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Since the beginning of the pandemic, small and medium-sized businesses have faced communication and online security problems. Discussing how digital services help companies build teams efficiently, solve problems, and protect data
A study by Alfa-Bank “Pulse of Small Business” showed that in the first half of 2020, entrepreneurs focused on online sales. At the same time, data from the analysis of the cloud market indicate the constant growth of such services in our country.
In the podcast we communicate with Ruslan Melnikov, Softline Sales Director. He spoke about the new paradigm that small and medium-sized businesses are adjusting to: satisfy the internal needs of companies, if possible, without the help of IT specialists and integrators.
Marat Khairulin, an expert on Microsoft technologies, spoke about the principles of Microsoft 365 and opportunities for business development.
The host of the podcast is Max Efimtsev, an adept of modern technologies, an influencer, and an SMM specialist.
Conversation timeline:
1:26 — What problems did small and medium-sized businesses face when moving online?
6:36 — What solutions exist for what problems?
8:31 – How to set up cloud services if you’ve never done it before?
15:01 — How are security problems solved in online systems?
16:05 — Do cloud services help to attract customers and increase sales?
22:15 — How to train staff to work with cloud services?
24:23 – Will the popularity of cloud services continue when you return to offline?
Why do companies connect to digital services?
Before the pandemic, small and medium-sized businesses mainly developed physical infrastructure. With the beginning of the restrictions, it was necessary to find a quick answer on how to get on the new rails. Many were puzzled by the transition to remote work, security issues, and the acquisition of cloud products. The dynamic competitive environment forced them to look for quality solutions to major problems.
If a year ago not everyone wanted to switch to cloud systems, this year the interest of entrepreneurs in clouds has grown enormously. The number of services has increased, there is more educational content. The companies redistributed their resources, the delivery business grew. Many cloud technology vendors were quick to offer solutions for SMBs and educational organizations.
There are a number of cloud systems that offer analytics, free web platforms, low-code, working on the principle of a constructor, when you do not need to be able to program in order to create, for example, a delivery service. All this can meet the needs of a private user.
For companies, such technologies provide business continuity and scalability, which, among other things, increases sales. Digital service providers are striving to increase protection against malicious email files, and are attentive to possible data leakage. Experts believe that the need for cloud systems will not disappear with time: they allow you to access data or connect with colleagues from anywhere in the world.
How to start such systems?
Integration companies help with the implementation of digital systems. For example, Softline offered business teams not a specific product, but tools that would allow them to work remotely without losing communication and the usual rhythm of life.
Microsoft 365 is a set of applications for work, communication, communication with colleagues. To start using it, you do not need a special set of knowledge, the basic setup is available to everyone. This is a comprehensive product, and for each service you do not have to create a new account.
How do digital systems help businesses?
Teamwork tools like Microsoft Teams help you refocus your team faster, get tasks done faster, and make it easier to communicate with colleagues and clients. After an account is created for an employee, he can participate in video calls and chats, edit documents, complete tasks and assign tasks to others, distribute work among shifts in the calendar.
This year, Microsoft Teams has integrated the Bookings service, which allows you to select the desired service online, sign up for a specific master and add an entry to the calendar. And recently, the Lists service was launched, in which you can create lists of tasks or stages of a task and track performance at each stage.
In addition to optimization and time savings, cloud systems help save on electricity when the service is not in use and avoid depreciation costs when computers become obsolete.
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