Over the last few years, Microsoft has been making significant investments in the cloud. Unfortunately, that means that Windows Server 2008 and SQL Service 2008 will reach the end of support. But don’t worry, Microsoft has created a pathway for companies ready to make the switch to the cloud.

Why should I make the switch to the cloud?

Moving to the cloud is no longer an intimidating transition. Companies of all sizes have made the switch to the cloud, and we don’t see that trend slowing down any time soon.

Here are a few trends that are noteworthy:

•          In 2016, 16.1 ZB of data was generated. In 2025, 163 ZBs of data will be generated.
•           More than 80% of organizations now adopt cloud-first strategies as part of an overall digital transformation
•           Investment in AI, top of mind for many companies, increase by an astounding 300% in 2017

Cloud ERP Gains Ground

The cloud has been advancing steadily into the enterprise over the past years. However, many ERP users are still hesitant to move their business into the cloud.

As SaaS ERP emerges, enterprises seem to eagerly cloud-enabling their offerings. In the meantime, new organizations come on stage claiming their offerings are "true cloud" or "more cloud" than others. Thus, there is nowadays a misunderstanding in the market about what is considered as a "real cloud" solution, which makes the buying decision even more difficult for potential customers.

"As companies that have not traditionally been cloud ERP clients turn to the cloud, competition in the market will increase," said Andrew King, Managing Director of WebSan Solutions Inc. "This will require customers to carefully evaluate cloud ERP vendors across specific industry benchmarks before purchasing a new cloud solution."

Business Intelligence

In 2014 Business Intelligence will be a must, since large and small organizations continue to look towards BI tools in order to benefit from data and maximize their investments in Enterprise Resource Planning solutions. Users are constantly looking for accurate and comprehensive information through visually appealing dashboards. In turn, by having real –time access to relevant data, companies can use this information proactively to make business decisions more effectively.

Mobility

Mobility is not only a trending topic but an everyday reality across most businesses. It is expected to be seamlessly integrated into business applications as part of the whole delivery experience for both customers and employees.

This July we are excited and proud to announce that WebSan Solutions has been named a 2014 finalist for multiple awards and categories, gaining industry recognition across the province and the country.

The Ontario Chamber of Commerce has named our company a 2014 finalist for the annual Ontario Business Achievement Awards under the Service Excellence category. For over 30 years, businesses have been awarded OBAAs for their achievements in innovation and sustainability.

Also, Computer Dealer News has announced WebSan as a CDN Channel Elite Awards 2014 finalist in the following 3 categories:

Solution Provider of the Year

Best Small Business Solution

Yesterday Ontario celebrated the best of the best at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, where WebSan Solutions was awarded the 2014 Ontario Business Achievement Award for Service Excellence.

 We have been honoured with the Service Excellence award, sponsored by the Chartered Professional Accountants of Ontario (CPA), for demonstrating that dedication to customer service can lead to demonstrable business success. WebSan offers clients lifetime support as well as extensive training on our software through WebSan University, our Learning Management System.

"We are honored to be recognized for our dedication to customer service. During every project we focus on helping clients outperform their industry peers and surpass their goals.
After all, we believe service excellence is a habit, not a skill and our commitment to it has helped us differentiate ourselves as technology leaders," commented Andrew King, Managing Director of WebSan Solutions Inc.

The Ontario Business Achievement Awards, hosted by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce, is the most recognized industry gala in the province, with the single focus on celebrating business success. For over 30 years, businesses have been awarded for their achievements in areas including sustainability, innovation, service excellence and exporting.

View a full list of the 2014 Ontario Business Achievement Award winners here.

Bob Scott's Insights magazine has named WebSan Solutions a 2014 TOP 100 VAR Star for a second year in a row.

The Top 100 are chosen from organizations specializing in the sale and implementation of Enterprise Resource Planning and accounting software. The selection of mid-market accounting software resellers for Bob Scott's VAR Stars rest on one basic principal: quality, not revenue, as the deciding factor in picking the 100 businesses that are selected for this honour.

Bob Scott has been informing and the mid-market financial software community via his email newsletters for 15 years and has covered this market for 23 years through print and electronic publications, first as technology editor of Accounting Today and then as editor of Accounting Technology, from 1997 through 2009.

For more information, visit the Bob Scott's Insights website here.

Congratulations to WebSan's team for this honour and keep up the good work!

