Microsoft Office 365Customer Solution Case Study

Fast-Growing Small Business in Holland Gains Scalability with Cloud Solution

OverviewCountry or Region: The NetherlandsIndustry: Business Services

Customer ProfileNaumac provides professional consulting services to clients across the Netherlands, focusing on the telecom, IT, and utilities industries. It is the fastest-growing small business in the region. Business SituationTo support its ongoing strong growth, Naumac wanted a cost-effective solution that would provide its 20 expert contractors—who worked on customer sites—with consistent IT tools.

SolutionIn researching cloud-based solutions, Naumac discovered Microsoft Office 365, which includes easy-to-use cloud-based management applications, and the scalability the company had been seeking. Benefits Save €37,000 annually Recapture €90,000 in annual

operational productivity 99% uptime guarantee benefits

mobile workers Scalable and flexible solution

“Office 365 is future-proof. We can easily add our existing contractors now and new ones as we grow. All we have to do is give users the login information and they’re up and running in minutes.” Tjeerd Nauta, Partner, Naumac

Naumac needed to provide its growing team of contractors with consistent, easy-to use IT solutions that would increase productivity and flexibility. While it considered on-premise infrastructure, the organization wanted to avoid the associated maintenance and personnel costs. Office 365 aligned with the business’ needs by helping boost productivity and delivering the scalability it had been seeking.

Situation Consulting firm Naumac helps its clients in the telecom, IT, and utilities industries provide a “wow” factor in customer service that drives loyalty and satisfaction. Clients of the company have seen customer satisfaction rates improve by 20 percent, and productivity increase by up to 50 percent. Due to its success, Naumac is the one of the fastest-growing small businesses in Holland—an accomplishment that earned the business a Golden FD Gazelle Award from the Dutch Financial Times for substantial growth over a three-year period.

To support its ongoing growth, Naumac wanted a cost-effective solution that would provide its 20 expert contractors—who worked on customer sites—with consistent IT tools. Before, these consultants each used different versions of Microsoft productivity suites and applications. They also lacked a centralized place to share information which meant having to spend time emailing files back and forth.

“We needed a solution that would support our contractors—one that wouldn’t require costly servers or the IT personnel to manage and maintain them,” says Tjeerd Nauta, partner of Naumac. “We also needed scalability, as we predict we'll double in size in the next two years.”

As remote workers, consultants often carried with them portable devices such as iPads. While this provided online access in any location, consultants found it difficult to upload, access, and update important files. As Nauta puts it, “Mobility is critical for us, but those devices don’t always integrate well with the applications we need, which is frustrating and really impedes productivity.”

Setting up weekly meetings was an additional challenge for the organization, as managers had no way of knowing when consultants were available, and could spend hours sending out meeting and calendar requests via Google Mail to determine a time that would work for everyone.

Solution Naumac turned to Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Wortell, which recommended Microsoft Office 365 for its scalable, easy-to-use cloud-based management applications.

“Office 365 is future-proof,” he says. “We can add our existing contractors, and new ones as we grow. All we do is give users the login information and they’re up and running in minutes.”

Working in the cloud also helps the organization conserve thousands of dollars annually. “On-site servers are great, but they simply weren’t right for us, as they require bringing in additional staff to set up and maintain them. Office 365 gives us the power

of a server without the costs,” says Nauta.Naumac contractors no longer need to email files back and forth as they can now retrieve and share documents using Microsoft SharePoint Online—and everyone has access to the same productivity applications such as Microsoft Word 2010 and Excel 2010. Plus, Office 365 comes with a 99% uptime guarantee. “SharePoint Online improves collaboration by cutting down on email use and storing everything in one place,” notes Nauta. “With the uptime guarantee, we can work remotely on our iPads without worrying about lack of access to important information.”

Lync Online includes a presence indicator, so users can determine whether colleagues are at their desks and available. This has transformed the way Naumac employees communicate as they can connect and exchange ideas instantly regardless of location. Plus, users can share Microsoft Outlook calendars and view them side-by-side to schedule meetings at a convenient time rather than open a web browser to access Google Mail.

“Office 365 helps us drastically cut down on nonproductive time, such as the 40 hours we collectively spend each month simply setting up meetings,” says Nauta. “Every hour we gain is another hour we can build this business.”

Benefits Because Office 365 gives Naumac the IT capabilities it needs without the costs associated with on-site infrastructure, Nauta predicts a significant savings for the organization. “Office 365 makes it easy to collaborate from anywhere and get more done in less time. Plus it’s extremely cost-effective,” he says.

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“Office 365 helps us drastically cut down

on nonproductive time, such as the 40 hours we collectively

spend each month simply setting up

meetings. Every hour we gain is another

hour we can build this business.”

Tjeerd Nauta, Partner, Naumac

“As we continue to grow, so will our savings.”

Significant Savings—and ScalabilityNauta forecasted the cost-savings of Office 365 for the next two years, stating that as the organization doubles in size, it could save up to €37,000 annually. “We’ll save thousands this year—and thousands more as we bring on additional consultants,” he says. “Office 365 is right-sized for us now and will continue to be as we grow.”

Anywhere AccessNaumac consultants can access, share, and edit documents from anywhere at any time thanks to SharePoint Online. “Our productivity will increase since there’s no need to email every last file to each other, which was exacerbated by the fact we had to rely on a separate email service. Now everything is available from one place—with a consistent, reliable Microsoft interface,” notes Nauta. “And we can use virtually any mobile device, which is critical for consultants as they’re constantly on the go.”

More ConnectedAs Nauta states, “It’s easier to stay connected with Office 365. And we don’t need to send seemingly endless emails from a third-party application to determine everyone’s availability, which increases productivity. We’ll save a total of 900 hours annually, translating into €90,000 in reclaimed productivity.” He adds that the solution enables Naumac to improve its own customer service. “Office 365 helps us work the way we help our

customers work: more productively and efficiently,” he says. “We can ‘walk the talk,’ adapt to new ways of working, and, most importantly, lead by example.”

Microsoft Office 365Microsoft Office 365 brings together cloud versions of our most trusted communications and collaboration products—Microsoft SharePoint Online, Exchange Online, and Lync Online—with the latest version of our Office desktop suite and companion web applications for businesses of all sizes.

Office 365 helps save time and money, and it frees up valued resources. Simple to use and easy to administer, it is financially backed by a service level agreement that guarantee 99 percent reliability. Office 365 features robust security, IT-level phone support, geo-redundancy, disaster recovery, and the business-class privacy controls and standards that you expect from a world-class service provider.

For more information about Microsoft Office 365, go to:www.office365.com

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For More InformationFor more information about Microsoft products and services, call the Microsoft Sales Information Center at (800) 426-9400. In Canada, call the Microsoft Canada Information Centre at (877) 568-2495. Customers in the United States and Canada who are deaf or hard-of-hearing can reach Microsoft text telephone (TTY/TDD) services at (800) 892-5234. Outside the 50 United States and Canada, please contact your local Microsoft subsidiary. To access information using the World Wide Web, go to:www.microsoft.com

For more information about Naumac products and services, visit the website at: www.naumac.nl .

For more information about Wortell products and services, visit the website at: www.wortell.nl .

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.Document published June 2011

Software and ServicesMicrosoft Office 365

Microsoft Lync Online Microsoft SharePoint

Online