lack of detailed billing and the complexity of distributed applications can simply mask costs from stakeholders. Looking at monthly bills from multiple providers offers no easy way to tie costs back to specific projects, applications, or business units.

Ideally, cloud governance provides real-time information in a single viewing plane that can eliminate uncertainty and avoid over-spending. To work, it must include the ability to automatically tag and de-commission resources, embed policy management and provide role-based access control to resources. And most critically, any cloud cost management solution must be implemented in such a way as to not slow down application development and delivery.

4. Data Management

As the ability to collect, store and analyze data expands, so does the challenge to effectively manage that data. Your governance strategy and practices should include clear guidance to manage the full lifecycle of data in your organization.

Begin with a data-classification scheme. Not all data is equally valuable or needs comparable levels of security. Sensitive and confidential data warrant more security controls than public information. The best practice for data in the cloud is to encrypt all data in transit and at rest—consider this your default behavior. Other controls, such as who can access or update data types, will vary according to the data classification and functional requirements around how the data is used.

Governance policies help data owners, product managers and application developers understand how to protect data based on its classification. This includes guidance on how to manage the lifecycle of data, such as how long to store data and when to move data from high-performance (and high-cost) storage systems to lower-cost archival systems. Manual data lifecycle management does not scale well, and it is prone to errors. Take advantage of cloud providers’ data management tools to automatically migrate data to different storage systems or delete data that is no longer useful. This is native to Microsoft Azure cloud management through sophisticated AI.

5. Operations Management

A clear, well-defined operations management practice is one of the best ways to prevent shadow IT operations from creeping into your cloud environment. Good cost monitoring and performance monitoring can also help identify when cloud resources are deployed outside of normal operating procedures. It may be a good idea to set up temporary sandboxes for a development environment to ensure that data doesn’t stick around too long once it’s no longer being used.

6. Performance Management

Performance management in cloud computing focuses on monitoring applications and infrastructure resources to ensure you deliver expected levels of IT services and efficient usage of cloud infrastructure.

For example, a consumer investment company was in the early stages of a cloud-enabled application innovation effort. Agile processes and DevOps were maturing well, but application performance was spiky. As a more mature transformation, the company started a program to monitor and automate sizing based on usage demands. The company eliminated sizing issues by using Azure performance management tools, resulting in a surprising five percent increase in transactions.

Azure Monitor helps you maximize the availability and performance of your applications and services. It delivers a comprehensive solution for collecting, analyzing, and acting on telemetry from your cloud and on-premises environments. This information helps you understand how your applications are performing and proactively identify issues that affect them and the resources they depend on. Learn more about Azure Monitor.

7. Asset and Configuration Management

A big challenge for organizations is to maintain a dynamic array of cloud infrastructure resources within the bounds of what they expect to deploy. Azure has several offerings to facilitate asset & configuration management including:

Azure Security Center is a unified infrastructure security management system that strengthens the security posture of your data centers and provides advanced threat protection across your hybrid workloads in the cloud – whether they’re in Azure or not – as well as on premises.
Azure Active Directory is an identity and access management-as-a-service solution that combines single-on capabilities to any cloud and on-premises application with advanced protection.
Azure AD Privileged Identity Management is a service that enables you to manage, control, and monitor access to important resources in your organization. These resources include resources in Azure AD, Azure, and other Microsoft Online Services like Office 365 or Microsoft Intune.
Azure Policy helps you manage and prevent IT issues with policy definitions that enforce rules and effects for your resources.
Azure Information Protection helps secure email, documents, and sensitive data that you share outside your company.

Cloud governance provides understanding, security, and trust around an organization’s data. Cloud computing should be viewed not as an IT project, but rather as a business strategy. Let us help you with that strategy to propel your business forward.

CRM Solution Showdown- Salesforce vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE

CRM Solution Showdown – Salesforce vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE

Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (Microsoft Dynamics CE) are powerhouse two CRM software solutions at the top of their games. While the two are very similar in many ways where Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics CE differ are very significant. Here we compare elements of the solutions’ pricing, features, and functionality to help you make the most informed decision for your organization.

