This month, we celebrate the success of a small Dutch start-up named Atomblock that has recently evolved and become a division of a much larger European company named ALSO.  Atomblock is now called ALSO Digital.  It is a cloud-based infrastructure company that helps game publishers, software publishers and retailers to sell their products on a global scale – in other words, providing a cloud...

Today we are celebrating a key milestone with the latest release of Office 365, which recognizes that the modern workplace is changing; that business success is now determined by how quickly people can connect, interact and share information; and that collaboration has a real business value.

Today marks an important milestone for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Microsoft as we enter into a new partnership to address the digital divide across our Red Cross and Red Crescent National Societies around the globe that touch the lives of more than 150 million people each year.

Hilverse is a Polish company founded in December 2011 that runs a flagship project, LifeCircle+, which aims to revolutionise lifesaving methods by offering a comprehensive solution to existing challenges of the blood collection system.

Take a look around you. The way we work has changed fundamentally in recent years, and technology―in particular cloud computing―is a key driver. Traveling across the region and having conversations with hundreds of business leaders across the CEE region over the past two years, it’s clear what cloud computing represents for these businesses: a flexible response to customer’s needs, delivering...

In celebration of the Windows 8 launch, this month our featured SME is Captain Dash, a French company that has developed an app for Windows 8 devices providing a business analytics service powered by the Windows Azure cloud. This app enables the aggregation and synchronization of business data from several web 2.0 services into a unique platform. This allows Captain Dash’s clients to better understand...

The SME deserving recognition this month is Monolith Advertising, an Estonian-Croatian company. It began operations just 3 months ago with the single purpose of revolutionizing offline advertising by transforming existing advertising displays into smart and interactive tools. Monolith Advertising is run by a team of 6 people who, since May 2012, have already managed to partner with major corporate...

In order to celebrate both SME Week and Single Market Week, Microsoft is organising the first out of a bi-monthly series of roundtables in Brussels that aim to bring face to face policy makers and innovative entrepreneurs. They will highlight the success and debate the challenges of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) in Europe.

Worldwide, diagnosis of autism is traditionally a very manual process, one that is labour intensive, expensive, prone to error and without any room for observation. Dutch-based Autitouch has developed an innovative solution that uses Microsoft Surface technology to enable children to play ‘serious games’ that help the medical profession make more accurate diagnoses.

The SME receiving recognition for the month of August is JamPot Technologies, a company of 12 employees from Northern Ireland. JamPot invented an application that allows other companies and individuals to build their own mobile applications without needing any technical knowledge. JamPot’s innovations simplify the use of sophisticated technology, enabling any of us to create smartphone apps for any...

It is Olympics time again and how fast the world of technology has accelerated in four years since the last Games. In 2008, social media still felt relatively new, now it is a ubiquitous part of our daily lives, including how we talk and track sport.

Our July SME of the Month is Admiral Dynamics, a Belgian company that offers expertise in cloud-based solutions with particular focus on the powerful and efficient Microsoft Dynamics CRM and SharePoint tools. Its specialty is providing innovative, dynamic and flexible solutions that allow its customers to increase the efficiency and standard of their operations without making unnecessary...

Commerce Guys, a young company based in France, was also the winner of the Microsoft BizSpark European Summit. This innovative eCommerce specialist uses the open source Drupal technology on top of the Windows Azure cloud platform. It provides online merchants with the powerful, responsive and innovative eCommerce solutions needed to succeed with Drupal Commerce.

With over 16,000 innovative start-ups part of BizSpark in Europe, you’d expect the calibre of the top 15 chosen to pitch in the annual BizSpark European Summit to be pretty high.  On June 7th, we had the chance to hear about the future of apps, the business of cloud, and the evolution of tech talent.  More than that, we also witnessed to an impressive showcase of innovative technologies...

The SME receiving recognition this month is Avaelgo, a Romanian company of 10 employees that offers IT consulting services, software development, and technical training for customers worldwide. Their flexible and innovative solutions are based on rapid adoption of cutting edge cloud platform technologies, and they ensure that their customers are at the forefront of their respective fields.

A year is a long time in the start-up world: in this fast-paced environment, a lot can change quickly.  So, I was delighted to catch up with Alessandro Rizzoli, founder and CEO of Mopapp, to hear just how far the company has evolved since winning the pitch competition at last year’s BizSpark European Summit. Mopapp aggregates information from all major app-stores, giving mobile application...

