Microsoft cloud services — more flexibility for your business

The future belongs to the cloud — more and more companies are recognising the many possibilities and business opportunities offered by modern cloud services and solutions. The external sourcing of computing capacity, memory capacity and software over the Internet enables companies to significantly reduce the cost of implementing and maintaining their own IT, thereby enabling them to concentrate fully on their core business. At the same time, IT services can be quickly and flexibly adapted to changing requirements, enabling companies to respond immediately to customer requests or market situations. Yet the cloud is not just a model for the future: According to a study by BITKOM (Industrial Association for Information Technology, Telecommunications and New Media) 44% of all businesses already rely on cloud computing in their company, while a further 24% are planning or discussing the use of such services.

With COSMO CONSULT you benefit from modern Microsoft cloud technologies and reap the benefits that cloud services offer your business:

• Cost savings thanks to the elimination of investments in software and hardware
• Streamlining of your in-house IT
• Security for the future thanks to unlimited scalability
• Software and services are always up to date
• Increased flexibility as it is easy to adjust IT capacities and services to current market conditions
• Increased mobility as cloud services can be used over the Internet, irrespective of location
• Fast and cost-effective implementation

Cloud products, solutions and services from Microsoft are already used by many companies for their IT environment. The cloud is based on hardware and software that is operated by Microsoft and its licensed partners in large data processing centres. Via a web interface, cloud users have a wide range of options available, which allow them to quickly and easily set up entire IT infrastructures. Microsoft offers flexible deployment models that cover individual requirements. The options range from IaaS Clouds (Infrastructure as a Service), in which the user only uses the hardware infrastructure provided by Microsoft, to SaaS Clouds (Software as a Service), which provide the company's entire IT system, including software and maintenance. Regardless of which solution model meets your specific needs: The Microsoft cloud solutions help you to reduce investment costs, to provide your employees with modern work equipment and to communicate with partners and customers in entirely new ways.

For COSMO CONSULT, security is the most important factor in all cloud services: The Microsoft data processing centres are certified in accordance with all important industry standards. In addition, with the so-called "Data Trustee Models", Microsoft offers the option of limiting usage of cloud storage to the country in which the respective user companies work or have their headquarters. Existing European data processing centres will be further expanded in the context of this model. In Germany, with the "Cloud in Germany" initiative, Microsoft has launched a program that will provide all future cloud services via a German trustee and Microsoft data processing centres in Frankfurt and Magdeburg. This guarantees that sensitive company data remains in situ and is only subject to the local jurisdiction. Overall, the cloud security model from Microsoft is based on four essential guarantees:

• Security: All data is protected against unauthorised access through the use of technology, processes and certifications that meet the latest industry standards.
• Data protection: The customer alone controls the content and access. They can access, extract or delete their data at any time.
• Transparency: The customer always knows what is happening with their content. Microsoft clearly and comprehensibly explains how the content is processed, managed and secured.
• Compliance: All content is stored and managed in compliance with corporate obligations and applicable legislation and in accordance with national and international regulations.

Microsoft Azure provides you with one of the most modern cloud platforms available in the field of business software. Azure is Microsoft's central cloud environment, which provides computing and storage capacity for the development and operation of applications. Microsoft Azure allows you to run highly available applications, without having to worry about the infrastructure. Operating system and service updates are automatically installed without interrupting ongoing operations. Azure is one of the world's leading IaaS technologies and has been classified as the industry leader for ERP cloud platforms by the renowned market research institute Gartner.

The cloud solutions from Microsoft are based on 15 years of cloud experience in the ERP environment with a complete range for all business requirements. The "Mobile first, cloud first" strategy, placed at the heart of Microsoft's vision, is also the basis for the future of the Microsoft Business Solutions — and not just the future: With Microsoft Dynamics, the cloud is already the pivotal point of the system. The current Dynamics solutions are closely integrated with the cloud-based systems of Microsoft Office 365, CRM Online, Power BI and Microsoft Azure. Of course, it is still possible for companies to use the Microsoft Dynamics solutions in-house, on their own premises, but with the new cloud-based services there is now the additional option of flexibly selecting the application scenario, from the outsourcing of the infrastructure to the complete provision of the entire ERP environment, depending on individual needs, business and investment models.

With COSMO CLOUD for Business Central COSMO CONSULT has developed an offer that provides Microsoft Dynamics environments out of the box per rental model. The basic idea is based on the advantages offered by modern cloud technology, whereby a complete business solution, including financial accounting, customer relationship management, production planning, Business Intelligence, Microsoft Office integration and many other options, can go into production within a few days. In particular, smaller businesses and start-ups are thus able to use classic ERP functionalities without complex system implementation.