An important note before we begin — both Microsoft Dynamics CE and Salesforce are available in multiple versions or editions. For example, Microsoft Dynamics CE has a Professional, Enterprise and Sales Premium edition of Dynamics 365 Sales. Salesforce has Essentials, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited. Some of the features mentioned in this article and the comparisons made may not be applicable to all versions.

Pricing: The bottom line

The most intuitive way to compare the two would be by price per user. However, since each vendor includes a different set of features in each of its editions, a straight across price per user comparison isn’t particularly useful. For example, Microsoft Dynamics CE includes AI capabilities (among others) in its downstream editions that Salesforce charges for. We’re not including pricing in this article for just this reason — to be fair you need to make an apples-to-apples comparison which isn’t possible without understanding an individual company’s needs and goals. Our team can help you perform a detailed cost comparison based on the features and functionality your company needs.

However, to provide a high-level pricing assessment, amongst CRM consultants who are familiar with both CRM software solutions, most agree that Salesforce has a lower entry point than Microsoft Dynamics CE. But, as a company’s needs, level of sophistication and user count grow, Microsoft Dynamics CE quickly turns into the most cost-effective option.

Deployment: At home or in the cloud CRM Software Solution Implementation

Both Microsoft Dynamics CE and Salesforce are available as cloud-based, hosted SaaS applications. However, only Microsoft additionally offers on-premise and hybrid deployment models.

So, if you want to keep your CRM on your in-house server, Microsoft is your best (and only) option.

Ease of Use: It depends

One could say that the best CRM software is the one that gets used. Unfortunately, CRM implementations have historically been plagued with low user adoption rates. And if users aren’t using it, the business value of CRM plummets. We know that things like being intuitive and easy to use naturally promote higher user adoption rates, so which CRM software solutions is easier to use?

Let’s start by acknowledging that “ease of use” and “intuitive” are highly subjective terms. What seems intuitive for some isn’t for others. But we can work with subjective opinions since they seem to even out with enough input. Here’s where G2, the peer-to-peer review site that gathers input directly from those subjective users, can help.

In a head-to-head G2 comparison, Salesforce received an average Ease of Use rating of 7.9 over 10,000+ reviews. Microsoft Dynamics CE received a 7.4 over 1,200+ reviews. While this assessment gives the win to Salesforce, avid Microsoft Dynamics 365 users — those using other Microsoft applications — tout the benefits of a consistent user interface across the applications.

Integration: Microsoft casts a long shadow

Many companies take the best-of-breed approach to business management software. They find the best financial management application for their operations, the best HRMS, the best business intelligence, the best warehouse management system, and the best CRM. This approach can work exceptionally well — if the applications are integrated. Without integration, companies end up with data silos, little visibility, and plenty of manual workflows to combine the data.

Here’s one area where Microsoft Dynamics CE gets the definitive nod. Microsoft Dynamics CE not only integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, but all the other Microsoft productivity tools companies rely on, including Outlook, Office 365 and OneNote.

Salesforce uses an open API capable of providing integration with many applications, just not the native integrations offered by Microsoft Dynamics CE.

Reporting: All under one roof

This point of comparison is somewhat related to the integration capabilities we talk about above. While both CRM applications provide robust reporting capabilities, the native integration between Microsoft Dynamics CE and the balance of the Microsoft 365 Suite makes it simpler to combine data from different business areas – including any of the Dynamics 365 modules, Office applications, Teams, and more.

Sure, third-party data analysis tools can bridge disparate applications, but there’s nothing disparate about Microsoft Dynamics 365’s suite of business solutions.

AI: It doesn’t take an Einstein

No longer a novelty, Artificial Intelligence (AI) delivers real, strategic value to CRM software solutions. For example, AI can help identify market trends, make sales probability predictions, and recommend next best actions for sales teams. The PwC 2022 AI Business Survey found that 40% of businesses identified as “AI leaders” use AI to improve their companies’ customer experience.

Salesforce has Einstein AI, but you’ll need to pay more for Einstein while with Microsoft Dynamics CE, AI capabilities are included.

