TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Organizations that neglect to migrate and utilize their Microsoft Office 365 workloads in the cloud are wasting thousands, perhaps millions of dollars every year according to recent analysis by Softchoice, a leading North American IT solutions and managed services provider.
In their examination of real customer environments and licensing agreements over the last year, Softchoice estimates companies currently running on-premise versions of Microsoft Exchange and Office are over spending by about $330 per employee. This means that an organization of 5,000 employees would save about $1.65 million annually by migrating the software to the cloud. Softchoice estimates that organizations would achieve these savings simply by eliminating the cost of maintaining the software and infrastructure on-premise, as well as eliminating redundant licenses by taking full advantage of the Office 365 suite.
“Microsoft Office 365 is a full cloud suite designed to drive user productivity, mobility and collaboration. Only when your whole organization embraces more of the full cloud suite do you realize the potential of the service,” said Chris Woodin, Director of Microsoft Business Unit for Softchoice. “However, our analysis shows the majority of Office 365 workloads are being supported from on-premise infrastructure or not utilized at all. Beyond the lost collaboration and productivity advantages, hesitating to migrate workloads to the cloud is costing organizations big time.”
In their evaluation of more than 12 million Office 365 seats across 880 commercial organizations, Softchoice found just 38 percent of all qualified seats are actively deployed in the cloud. A slim majority of Exchange Online (52 percent) and Office ProPlus (50 percent) seats are active in the cloud, however, Skype Online (22 percent) and SharePoint Online (24 percent) are far less utilized. Though this data reveals that many organizations are still challenged to migrate to the cloud, utilization rates have increased significantly over the past year.
“It can be a daunting, technical process for large organizations to unwind and physically move these apps off-premise, and develop a user adoption plan, which is keeping many from making the journey in the first place,” said Craig McQueen, Director of the Microsoft Practice at Softchoice. “These organizations, however, need to understand there’s a significant cost to that hesitation, and Softchoice can help them realize the long-term financial benefits of cloud while maintaining business continuity and mitigating risk.”
Softchoice makes Microsoft Office 365 a reality for organizations, offering a number of valuable resources, including straightforward information on enterprise and volume licensing, migration planning, and best practices for driving internal adoption – from the desktop to the web (and all the devices in between). At every step starting with the initial consultation, through conception, deployment and on-going management through our Keystone Managed Services, Softchoice ensures every deployment of Office 365 is successful and highly utilized.
About Softchoice
As a leading North American provider of IT
solutions and managed services, Softchoice combines
the efficiency and reliability of a national IT supplier with the
personal touch and technical expertise of a local solutions provider.
Softchoice's holistic approach to technology includes solution design,
implementation, asset management and cloud services, as well as access
to one of the most comprehensive and cost-effective technology
distribution networks in North America. With over 1,600 employees,
Softchoice manages the technology needs of thousands of corporate and
public sector organizations across the United States and Canada.