According to the European Commission, the 23 million SMEs in the EU represent 99% of businesses, and are a key driver for economic growth, innovation, employment and social integration. It is therefore crucial that EU institutions, governments and the private sector nurture new innovative companies, promote successful entrepreneurship and improve the business environment for SMEs and start-ups.  This...

In this case study, you can read about Global Business Register (GBR) and their cloud-based solution that aims to make the internet a safer place.

Small businesses can provide valuable solutions to the Public Sector, as Portuguese SME CaveDigital has demonstrated since 2005. Its 8 employees are committed to increasing the value of their clients’ technological investments by offering cloud-based solutions. Based in Portugal, their operations have extended across Europe, and North and Latin America since they formed 12 years. CaveDigital reaches...

A start-up created by two British medics combines social networks and cloud computing to make hospital staffing more efficient.

Globally, SMEs are one of the world’s most powerful engines of growth and jobs. It is estimated that 85% of net new jobs in the EU between 2002 and 2010 were created by SMEs, so clearly this community is critical to the overall health of the European economy. It is a community that too often feels its voice isn’t loud or large enough to impact policy level discussions, however we believe that...

I believe that SMEs are key to Europe’s economic recovery and I have several reasons that support my thinking. The first reason is sheer volume: there are almost 21 million SMEs in the European Union and 90 % of these have fewer than ten employees. Imagine the potential if every SME could hire just one more person!

Most successful entrepreneurs are naturally enthusiastic and optimistic people.  They have to be, because they have to believe in their potential to turn dreams into reality.  And this positive attitude is pervasive, even in these tough economic times.  Why?  Because an increasing number of start-ups and other small businesses know that turbulent times create opportunities.

General theme: Innovative SMEs: the key to economic regeneration in Europe Time & Date: 09:15 – 13:00, Tuesday 27th March 2012 Venue: Renaissance Hotel, Rue du Parnasse 19, 1050 Brussels

The global financial crisis has challenged many businesses across the region, both large and small. In the fight to get Europe back to broader economic health, technology may not solve all of the problems but it does have a major role to play. By freeing up investments made to maintain technology infrastructure, businesses can instead focus on core operations and their talent. A new Microsoft-commissioned...

French company and IAMCP (International Association of Microsoft Channel Partners) member, ASCOT, demonstrates the potential for a small company to tailor cloud computing services for particular sectors: in this instance, the hotel business.

In this case study, you can read about Zartis, a company bringing job-hunting into the 21st century with cloud computing.

In this case study, you can read about SkillPages, an Irish business that developed a platform to transform the way people with skills connect to the people who need them.

The Kingdom of Denmark: the Southernmost of the Nordic countries, bordered by Germany, Sweden and Norway.  Its governance comprises three countries: Denmark itself, the Faroe Islands and Greenland.  Original birthplace of the legendary Vikings, it also happens to home to a vibrant entrepreneur community. After working with startups in Denmark for many years, I can definitely say that despite...

As always on our website, we try and bring you a wide variety of opinion pieces from specialist guest bloggers from both the private and public sector.

Our January European Cloud SME of the Month is Link, a Portuguese company that provides businesses with innovative consulting, management solutions, and specialized services. Link helps their customers to streamline business operations and achieve their goals without having to maintain cumbersome processes. Cloud computing platforms are now enabling Link to provide these services more effectively.

Look at the glass – what do you see?  Is it half full?  Is it half empty?  To a lot of start-ups, neither matter because they see a third way. Maybe they can do something totally different with the glass and on a big scale.  And it is this ‘out of the box’ thinking that is behind a whole new generation of start-ups, who if we give them a chance, could bring revenue into...

In this case study, you can read about how Aer Lingus scales up their operations with cloud computing and improves customer experience to drive revenue for the company.  

In this case study, you can read about Belgacom, a telecommunications company being able to focus on increasing competiveness after unifying its IT systems with cloud computing.  

This month’s European Cloud SME of the Month is MailTalk™, a Danish company that provides a platform for “digital dialogue”, enabling more effective and productive marketing and communications.  MailTalk is a very young company, with 10 employees, but sees global potential.  MailTalk’s sells advanced software tools that can help any organisation both automate and...

Video games are a worldwide boom industry and Europe is one of the strongest regions for potential growth. And much of that is being driven by small businesses and young entrepreneurs, who could turn their ideas into something big. Take Angry Birds from Rovio which started out as a small mobile games development studio in Finland. Now it’s a worldwide phenomenon.

