Small Business Blogs

The Secret behind Top Nutrition

We are living in a decade of Smartphones, tablets, and of course the Cloud. All of these make working from any location - that is, outside of an actual office - easy. Although there are some businesses that flourish by having all of their employees in one location and working under one roof, many succeed by having their team working remotely or individually from several different locations.

For any business with remote workers, keeping track of their team and having an efficient means of communication is vital for company growth and success. A secure intranet system in the Cloud, with some form of Cloud-based applications, are essential connectivity tools for a small business to compete in today’s market. One fast-growing small business that made the move to the Cloud in order to keep their team connected was Top Secret Nutrition.

The Right Tools for a Team on a Mission

Based out of Florida, Top Secret Nutrition (external link) (“TSN”) is one of the fastest growing sports nutrition companies in the U.S. TSN provides many of the most innovative nutritional supplements in its industry to support active and healthy lifestyles. TSN’s rapid growth has team members working from remote locations, and on the move – promoting products, collaborating with strategic partners, and meeting with distributors and retailers. With this type of dynamic business model, TSN needed an IT solution that was easily accessible from any location and one that would allow team members to share information rapidly and consistently. After much research, it was decided this need required a move to the Cloud (external link) platform.

At that time, TSN co-founder and president, David Zinn, began his search for a solution that would allow his business to grow while working remotely. At TSN, providing customers with the best supplements, education, product information, and experience is of the core of the business, and critical for success. This means that TSN employees always need to be informed, connected, and well prepared. Through extensive online research, Zinn found StreetSmart, InfoStreet’s suite of Cloud apps (external link).

For TSN, the StreetSmart suite of Cloud apps served as a secure intranet system (external link) that included powerful task assignment and CRM apps that were just what the company needed to make information and task sharing easy. Through StreetSmart’s CRM, Zinn and his team were able to quickly update new client information, share it, and keep it all stored in one safe location. As Zinn tells us, “With our team members working on several different clients in several different locations, we needed to make sure that everyone was still connected and informed, StreetSmart’s CRM took care of all that.” In addition, all of StreetSmart’s Cloud apps integrate with each other which made delegating tasks, scheduling meetings, and sharing information effortless.

The Results of a Cloud-Based Intranet

For TSN, the StreetSmart suite of Cloud apps served as a secure intranet system that included powerful task assignment and CRM apps that were just what the company needed to make information and task sharing easy. Through StreetSmart’s CRM, Zinn and his team were able to quickly update new customer information, share it, and keep it all stored in one safe and accessible location. As Zinn shared, “With our team members servicing many different customers in several different locations, all with unique needs, we had make sure that everyone was always connected and informed. StreetSmart’s CRM provided the platform for clear and relevant internal and external communication. In addition, all of StreetSmart’s Cloud apps integrate with each other which make delegating tasks, scheduling events and meetings, and sharing information transparent and effortless.“

The StreetSmart suite of Cloud apps provides the tools that allow them to focus on key customer relationships to become one of the leading nutritional supplement brands in the U.S. Their supplements can be found online and in specialty stores at various national and regional retailers, such as Bodybuilding.com, Vitamin Shoppe, GNC, and many other local specialty nutritional supplement stores throughout the U.S. Zinn adds, “Staying efficient, up to date, and mobile has also allowed TSN to grow rapidly internationally, and yet we still achieve our goals and produce measurable results on a daily basis. “Having InfoStreet as our Cloud provider, has transformed our business by providing the perfect platform for us to exceed customer expectations.”

When your team needs to stay mobile and efficient what solution will you look to?

Why embracing the Cloud becomes imperative in 2012.

By Keyon Thomas (external link)

“ The only things we can be certain of are death and taxes” is as true today as it was when Ben Franklin first coined the phrase.

But what the channel can be comfortable adding is that the Cloud will be a major factor in SMB purchasing in 2012.

With Oracle spending millions purchasing cloud providers, IBM transforming into a cloud-based service provider, and tablets and laptop purchases exploding, the cloud is fast becoming the perfect storm: the convergence of all forms of hardware and applications into a singular experience at a time when SMBs are looking for solutions that will increase productivity and mobility while reducing costs.

Worldwide revenues from public IT cloud services exceeded $16 billion in 2009 and are expected to hit the $55.5B mark by 2014, according to market researcher IDC. This represents a 27.4% compound annual growth rate, which is roughly five times that of regular IT products, notes IDC.

And thanks to the millions of advertising from Cisco and Microsoft, the SMBs who hadn’t thought much about it are starting to ask questions.

According to Channel Insider (external link) the biggest factors driving buying decisions:

• Storage and backup solutions are the most heavily used cloud applications with 71% of SMBs using the cloud in this way
• Better network efficiencies and robustness
• Improved connections with customers online and in a mobile environment
• Enhanced resources, management and tracking
• More business analytics

Yet the Cloud is not the panacea for many SMBs. Companies are stretched to the max with employees working harder to make up for a smaller workforce and smaller margins. Moving to the Cloud would mean integrating data and analyzing which providers to go with for what product: as intuitive as the concept of the Cloud is, SMBs will need qualified resellers that can help them select the optimal providers and provide 24/7 support.

MSPs and VARs have developed a unique trusted adviser relationship with their customers both in telecom, networking, and server deployment. Given the move to the Cloud, the question that resellers have to answer is:  

Will you be positioned to take charge of their cloud migration?

An actual cloud is a visible mass of liquid droplets, but the gifts that the Cloud provides the reseller are solid and filled with potential:

1. The gift of time: Unlike current channels, the Cloud provides faster deployments, freeing your team to expand and support their client base.
2. The gift of money: You control the cost structure without having to support an ongoing infrastructure, which again gives you more time to focus on selling more clients (see gift #1).
3. The gift of savings: Reselling cloud platforms have low upfront startup costs, allowing your company to invest in expanding your operations.

To go vertical or horizontal: a straight line might be the best approach (external link) . Be the Market Maker: 

In a discussion at the Cloud Channel Summit (external link) , it was noted that that if cloud vendors don’t create a marketplace for partners and just give them the technology; resellers are missing a really critical step. Horizontal market makers, such as InfoStreet’s SkyDesktop, provide the platform- you install the vertical cloud apps accordingly. This horizontal approach provides more channels for the reseller expanding the potential.

The attraction is a two-way street; the channel is embracing the Cloud, while the Cloud is welcoming the MSP and IT community giving them more time, more control, and increased revenues along with enterprise level functionality.

The last few years have been a challenge for businesses globally, resellers are no exception. Adopting a cloud based strategy might well turn 2012 into Cloud 9.