Not to steal the thunder from a certain 80’s classic film, but times and systems are moving pretty fast at WebSan Solutions Inc. WebSan is proud to announce a new strategic partnership with Allstream Communications - a partnership allowing us to upgrade our data centre infrastructure to include a blazing fast fibre optic link to the internet and our core network.

How fast? Using a twelve strand single-mode fibre optic cable we not only have capacity to meet all of our current needs, but we have enough future capacity to expand into multiple Gigabits of bandwidth, all transmitting at 299,792,458 m / s, the speed of light.

What does this mean for you? Simply, it means faster access to your data - and for some, way faster than if you ran it yourself on premise. It also means dealing with high infrastructure costs and enhancing your technical options are details you and your IT team won’t need to sweat over when you run your environment on our hosted Microsoft Dynamics GP infrastructure. 

We have all heard about the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) phenomenon in which employees bring their own computing devices to their work, such as their laptops, tablets or even smartphones to complete their job tasks more conveniently. Now Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) is arising and reshaping the world of IT management.

Bring your own cloud is a concept about employees being allowed to use public or private third-party cloud services to perform certain job roles, according to techopedia. Many of the services are web based and cross-platform with Dropbox being probably the most famous among them. Other popular personal cloud services are iCloud, Google Drive and SkyDrive. Additionally, these private cloud services are free to use under a certain storage limit, usually between 2 and 5 GB which is enough for storing emails, documents and other raw data.

Therefore, these BYOC services offer an efficient option for storing files off-device for greater protection, automatic backup and constant availability. However, at the same time they provide an avenue for corporate users to compromise security by storing important data outside the company’s secure barriers. The concern here is not about the Bring Your Own Cloud trend taking over the Bring Your Own Device. The real question is:

How securely can the two concepts coexist in a corporate environment, where you cannot really stop users from using private cloud services when they bring their own devices?

Doriana Kote, Marketing Assistant, WebSan Solutions Inc., a Channel Elite Awards Finalist for 2013

This year we are honored to be selected as a finalist in 5 categories for the Channel Elite Awards 2013. Every year IT Solution Providers are recognized from the Canadian Dealer News (CDN) for their innovation, leadership and commitment to creating value for their customers.

WebSan Solutions Inc. is running as a finalist for the following 5 categories:

• Provider of the Year
• Best Small Business Solution
• Best Mid-Market Solution
• Best Enterprise Solution
• Best Service Organization

The winners of this year’s Channel Elite Awards will be announced at the awards ceremony on September 11^th, 2013 in Woodbridge, Ontario.

We are proud of our team and the amazing work they do.

Wish Us Luck!

Come July 14, Microsoft is set to end support for Microsoft Server 2003. After this date, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates, fixes or online support for Windows Server 2003. Businesses across Canada who choose not to upgrade could leave themselves and their customers exposed to security risks, increased compliance, electronic data loss, hackers and may lose the ability to accept credit cards.

According to Microsoft Canada, big companies would take about 150 to 200 days to upgrade its servers. While migrating to an updated operating system comes with some challenges, the gains would ultimately outweigh the risks that not upgrading would pose to businesses and customers. Businesses should see this as an opportunity to modernize infrastructure or consider hosted options for securing data.

Microsoft Canada suggests that customers can either upgrade and migrate to a new server software (such as Windows Server 2012 R2) or use cloud services which would cost less than a migration, reduce hardware and still provide adequate protection.

For businesses considering hosted services on the cloud, WebSan Solutions offers Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM which allows for rapid deployment, low total cost of ownership and a robust solution that scales and grows depending on a business’ needs. Reduce the number of days it would take for your business to upgrade by switching to one of WebSan Solutions’ Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM offerings.

Click here to learn more about Microsoft Dynamics GP and CRM

If you are doing business in finance, health care or the government, which are in need of highly protected data management procedures, you know security is an essential part when you are looking for a cloud solution.

According to Gartner’s report, the cloud-based security services market totaled $2.1 billion in 2013 globally. Gartner also expects the market to grow up to $3.1 billion until 2015.

“Encryption will be a new area of growth, but it remains a complex activity. The strongest interest will be in encryption products from cloud security brokers, which are relatively easy to deploy and have options for on-premises encryption management”, said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner

This projection anticipates an increasing demand for cloud security services. The good news is at WebSan Solutions your data is secure and accessible when you need it! We offer a hosted-enterprise business software solution, leveraging the vast capabilities of Microsoft Dynamics GP. Our Hosted Dynamics GP solution is maintained in our state-of-the-art Tier II SAS70/SSAE16 certified data centre located in Toronto, Canada.