In this case study, you can read about the Irish Music Rights Organisation (IMRO), a non-profit that has not only gained transparency with its operations through cloud computing, but has also helped protect music rights of musicians and producers who are an integral part of the SME economy in Ireland.

Wall Street Journal Tech Europe has become established as one of THE go-to places to find about the challenges and trends facing Europe’s ICT start-up community.  It’s also a great showcase for some of the brightest and best examples in the region.

KMS Sales and Services offers data solutions to help the healthcare industry manage facilities, staffing, and patient needs. Its service is especially useful for healthcare providers, including hospitals, clinics and insurance suppliers struggling to implement healthcare reform and to manage shrinking budgets. It helps them estimate future demand for healthcare and plan business development, when market...

The world is changing. We now have something called cloud computing!

In 2001, when chartered accountant Jacob Wandt set out to create the e-conomic accounting software – an online cooperation platform for accountants and their customers – “the cloud” was not a yet common phrase in the software industry.

In this case study, you can read about innovative entrepreneurs that opened the doors to Italian small business in helping ministries with commercial waste management.

In this case study, you can read about a partnership between Microsoft and the Spanish company, Telefónica in creating a solution for software developers to minimise their business risk by simplifying revenue collection.

SMEs form the fabric of the European economy; are they also the fabric of the European cloud?  This week, as a contribution to SME Week in Brussels, Microsoft hosted another of our Cloud Computing Policy Roundtables, this time on the topic ‘Building a European cloud by and for SMEs’.  The intent was to explore the opportunities that cloud computing has for European SMEs, and any...

I am coming back with another example of an innovative business that helps build the European cloud market, Cigler Software.

We had the great pleasure to chat with Julie Meyer, one of the leading champions for entrepreneurship in Europe, at this year’s Microsoft BizSpark Summit. Julie talked to us about the business ideas that get traction with investors, gave us some tips and tricks on successful entrepreneurship, and the role of cloud computing in driving business and economic growth in Europe. Julie introduced the...

In recognition of SME Week and in celebration of entrepreneurship in Europe, we are hosting a roundtable discussion on the benefits of cloud computing for European SMEs – as creators, service suppliers, and consumers. We invite you to join this discussion, as well as a short tour of technology demos, which will concentrate on cloud services developed by European SMEs.

As we mentioned several times before, cloud computing is an evolution in the technology industry that promises significant economic benefits in Europe – for both users and technology providers. SMEs are the engine of economic growth in Europe, and as users, SMEs will quickly take advantage of the cost reductions and productivity gains enabled by cloud computing.  Added to this, there are also...

10 capitals in just 20 days: this is the plan of Ben Rooney, editor of the Wall Street Journal’s Tech Europe, with the aim “to take the temperature of the continent and talk to the hottest start-ups in the coolest places.”  Starting on September 10th in Tel Aviv, the tour ends of 30 Sept in Dublin, fitting in Istanbul, Paris, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Tallinn, Moscow, Berlin and Barcelona...

Founded three years ago, Kobojo develops games for social media such as Facebook. Now it is developing a business model that transforms virtual currencies into hard euros.

In this case study, you can read about how cloud computing helps the Hungarian Water Rescue Service free up more than 1,500 man-days to focus on saving more lives, with the help of an innovative SME - Central Europe On-Demand (CEOD).

In this case study, you can read about Procore, a Dutch company setting precedence for other SMEs with its flexible, forward thinking business model and way of work with the smart use of cloud computing.

It’s nearly impossible for companies to stay on top of the explosion of useful information about markets, competitors and customers that crops up daily on social media and other websites. But that’s also a business opportunity – and one seized by British start-up, Artesian, which seeks to transform the torrent of web-based information into a wellspring of business intelligence.

I’m glad to see that alongside the topic of sustainable cloud computing, a central theme at this year’s BizSpark Summit will be on funding solutions for small and medium-size businesses (SMEs). It needs to be discussed.

In this case study, you can read about how TradeFacilitate, an Irish company successfully scales-up its operation to serve a larger market without proportionally adding more personnel and technology resources.

Cloud computing brings great benefits to Europe’s start-ups and SMEs in terms of cost benefits, ease to up-scale their businesses and efficient computing capabilities. Besides using the cloud power to operate their own business, SMEs also have the opportunity to widen their portfolio and innovate by building new applications and services on the cloud platforms.