Implementation: Partner for success

Companies that select Salesforce can opt for implementation by Salesforce itself, while Microsoft relies on its partner network to implement its CRM software solutions.

As Microsoft partners, we could be forgiven for asserting the value a partner brings to any software implementation. Neither Salesforce nor Microsoft will take the time to thoroughly understand your business and your goals for a CRM application. It’s just not in their business models. They sell software. Partners sell solutions.

Service level agreement: Or not

Microsoft Dynamics CE, when hosted in the cloud, comes with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Salesforce does not come with an uptime guarantee.

Bonus: Teams-work really does make the dream work

Improved collaboration is one of the primary objectives of CRM buyers. Sharing data and resources is simply good for business, and Microsoft Teams serves as a direct communication and collaboration channel in many companies.

Microsoft recently changed its licensing model surrounding Microsoft Teams and CE. The change allows Dynamics 365 users to invite anyone in the organization to view and collaborate on customer records right within the flow of a Teams chat or channel, without the need for additional CE licenses for those users. As you might have guessed, this is unique to Microsoft and Salesforce doesn’t offer anything comparable.

Final thoughts

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE and Salesforce are both powerful, highly regarded, feature-rich CRM applications. In many instances, either one will serve a company well. Selecting the ideal CRM software solution for your organization involves many considerations, of which price and feature set are the most critical.

Reach out to our team for an assessment of CRM requirements and we can determine if Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is the right solution for your business.

CRM Solution Showdown – Salesforce vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE

CRM Solution Showdown – Salesforce vs. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE

Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement (Microsoft Dynamics CE) are powerhouse two CRM software solutions at the top of their games. While the two are very similar in many ways where Salesforce and Microsoft Dynamics CE differ are very significant. Here we compare elements of the solutions’ pricing, features, and functionality to help you make the most informed decision for your organization.

An important note before we begin — both Microsoft Dynamics CE and Salesforce are available in multiple versions or editions. For example, Microsoft Dynamics CE has a Professional, Enterprise and Sales Premium edition of Dynamics 365 Sales. Salesforce has Essentials, Professional, Enterprise and Unlimited. Some of the features mentioned in this article and the comparisons made may not be applicable to all versions.

Pricing: The bottom line

The most intuitive way to compare the two would be by price per user. However, since each vendor includes a different set of features in each of its editions, a straight across price per user comparison isn’t particularly useful. For example, Microsoft Dynamics CE includes AI capabilities (among others) in its downstream editions that Salesforce charges for. We’re not including pricing in this article for just this reason — to be fair you need to make an apples-to-apples comparison which isn’t possible without understanding an individual company’s needs and goals. Our team can help you perform a detailed cost comparison based on the features and functionality your company needs.

However, to provide a high-level pricing assessment, amongst CRM consultants who are familiar with both CRM software solutions, most agree that Salesforce has a lower entry point than Microsoft Dynamics CE. But, as a company’s needs, level of sophistication and user count grow, Microsoft Dynamics CE quickly turns into the most cost-effective option.

Deployment: At home or in the cloud CRM Software Solution Implementation

Both Microsoft Dynamics CE and Salesforce are available as cloud-based, hosted SaaS applications. However, only Microsoft additionally offers on-premise and hybrid deployment models.

So, if you want to keep your CRM on your in-house server, Microsoft is your best (and only) option.

Ease of Use: It depends

One could say that the best CRM software is the one that gets used. Unfortunately, CRM implementations have historically been plagued with low user adoption rates. And if users aren’t using it, the business value of CRM plummets. We know that things like being intuitive and easy to use naturally promote higher user adoption rates, so which CRM software solutions is easier to use?

Let’s start by acknowledging that “ease of use” and “intuitive” are highly subjective terms. What seems intuitive for some isn’t for others. But we can work with subjective opinions since they seem to even out with enough input. Here’s where G2, the peer-to-peer review site that gathers input directly from those subjective users, can help.