Doriana Kote, Marketing Assistant, WebSan Solutions Inc., a Channel Elite Awards Winner for 2013

Security concerns have taken the Internet by storm the last couple of days since a new bug called "Heartbleed" has been exposed by Codenomicon, a Finnish security company, and Google.

Heartbleed is an exploit that compromises secure communications using OpenSSL which is typically configured on servers in a *nix environment. The bug has exposed millions of usernames, passwords and reportedly credit card numbers. It was named Heartbleed because it affects an extension to Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) which engineers simply nicknamed Heartbeat. The two companies disclosed knowledge of the Heartbleed bug on Monday, but they noted that it went unnoticed for as long as two years.

SSL is one of the most commonly used encryption tools on the internet, deployed by almost 66% of all websites. If you ever see a little padlock symbol in your browser then it is likely that you are using SSL.

It's as if someone left their house not knowing the lock on the front door was broken.Could someone walk in? Yes. Have they actually walked in? No one knows.The WebSan cloud is not affected by this issue; we run state of the art security counter measures and ensure our hosting infrastructure is up to date with all security patches as well as SAS70/SSAE16 compliant. Our mandate is to keep your data safe and secure!

Doriana Kote, Web Marketing Coordinator, WebSan Solutions Inc., a Channel Elite Awards Winner for 2013

Security concerns about Heartbleed and Microsoft Internet Explorer have been a large topic in the news cycle lately. It is important to understand that any site can be affected by a security defect. However, defects can only be exploited if users are not following proper web surfing practices. In other words, in order to exploit any defect, a user would have to navigate to a malicious website, with the malicious code on it.

WebSan Solutions offers peace-of-mind monitoring and security counter measures to ensure our hosting infrastructure follows best practices and your data is always safe in our secure SAS 70/ SSAE 16 certified data centre in Toronto, Canada. Our servers are free of any malicious code and are checked on a regular basis.

The WebSan Cloud protects your data from security attacks and spreading security concerns. If you have any questions, please contact us and we will happily answer your concerns.

Doriana Kote, Web Marketing Coordinator, WebSan Solutions Inc., a Channel Elite Awards Winner for 2013

We are excited for this year's Ontario Business Achievement Awards, presented on November 26th and organized by the Ontario Chamber of Commerce. WebSan Solutions is committed to helping our clients get the most out of their system and thus, we made it to the top 2 finalists for Service Excellence.

"At WebSan Solutions, we believe service excellence is a habit, not a skill," says Andrew King, Managing Director. "We simply listen to our customer's needs and constantly strive to improve what we have to offer."

You can read the full article here: https://www.occ.ca/occ-events/ontario-business-achievement-awards/websan-solutions-service-excellence-is-a-habit-not-just-a-skill/

Doriana Kote, Web Marketing Coordinator, WebSan Solutions Inc., an Ontario Business Achievement Award for Service Excellence 2014 Finalist

Take our FREE ERP Assessment | Download one of our free Microsoft Dynamics Demos

There's a lot of buzz around digital transformation right now. Microsoft claims that it's the future of business that can bring millions of additional revenue for companies. In simple terms, digital transformation is the process of digital technology implementation; "going paperless," according to Wikipedia. But what does this mean for your business?  

Better Customer Understanding

With digital technologies, you now can gain in-depth information about your customer segments. For example, social media helps you to interact with your clients directly and understand what makes them happy and what doesn't. Business intelligence software allows you to get useful insights, which assists in figuring out customer behavior.  

Focus on Strategic Tasks

 Dynamics Virtual Summit November 22nd, 2022 @ 11:00 AM – 4:30 PM EST This Virtual Conference will highlight the future of the Microsoft Dynamics Ecosystem and how it solves today's business challenges. Sessions Include: The Future of Business Central for SMBs Microsoft 365 Ecosystem - Recession Proof Your Business Business Central Wave Releas...

Every year, Microsoft Canada recognizes Microsoft partners who demonstrate excellence in innovation and implementation of customer solutions based on Microsoft technology. Each of these partners plays an integral role in unlocking new opportunities for Canadian companies, and Microsoft is committed to helping their partner ecosystem build profitable businesses and successfully take their solutions to market.

