Fast-Growing Landscape Firm Stays Nimble, Saves 30 to 50 Hours a Week with Cloud Technologies04:33

DeSantis Landscapes has come a long way from the company that Tony DeSantis founded in 1974 with a wheelbarrow and a lawnmower. Forty years later, the Oregon business has 92 employees, two offices, and customers spanning the state. On the advice of its longtime IT consultant, Compex Two, DeSantis replaced an aging server with Microsoft Office 365 and 20 new computers running the Windows 8.1 operating system. Using Lync Online, employees can meet virtually from wherever they are, using whatever device they have. They can have quick videoconferences, share screens, or pull documents from SharePoint Online to move business along in minutes—versus driving back to the office to meet or to hunt for, change, and email documents. Whether employees are in the office or the field, they’re more efficient, saving up to 30 to 50 hours a week. They’re also better able to transmit the company culture as the business expands. Best of all, DeSantis can maintain the personal, small-company atmosphere that Tony established while continuing to grow.