VALiNTRY Joins the Microsoft Partner Network

We have recently earned membership in the Microsoft Partner Network (MPN), which means great news for us and even better news for our growing client base.

The benefits of working with a Microsoft Partner Network Member

What does this partnership mean?

This new affiliation will help blend our unique portfolio of client counseling expertise with Microsoft’s array of advanced creative and support products and services.

An exclusive seal of approval, joining the ranks of the MPN, allows us to help clients gain access to exclusive offerings, reduce costs and generate a consistent revenue stream. Our new designation ensures that we receive the latest technical training, get insight into product usage and more to help our customers. Through this partnership, we can provide our customers additional promotions, discounts and special offers to increase their efficiency and productivity.

Enhanced capabilities of Microsoft Partners

The IT realm is in a constant state of evolution, meaning business’ require expertise to stay on trend with the latest offerings and technology. Take for example, modernizing legacy applications. Over 70% of a typical business’ global transactions run on legacy applications. Most large organizations are in various phases of migrating off of these platforms. From proprietary nature to total cost of ownership (TCO), there are various reasons for the transition and VALiNTRY is here to help.

Due to the wide range of technologies necessary to build modern web and mobile applications, there is a steep learning curve for legacy application developers. Our team of consultants have the experience and capabilities to eliminate this curve and help organizations successfully navigate this migration.

VALiNTRY is a Microsoft Partner with Microsoft Stack expertise

Business operations are becoming more complex and identifying the right software solutions can be confusing. We understand the benefits of the Microsoft Stack for your business since it is the most unique and comprehensive software. It is necessary for successful app development and IT Operations.

Cloud computing allows people to access applications downloaded on a computer or server through the internet. The cloud allows for flexibility, disaster recovery, automatic software updates and more. If not done properly, a migration can present many IT issues, but the experts at VALiNTRY are here to help.

Here’s how the cloud can help your business:

• Automatic software updates: Servers are hosted off-premise and suppliers maintain and complete regular software updates.
• Capital-expenditure free: Cloud computing eliminates the high cost of hardware.
• Document control: Over 70% of workers collaborate with others in different time zones which can cause many complications. Ensure documents are controlled and eliminate conflicting titles, file content and formats.
• Security: If the event arises that a laptop is at risk, cloud computing provides increased security. Data is stored in the cloud, so it can be accessed despite what may happen with your computer.
• Competitiveness: Gain access to enterprise class technology. Pay as you go services and cloud business applications ensure that smaller businesses can compete with larger organizations.
• Flexibility: For fluctuating bandwidth issues, cloud capacity can be scaled through remote servers.
• Disaster recovery: Smaller businesses may lack the capital and expertise to invest in robust disaster recovery. These organizations are two times more likely to than larger companies to implement cloud based backup and recovery solutions to save time and avoid a large up-front investment.

What can Azure do for my business?

Azure is a quickly growing group of integrated cloud services used to build, deploy and manage applications through a group of global network datacenters. Azure focuses on privacy, security and compliance, protecting your most valuable assets.

Providing a consistent portal experience, Azure leverages highly integrated cloud services so you can quickly develop, deploy and manage apps.

From initial concepts and designs to launch and maintenance, our experts will enhance your existing software applications to help your operations run as smoothly as possible.

Business operations continue to get more complex and choosing the right software solutions can be complicated. Improve your apps an increase speed of delivery with the right application development. Centered around Azure, Dynamics 365 and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Microsoft Stack is the future of app dev and IT operations.

These set of sub systems are used to create one, unified platform to accomplish a specific set of goals that meet your needs. These systems are able to be run by multiple vendors and linked by other programs as well.

As a Microsoft Partner, we are able to provide users at your organization with a customized set of software. Designed to specifically work in unison without creating any types of conflict that may arise when developers are not working together to define the end users’ primary needs.
With a strong familiarity with Microsoft’s options, our consulting team recommends integrating these into your system. Microsoft’s ever-evolving offerings ensure user’s needs are met.