In a head-to-head G2 comparison, Salesforce received an average Ease of Use rating of 7.9 over 10,000+ reviews. Microsoft Dynamics CE received a 7.4 over 1,200+ reviews. While this assessment gives the win to Salesforce, avid Microsoft Dynamics 365 users — those using other Microsoft applications — tout the benefits of a consistent user interface across the applications.

Integration: Microsoft casts a long shadow

Many companies take the best-of-breed approach to business management software. They find the best financial management application for their operations, the best HRMS, the best business intelligence, the best warehouse management system, and the best CRM. This approach can work exceptionally well — if the applications are integrated. Without integration, companies end up with data silos, little visibility, and plenty of manual workflows to combine the data.

Here’s one area where Microsoft Dynamics CE gets the definitive nod. Microsoft Dynamics CE not only integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central, but all the other Microsoft productivity tools companies rely on, including Outlook, Office 365 and OneNote.

Salesforce uses an open API capable of providing integration with many applications, just not the native integrations offered by Microsoft Dynamics CE.

Reporting: All under one roof

This point of comparison is somewhat related to the integration capabilities we talk about above. While both CRM applications provide robust reporting capabilities, the native integration between Microsoft Dynamics CE and the balance of the Microsoft 365 Suite makes it simpler to combine data from different business areas – including any of the Dynamics 365 modules, Office applications, Teams, and more.

Sure, third-party data analysis tools can bridge disparate applications, but there’s nothing disparate about Microsoft Dynamics 365’s suite of business solutions.

AI: It doesn’t take an Einstein

No longer a novelty, Artificial Intelligence (AI) delivers real, strategic value to CRM software solutions. For example, AI can help identify market trends, make sales probability predictions, and recommend next best actions for sales teams. The PwC 2022 AI Business Survey found that 40% of businesses identified as “AI leaders” use AI to improve their companies’ customer experience.

Salesforce has Einstein AI, but you’ll need to pay more for Einstein while with Microsoft Dynamics CE, AI capabilities are included.

Implementation: Partner for success

Companies that select Salesforce can opt for implementation by Salesforce itself, while Microsoft relies on its partner network to implement its CRM software solutions.

As Microsoft partners, we could be forgiven for asserting the value a partner brings to any software implementation. Neither Salesforce nor Microsoft will take the time to thoroughly understand your business and your goals for a CRM application. It’s just not in their business models. They sell software. Partners sell solutions.

Service level agreement: Or not

Microsoft Dynamics CE, when hosted in the cloud, comes with a 99.9% uptime guarantee. Salesforce does not come with an uptime guarantee.

Bonus: Teams-work really does make the dream work

Improved collaboration is one of the primary objectives of CRM buyers. Sharing data and resources is simply good for business, and Microsoft Teams serves as a direct communication and collaboration channel in many companies.

Microsoft recently changed its licensing model surrounding Microsoft Teams and CE. The change allows Dynamics 365 users to invite anyone in the organization to view and collaborate on customer records right within the flow of a Teams chat or channel, without the need for additional CE licenses for those users. As you might have guessed, this is unique to Microsoft and Salesforce doesn’t offer anything comparable.

Final thoughts

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE and Salesforce are both powerful, highly regarded, feature-rich CRM applications. In many instances, either one will serve a company well. Selecting the ideal CRM software solution for your organization involves many considerations, of which price and feature set are the most critical.

Reach out to our team for an assessment of CRM requirements and we can determine if Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement is the right solution for your business.

Why Choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE over the Competition

Why Choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE over the Competition

Much like how people used to say, “Nobody gets fired for choosing IBM” — a reference to the company’s early domination of the server market and reputation for over-delivering making it a safe bet – fast forward to today and we could substitute “Microsoft” for “IBM” and the phrase holds true.

Now we’re not recommending that you choose a technology solution just to be safe, but when the safe solution also happens to be the best solution – as recognized in The Forrester Wave: CRM Suites, Q3 2022 Report – it’s definitely worth your consideration.

So, why choose Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE over the competition? Here are eight good reasons.