"We are inspired and powered by our partners, with over 95% of Microsoft's commercial revenue coming through our partners. These annual awards are our opportunity to recognize all Microsoft partners that are making that possible by bringing cutting-edge solutions to complex business challenges and are helping customers overcome disruption and lead transformation in their industries across Canada," said Suzanne Gagliese, VP One Commerical Partner at Microsoft Canada.

This award recognizes a Regional Services Partner who is a Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) Direct Reseller or CSP Indirect Reseller focused on Small, Medium, and Corporate customer segments in a specific region of Canada (i.e., East, Central, West) driving impactful CSP growth.

"We are honoured to be recognized by Microsoft. We are proud to deliver a positive and unforgettable service experience to our clients. We understand the value of exceptional service is intended to set and consistently raise the standard of what is attainable. We couldn't have won this award without the help of our amazing team." Stated Andrew King, Managing Director at WebSan Solutions Inc.

Microsoft Canada presented these awards in 27 categories on July 15, 2021 as part of Microsoft's second virtual Inspire conference. Winners were selected based on the outstanding work the companies provided to their customers and community.

Transition to Cloud Dynamics GP

Dynamics GP is a mature and robust ERP solution. However, over time, many clients have grown tired of maintaining servers, performing upgrades, etc. These clients are content on the system and have no reason to find another ERP platform. These clients will often transition their existing Dynamics GP environment to the cloud. WebSan is currently the largest cloud Dynamics GP partner in the country, providing hosting services for many organizations, large and small. We have a standard migration process to seamlessly transition your Dynamics GP environment to the cloud.

In the cloud, customers benefit from complimentary upgrades and backups. Security is also administered on a complimentary basis. Further, our full suite of services allows users to expand into areas of automation such as EDI or other integrations, opening up many possibilities that do not exist today. Further, upgraded environments allow customers to take advantage of Power BI & workflows capabilities that Microsoft has recently deployed.

Microsoft’s newest update covers everything from compliance requirements, message encryption to Azure password protection.

Below is a list of Microsoft 365’s new updates:

Editor in PowerPoint

The editor in PowerPoint now has multi-language support. This update can support English, French, Spanish and German. The system will recognize which language is being used and suggests fixes and appropriate grammar and spelling rules in the correct language.

Brand New Icons in Office 365

Securing your company’s data is essential. Businesses are constantly avoiding cyber threats, security alerts, and maintaining infrastructure. With so many things going on, your IT team can sometimes miss vital security threats.

To combat this issue, Microsoft has introduced Microsoft Azure Sentinel. This SIEM tool is a cloud-native service that provides intelligent security analytics at cloud scale for your company.

Collect data across your enterprise easily

Azure Sentinel allows you to aggregate security data with built-in connectors, integration of Microsoft signals and industry log formats such as comment event format and syslog.

You’re able to import your Office 365 data at no cost to you and combined it with other security data.

Microsoft Canada has announced that it has named WebSan Solutions Inc., a cloud Microsoft Dynamics Certified Partner and IT consulting and solutions provider, a finalist for the Modern Marketing Innovation Award of the 2018 Microsoft IMPACT Awards for the second consecutive year.

Each year, Microsoft Canada hosts the IMPACT Awards to celebrate innovation in technology recognizing the outstanding work our partners do to deliver virtually seamless solutions to customers. The IMPACT Awards showcase the excellence and innovation within our Canadian Partner community.

The Modern Marketing Partner of the Year Award recognizes a partner who is using modern/digital marketing practices to acquire, convert and retain customers. The Modern Marketing Innovation Award recognizes an exceptional partner who excels at developing and delivering the use of campaigns using SEO, SEM, Search, Content Marketing or Social and demonstrates their Impact to drive leads and opportunities.

Microsoft IMPACT Award winners and finalists will be recognized at the IMPACT Awards Finalist Dinner of the Microsoft Inspire event on July 15, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada. A listing of all winners and finalists are on www.microsoft.com/en-ca/sites/impact-awards.

“We are thrilled to be recognized as one of the finalists of the Microsoft Modern Marketing Innovation Award for the second year in a row,” says Andrew King, Managing Director at WebSan Solutions Inc. “WebSan Solutions’ digital marketing solutions have always achieved the goal of making Microsoft Dynamics products easily accessible and readily available to both customers and prospects through our unique marketing efforts.”