Over three decades, GroupWise developed a loyal customer base. However, in recent years, many GroupWise customers have opted to move to the cloud. In addition to the full-featured email and calendaring they have come to expect, enterprises gain enhanced collaboration while reducing the burden on overworked IT staff.
Explore a few of the advantages of migrating from GroupWise to a cloud solution such as Office 365 for business.
1. Always Up to Date
The average enterprise IT staff maintains dozens of software applications, in addition to managing networks and servers. Keeping all that software and hardware up to date can be challenging. Outdated systems and GroupWise software leave organizations vulnerable to attack and increase the difficulty of collaboration.
However, with cloud computing, your services provider handles regular software updates and server maintenance. Team members collaborating on a project no longer deal with version compatibility issues. And reputable service providers apply security patches to fix known problems before hackers can exploit them.
2. Little or No Capital Expense
With on-premises solutions, organizations must budget for huge capital expenditures to cover software licenses, servers and other hardware. They must also supply the space and power necessary to run in-house data centers. On the other hand, the cloud solution requires no up-front fees. Instead, you pay a monthly subscription fee.
3. Easily Expands to Match Company Growth
The monthly subscription fee covers just the resources you need. No need to guess what your storage requirements might be two years down the road and purchase hardware long before you need it. Instead, you pay for what you use right now.
As your business expands or contracts, you can adjust on a month-by-month basis. For example, adding software for a new employee requires just a few clicks of the mouse. Likewise, you can quickly increase your data storage without purchasing expensive hardware.
4. Work from Anywhere
The majority of today’s workforce works remotely at least part of the time. Cloud computing, such as Office 365, perfectly complements this mobile environment. Employees work from virtually anywhere, from the commuter train to the living room, using the same full-featured solutions they use at the office.
5. Improved Collaboration
The cloud provides an ideal environment for teams to collaborate, even across wide distances. Team members working on the same document can view changes in real time. And with files stored in the cloud, file-size limitations in email or on thumb drives no longer pose an obstacle.
In addition, Microsoft specifically designed its Office 365 suite with collaboration in mind. With tools like Teams, Yammer and Skype integrated into the workspace, working across an ocean can feel like sharing an office.
6. Reduced IT Burden
The cloud services provider maintains the software and servers, one of the key reasons many companies using GroupWise move to the cloud. Consequently, overworked techs no longer need to spend time patching outdated infrastructure or installing software updates. This leaves in-house IT staff free to focus on projects specific to the organization’s core business.
7. Disaster Recovery
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, approximately 7,900 businesses failed. Many of those businesses learned the same tough lesson that organizations face in every natural disaster. That is, if you cannot access business-critical files and systems, your business will not survive.
Companies that operate in the cloud reap the advantages of cloud-based disaster recovery. Because backups, data and even software solutions reside off-site, businesses can return to relatively normal operation quickly.
8. Improved Archiving
GroupWise personal archives have struggled to accommodate today’s business demands. Because GroupWise archives remain largely in the control of end users, they can easily grow unmanageable, resulting in corrupted or out-of-compliance data. Migrating to the more powerful archiving options in Office 365 improves performance and eases compliance concerns.
Partner with Experts to Ease Your Move to the Cloud
Pondering a cloud migration project can prove overwhelming. After all, email, calendaring and document management form the lifeblood of daily operations. Fortunately, the consultants at Messaging Architects have spent decades working with GroupWise. And we have helped thousands of GroupWise customers move to the cloud.
We can help you plan and carry out a migration project behind the scenes, without interrupting normal business operations. And we can guide you in configuring your new system to ensure cyber-security and capitalize on the many benefits of working in the cloud.
