Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd continues to expand its Managed IT Services offering with the launch of a new compact, digital workplace package consisting of a managed Microsoft 365 environment, managed backup services for data security, proactive remote monitoring, and the professional implementation of Microsoft Services. The package is designed primarily to help organizations properly implement and manage a cloud environment, which is a major challenge for many given the lack of IT staff.
Given the pace of technological innovation, many organizations lack the understanding of how to configure Microsoft 365 to protect sensitive data and implement governance and policy management. These are essential for Microsoft 365 because they provide a framework for decision-making, ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies, and improve collaboration and productivity within an organization. Tight budgets do not allow for costly IT investments to have the skills and knowledge required to manage Microsoft 365 in house. This was also found in the Konica Minolta study, in which 25% of SMBs said it was a challenge to keep up with new technologies. Despite limited IT resources, it is essential to maintain an infrastructure that is modern, secure and allows employees to securely access all the company data that is important to them on the move and to exchange information with their colleagues at any time.
With the new solution, Konica Minolta is providing its customers with a digital workplace for communication and collaboration, whose IT architecture it sets up and which it manages and administers in the cloud, thus significantly relieving the administrative burden in IT departments.
The first package from Konica Minolta is based on Microsoft’s 365 Business Basic licence and includes a managed Microsoft 365 environment, managed backup services, proactive monitoring, and implementation of Microsoft’s Online Services (such as Exchange, Teams, OneDrive etc.).
Managed Microsoft 365 environment
Microsoft 365 is one of the most successful cloud business applications in the world. With Konica Minolta’s new package, organizations receive a Microsoft 365 environment managed by a Microsoft Global Managed Partner, including management of licenses, of SharePoint, of Exchange and of Azure AD.
Today we see a lot of customers using Microsoft 365 unmanaged or at least only with break-fix style support. Support or guidance, on the other hand, is missing. This also leads to many organizations paying for services in Microsoft 365 without knowing how to implement them into the organization. That is why, for example, you hear statements like ‘I store the document in Dropbox to share it’, even though the organization is paying for OneDrive for Business.
Stephen Feeley
ITS Category Manager Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK) Ltd
Stephen adds: “Konica Minolta has a mission to support businesses with tailored IT solutions, and we recognize the need for best practice implementation of Microsoft 365 and, depending on the needs of our customers. We recommend the license that best fits them to ensure that the solution effectively supports the business and helps increase efficiency, governance and security.”
Managed backup services
The cyber risk from ransomware attacks is growing daily. With its managed backup services, Konica Minolta therefore offers its customers an automated, fully managed backup and recovery service to avoid data loss and expensive and lengthy business interruptions. With its management services and daily backups, Konica Minolta ensures that all its customers’ email and files – including OneDrive, SharePoint and Microsoft Teams – are always protected. Multifactor authentication and identity and access management further prevents unauthorized access to sensitive systems and information.
Proactive monitoring
Konica Minolta remotely monitors the health, availability and performance of online services and usage to detect any interface issues or possible improvements in usage of the services. This is to ensure rapid and reliable remediation, wherever possible. These activities are commonly overlooked and by fixing errors remotely before system downtime occurs it ensures the smooth running of IT environments and operations.
Best practice Cloud environment
Especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, there is often a lack of a company portal where employees can easily and quickly find all the information about their company or even contact colleagues. Therefore, Konica Minolta also includes appropriately provisioned Online Services such as Exchange, Teams, OneDrive etc. in Microsoft 365 to ensure that employees have access and remote work capabilities. Employees can also access Microsoft 365 applications as well as cloud storage assigned to them via Microsoft 365 portals and applications. This way they have a uniform, user-friendly interface and do not have to tediously search for information and applications. They can access the portal from any device, at any time, as it can be accessed via Microsoft Teams, mobile apps, or a web browser.
Simplified IT operations and transparent costs
With Konica Minolta, organizations experience greater benefits from their internal IT resources by implementing a cloud solution quickly and easily, instead of laboriously building and maintaining their own infrastructure. Konica Minolta takes care of operations, maintenance, user management, licenses, updates, and security. This allows organizations IT resources to focus on more strategic objectives and innovation, reduce capital expenditure and lower ongoing operating costs. Thanks to a fixed monthly fee, they also have better predictability and cost planning.
Individuality and flexibility
The platform is configured to the exact requirements of each organization and can be scaled as needed. The number of users and capacity requirements are variable, allowing applications and users to be added or removed.
Konica Minolta’s new package addresses organizations with up to 300 employees that either already use Microsoft 365 but still manage it themselves, or those that do not yet use it.
Stephen continues: “We aim to drive digital transformation, especially for small and medium-sized organizations, and to help our customers realize the benefits of cloud technology. What we provide is a digital workplace that is available and secure everywhere, that relieves IT teams of administrative tasks while also providing planning security; and that promotes communication and collaboration.”
SOURCE Konica Minolta Business Solutions (UK)