1. Popular platform lowers cost of ownership

Going back to our IBM reference earlier, a contributor to the ultimate demise of IBM’s influence lay in the fact that its technologies were proprietary and became increasingly obsolete as developers moved to open-source platforms. Case in point — it’s much easier to hire a C++ programmer than a COBOL programmer.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is built on the Microsoft platform which connects dozens of Microsoft applications as well as dozens more third-party applications, such as Dropbox and Google Calendar. Additionally, it leverages industry standard programming languages, including C#, JavaScript, SQL Server, and Net. In contrast, Salesforce uses a proprietary programming language.

The advantage in choosing the Microsoft solution lies in the fact that support and customizations within Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE are likely to be less costly simply because there are more people familiar with the popular tools the solution leverages.

2. Native integration promotes efficiencies

One would be hard-pressed to find a company that’s not using at least a couple of Microsoft solutions. And companies that add Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE can capitalize on integrating Office, Excel, Teams, and Outlook with the CRM application to realize greater efficiencies and streamlined workflows. The native integration allows each team in your organization to continue working in the applications that are familiar to them while benefitting from the free flow of information between solutions.

For example, emails sent through Outlook are captured in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE. Sales Orders created in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central are visible in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE. Users can export data from Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE to Excel, make changes and easily transfer the data back into Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE.

3. Make Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE your own

The real value in Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE lies in its ability to morph to meet the needs of the customer, rather than requiring a customer to alter their business processes to fit the software.

Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is built as an xRM platform, meaning it can easily be customized to meet specific business needs. And because xRM is an open platform, it’s not just for Microsoft developers (back to that popular versus proprietary advantage). Many customizations, such as adding and removing fields, require no code changes, putting the power squarely in the hands of confident users.

For more complex customizations, the Microsoft Power Platform allows low code, no code customization options for workflows, integrated applications, power virtual agents, and more.

4. Smart thinking with Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Plenty of CRM applications have recently begun promoting their AI capabilities, but Microsoft was a pioneer in this area and Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE has incorporated AI capabilities for years. Here are just a few of the ways the application powers smart thinking:

AI for Customer Service: AI-driven technology empowers informed decision making about improving resolution rates, reducing wait times, and decreasing customer service costs. Companies can use case resolution insights, backlog trends, and historical comparisons to evaluate agent performance and business impact, and address inefficiencies in their system.
AI for Sales: Predictive lead scoring and predictive opportunity scoring helps salespeople prioritize the right relationships, achieve higher lead qualification rates, and reduce the time it takes to qualify leads or close opportunities.
AI for Customer Insights: Unify data from multiple sources (think spreadsheets, Business Central, etc.) to gain a 365-degree view of customer activity.
AI for Market Insights: Helps organizations understand and interpret what customers say, do, and feel about their brand and products by synthesizing activity and data from proprietary search and browse signals and public social signals.

5. Realistic and transparent licensing fees

Ever shop for a new car? You see an affordable base price and think, “Yes – I can do this.” But then you work your way through all the options and the price jumps by fifty percent. And did you notice that they always put that one feature you really need in the next tier package?

Some CRM vendors play this same game, advertising a low price, but the low-cost option doesn’t include any advanced features so in order to get robust functionality, you need to opt for a more expensive plan. Then to get the necessary reporting and data analysis tools, you’ll have to spring for the highest tier option.

We’re hearing from customers switching from other leading CRM applications to Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE that the vendor bumps up the licensing fees significantly after a year or two of use. In contrast, Microsoft is transparent about fees and functionality for CE. So, you’ll know up front what you’ll pay and what you’ll get.

6. When it’s gotta work — an SLA guarantee

Downtime is costly, and CRM downtime can be especially expensive in that it stands in the way of the exceptional service you wish to provide your clients. Microsoft’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) guarantees a 99.9% uptime rate for Azure where Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is hosted.

Go ahead and ask the competitors about their uptime guarantees — many (including the big ones) don’t offer one.

7. Reporting capabilities

When we ask our customers what functions they use most — in any type of software — reports and queries are always on the list. In fact, one could make the argument that the main reason we use software is so we can report on the data it collects. Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE takes understands that which is why delivers robust reporting capabilities unequaled among its competitors.

