“We

recommend to our clients, if they are running a small business, to adopt Microsoft’s cloud-based services. The mobility aspect is great, users enjoy added flexibility, and the Office 365 menus are all user-friendly and familiar.”

George Dimitriou, Communications and Marketing Director, Skroutz S.A.

Skroutz, an internet services company from Greece, decided to provide its employees productivity tools on all user platforms, from laptop through tablet to smartphone, while reducing the management overhead by leveraging the advantages of Office 365 Small Business Premium and obtaining the Microsoft Office Professional Plus suite. This assures all Skroutz users are having the most updated version of Office on all devices at all times.

Business NeedsHeadquartered in Greece and expanding its internet services business to Turkey, the growing Skroutz sales and marketing team needed a flexible software suite to support the development of documents and presentations, which would offer rich editing options and compatibility with most established operating systems.

Skroutz needed a low-maintenance cloud-based storage and retrieval solution that would readily provide continuous and complete access to all of their business-related files from any location on any device over any network at any time. They

also wanted to provide a consistent robust user experience from whatever computer or other device a user chose, without having to buy additional licenses for the software and frequently having to update each device manually. Each Skroutz user should be able to work on a desktop, laptop or netbook while in the office, and use alternative devices while in the field or even at home.Beyond this, Skroutz recognized the benefits of having an enterprise-class email solution which would also provide shared calendars, contacts and other shared resources available through various types of devices.

Customer: Skroutz S.A.Website: http://www.skroutz.grCustomer Size: 1-99 employeesCountry or Region: GreeceIndustry: Professional ServicesPartner: MSystems, http://www.msystems.gr

Customer ProfileHeadquartered in Athens, Skroutz is the premier digital brand behind the creation and development of the innovative price and product comparison engine www.skroutz.gr

Software and Services Microsoft Office 365 Small Business

Premium

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Most important, Skroutz needed a solution that was easy to deploy, requiring as short time as possible to “go live” and become productive, and which offered much lower cost than installing their solution in an on-premise infrastructure which would require hardware, software, deployment costs, plus the cost of ongoing updates and support.

SolutionSkroutz selected Microsoft Office 365 Small Business Premium due to the fact that it offers an integrated solution to all the aforementioned challenges, and because it is constantly updated with the most recent version of the Microsoft Office Professional Plus suite.

The employees appreciated the fact that the suite includes many customization options and templates for preparing professional documents and presentations, while still being based on a familiar and intuitive environment they have been already using.

Microsoft Gold Certified Partner MSystems helped Skroutz develop and engage their deployment plan, provision the services and install the users, a process which was as quick and as simple as they had hoped it would be.

“Users were able to work and be productive very rapidly, and now enjoy the transparency of receiving new upgrades as they are introduced and released”, explains George Dimitriou, Communications and Marketing Director at Skroutz. When Skroutz users log in to computers at remote sites they still encounter the same, consistent user interface and receive the experience they are accustomed to at their own desk and the devices they use on a daily basis.

With their business expanding into other countries, Skroutz can now test and evaluate Lync Online communications for their team members, as well as Exchange Online email messaging, shared calendars and contacts, and device-independent access. They also have the opportunity to examine the benefits of leveraging SharePoint Online for information sharing and improved secure global file access.

BenefitsThe benefits Skroutz sought in engaging Microsoft Office 365 spanned from rapid time-to-value, productivity increase, cost reduction, system simplicity, simplified licensing, to an optimized and consistent user experience.

Thanks to cloud-based software delivery, automatic updating, cloud-based file storage, and the consistency of the

Microsoft Office 365 environment, they were able to drive the desired improvements, and even a few more.

Multi-platform support and availability of the suite with one license per user offering access from as many as five different devices.

Cloud storage and secure, easy access to all files from any remote location over any network using any device.

A user-friendly environment and easy first-time installation without the need to engage resources with IT-specific knowledge.

A flexible subscription model which can easily be adjusted to suit the company’s needs and follow its expansion.

Multiple users can work on the same document or presentation.

By eliminating the need to forward and circulate documents via email for individual updates, this process reduces document or presentation production time from days or weeks to minutes or hours,

while also improving the quality of document production.

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

Document published October 2013

“Users were able to work and be productive very rapidly, and now enjoy the transparency of receiving new upgrades as they are introduced and released.”

George Dimitriou, Communications and Marketing Director, Skroutz