Each organization has unique needs specific to their industry and stack components are dependent upon those needs. Although, there are general elements that our team recommends most businesses add in the design and implementation of their systems, these include:

• Visual Studio: This is used to develop programs for Windows, websites and a wide range of other web applications. Microsoft’s vision for this is to be a one stop solution for hosting IDEs. From database development with SQL Server Data Tools to using Xamarin to write Android and iPad apps, it provides an advanced user experience for developers. Due to the available coding options, Visual Studio is ideal for any type of necessary debugging.
• .NET: This tool enables coders to use coding in different languages and is used by millions across the world. This flexibility helps developers with function that include security, memory management and more. To address the concerns regarding the security Microsoft has initiated many improvements to the original versions.
• C#: is a programming language developed by Microsoft to work within .NET. Recent iterations of the language are viewed as a rugged and general purposed programming language. This is always evolving to meet user’s needs and hardware changes.
• SQL Server: This database management system is designed to easily allow access to data that is requested by other users. It allows other applications to access data from anywhere. This data keeper offers strong computing power which can embed .NET codes as stored procedures, functions and aggregates without sacrificing performance. Like other types of software, SQL Server is available in different versions to meet industry-specific needs. Our consultants work with organizations to develop customized system packages to meet their specific requirements.
• Angular JavaScript (angular .js): Used to refine web application platforms and developed by Google, this is useful for accessing webpages frequently used by different mobile platforms. Search engine algorithms will penalize businesses for lack of compatibility and Angular JavaScript can help to counteract this. Our experts recognize that clients have the same types of issues as employees and are required to access data from different locations with different devices.
• Azure: This is Microsoft’s cloud product that is dedicated to making it easier to develop and scale applications and services faster and at a lower cost. It’s many built in features and services allows designers to develop apps faster than competing products. Our consultants recommend using Azure because it supports technologies used by most IT professionals.
• Windows Server: This cloud-based data center, used through Azure, has shown that it provides an elevated level of security. The incidence of malware and other malicious attacks is minimal and Microsoft has taken steps to ensure their platform can deflect emerging risks. A component of the Azure IaaS platform, the previous version can be hosted locally and on legacy servers.
• Team Foundation Server (TFS): TFS is designed to allow source code management through a project’s lifecycle. Microsoft designed TFS to work in unison with Visual Studio and it enables teams to manage projects while seamlessly delivering enhancements to software.
• Dynamics CRM: Microsoft encourages that this customer relationship management software product be paired with Dynamics CSM with its .NET framework to optimize effectiveness. Frequently used in sales environments, this software is easily adaptable to meet the needs of service divisions as well as operations, financials, service automation and marketing.
• Microsoft Dynamics Great Plains / Dynamics 365: A well accepted business financial management application, it is particularly adaptable to be used by mid-sized organizations. It is used as an integral part of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) platform and handles financial accounting, balance sheets, general ledgers and financial reporting. The latest version of this software is expected to further enhance the usefulness of the application.

Why User Experience (UX) Matters

Becoming a member of the MPN also has its benefits when designing the proper user experience (UX). At the core of successfully designing a platform is UX.

UX deals with how a person feels when interacting with a digital product. It encompasses many factors, dictated by both designers and developers that are dependent upon user preference and environmental factors. These factors include accessibility, design, aesthetics, usability, utility, ergonomics and more. Usability is a key component of the user experience and deals with the effectiveness of a side and how user friendly it is.

Think about it, it doesn’t matter what your app or site looks like if users don’t understand how to interact with it. UX is extremely important for every digital product especially for complex sites and applications, retail and online sales, start up sites and businesses, small budget projects and projects or sites that are expected to last for a considerable amount of time.

Users must be able to easily navigate the site to understand how to use it. If it isn’t easy to navigate, users may be hesitant to return. An interaction rich experience will driver users back to your site.

Working on the Microsoft Stack allows our consultants to ensure that your company’s unique needs are met quickly and easily. Our AppDev team are experts at requirement gathering, project leadership, SCRUM/AGILE and Waterfall methodologies, having successfully led multi-million dollar software development projects. Adept at the Microsoft .NET language and associated libraries of code, our team of consultant are ready to lead your next software development project.

Discussing your options early

Mistakes can be extremely costly no matter what size your business is. Developing and implementing software that doesn’t meet the needs your organization’s needs allows for less productivity within the workplace. Contacting our consultants early within the process eliminates the risk of possible mistakes. When choosing between enhancing an existing software application that you’re running or rewriting the software, our team is well-versed in both realms. From initial concepts and designs to launch maintenance and even resale, we are here to help.

As a member of the MPN, our consultants explore all available options prior to making your customized recommendations. Depending on your organizations current and future needs, our trusted experts will guide you every step of the way to ensure enhanced efficiency and productivity.

How this helps your business

Although VALiNTRY already provides clients with high level consulting and support within the Microsoft space, benefits of partnering with our organization include receiving:

• Dependable outcomes
• Cost efficient ways to adapt forms and host applications
• Quick results
• Enhanced application functionality
• Guidance on maintaining highly scalable framework
• Insight into the latest technology

Need help implementing, configuring or expanding your Microsoft Technology Stack?  Contact VALiNTRY today!