In addition to the dozens of available standard reports and the infinite number of customized reports you can build, Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE leverages Power BI to take CRM reporting to a whole new level. Gartner also recognized Power BI as a leader in the Business Intelligence space, and for good reason. Coupling Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE with Power BI creates the ultimate power couple. Watch out Salesforce.

8. Partnership speeds ROI

Some companies decide to implement a CRM application on their own, but just because Microsoft Dynamics 365 CE is cloud-based and intuitive to use does not mean that you won’t benefit from a professional implementation.

The good news is, there is an enormous, global Microsoft partner network. Wherever you are, whatever industry you’re in, and whatever size your organization is now, and however you expect to grow, there’s a Microsoft partner ready to provide the personalized support, services, and strategic guidance that will speed your CRM return on investment.

Final Takeaway

Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Engagement has a definitive edge over competing CRM applications. If you’re looking to invest in a CRM solution for the long-term – one that’s built on world-class, industry-leading technology and delivers the integration capabilities, robust feature set, fair pricing, and analytics that drive efficiency and performance, look no further than CE.

As a distinguished Microsoft partner, we’ve worked with companies across industries, helping them implement customer experience solutions that differentiate your organization, create value, and add to the bottom line. Contact us today to learn more.

6 Common Microsoft Power Apps Use Cases

6 Common Microsoft Power Apps Use Cases

In our previous blog, we discussed how Microsoft Power Apps can be used to help close feature gaps in your ERP solution. In this post, we’ll address how customers often get started using Power Apps.

Many customers start with creating applications to address a nuisance they’re trying to resolve. Below are some common use cases of how Power Apps can improve organizational processes and efficiency:

Data Input/Entry – Streamline data entry and reduce input errors by building forms and applications that can reference data in your ERP
Document Upload – Using the camera and hardware on mobile devices to scan documents – and with the addition of machine learning on the backend and AI – relevant information can be extrapolated off documents to be uploaded into Dynamics 365, SharePoint, Excel, or other SaaS solutions

Office Reservation – With people today going in and out of offices, Power Apps can be set up to reserve meeting and conference room spaces

Employee/Customer Portals – If employees or customers need to securely interact with business applications remotely, you can enable that with Microsoft Power App portals
Paid Time Off (PTO) Apps – Simplify employees requesting paid time off, tracking approvals, and seeing how many PTO days they have available
Barcode Scanning – With mobile applications in PowerApps, you can access hardware on your cell phone or tablet and use the camera on the device to scan barcodes – or with the addition of AI – it can scan and recognize objects based off of shape and a database on the back-end for managing inventory

As a Microsoft partner, we work with our customers to identify what is the problem they’re trying to solve, what is the solution, and what are the steps to get to the solution. We’ll then work hand-in-hand with customers to show how the app is developed, how to interact with that app, and how to add features with that app in the future.

Reach out to get started with Microsoft Power Apps and easily build applications to improve your organizational productivity and efficiency.

Close ERP Gaps with Microsoft Power Apps

Close ERP Gaps with Microsoft Power Apps

Say your ERP solution is fulfilling 80-90% of your organizational needs but there’s still that “one thing”, that one feature that everybody – whether it’s the end-user or customer – wishes they had an application for to make performing a task or their job easier.

If this sounds familiar, what you’re facing is commonly known as “The App Gap”. The traditional answer to closing the App Gap is custom application development, but that requires front and back end developers, DevOps, and an infrastructure to host the application. In short, it can be expensive and time-consuming.

As organizations recognize the need to fill the App Gap, they are looking to low-code/no-code technology. According to Gartner as much as 70% of applications will be developed using low-code/no-code, including AI by 2025.

With Microsoft Power Platform and Power Apps, you can fill the App Gap and solve business issues without needing to know programming. Power Apps uses low-code/no-code application development to build powerful applications with little to no need of previous application development knowledge. It easily connects to other software or SaaS and integrates with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Microsoft Teams, and is accessible via the web and mobile devices.

Contact us today to learn more about how Power Apps enables businesses to turn ideas into organizational solutions.

Author: Kristina Levey