For Irish entrepreneur John Dennehy, the arrival of cloud computing offered a powerful argument to launch a new company. Dennehy was convinced that many smaller businesses would shift to buying software and computer services delivered and managed over the Internet – the so-called cloud – because it would allow them to save money, grow faster and go global at a fraction of the cost.

SMEs working in the ICT arena  are very aware and started to take advantage of the significant benefits in cloud computing - particularly how it can help drive efficiencies and make products and services available to a wider audience.

I firmly believe that entrepreneurial initiatives are crucial to the growth of European economy. Startups should be able to operate in a supportive environment while pushing their innovative ideas.

A question on a lot on Irish people's minds at the moment is: where next for Ireland?  What areas do we need to focus on to restore competitiveness in the country?

Size doesn’t matter anymore, the over-riding lesson we are learning worldwide is that a business that gets ahead of the curve is a smart one, not necessarily a big one.

In this case study, you can read about how a French software development company is managing to stay competitive in the gaming industry by having an easily scalable IT cloud infrastructure that can meet demands of the unpredictable social, casual gaming market. Headquartered in Paris, France, Kobojo is a software development company that produces social, casual games that customers can access...

In this case study, you can read about how cloud computing has provided the Associated Press (AP) with new opportunities to open its revenue streams and find new customers for its content. The Associated Press (AP) provides up-to-the-minute news and information for newspapers, radio, television, and the Internet, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

In this case study, you can read about an Irish company which is enabling SMEs in Europe by developing multi-featured and highly customisable HR management tools through cloud computing.

In this case study, you can read about the new way a UK based company is engaging with its customers and building its software business due to the simplicity cloud computing is enabling the deployment of its services.

In this case study, you can read about how cloud computing helps a Nordic hotel chain save up to 3 million SEK on IT maintenance costs annually.

In this latest video recorded at the European Summit earlier this year we ask: Is Europe prepared for cloud computing? 

In this case study, you can read about an Italian company that was able to quickly develop and deploy its software to new markets just by using a cloud computing platform.

In this case study, you can read about LoveCleanStreets, a cloud-based application that helps London authorities manage street care with the help of crowdsourcing – supported by an innovative SME bbits.

Irish company InishTech Software specializes in helping Europe’s technology entrepreneurs adopt flexible licensing terms that help them be more competitive, while safeguarding their Intellectual Property (IP).

How can small businesses succeed in a market as internally varied as Europe? Will current EU regulation further help the growth process for businesses?

The BizSpark European Summit in Paris proved to be a great platform to exchange ideas and best practices for start-ups in Europe.  In fact, we came away with so much good information to share that we decided to save some of it for after the summer break.

In the final video in our cloud computing interview series we have taken clips from a number of speakers like Geert Ferranti, Sale Director – Ferranti; Jean Michel Davault, Managing Director – Hommes & Process; Wolfram Borchers, CEO – ITA systemhaus.

In our latest video looking at cloud computing today, Henk Kok, Director of Perrit, explains how cloud computing is enabling a competitive European business environment.

This video looks at the experience of entrepreneurs using the Azure platform. Aidan Gallagher, CEO Inishtech & Conor O’Riordan, CEO Tradefacilitate give us a quick overview to why they chose to use Azure for their businesses and the benefits cloud computing brings.  

In this case study, you can read about the cloud solution developed by a French SME currently deployed to more than 3500 users in 300 offices around France.

In this case study, you can read about how MiniLiner, an air-cargo firm is managing chaos caused by scaling up and saving up to €50,000 annually by switching to a cloud-based communications solution for its employees.

In this case study, you can read about cloud provides a simplified communications solution for a Spanish company who went virtual, helping them boost competitiveness and reduce costs.

In the third video in our cloud computing interview series Andrea Ferravante - Diamante, gives us the Italian perspective on the potential challenges of cloud computing. 

In the second of our cloud computing interview series we hear from Juan José Amor Cazorla, Director General – Nextel who gives some insights into the benefits of cloud computing from a Spanish perspective.

In this interview Nigel Gibbons, Executive Chariman – Unitech talks about the cloud and how it is changing the way we do business. 

Every year we bring together and discuss trending topics with business start-ups  and growing companies developing products and services on Microsoft platforms. This year we interviewed some of these developers about their views on  cloud computing.

You may have caught one of my earlier post in this video series in which I discussed why Microsoft is so involved with start-ups and entrepreneurs and give a few insights into some of the programmes we run to support them.

In this case study, you can read about how a Swiss consultancy uses cloud to boost business agility and take more time to invest in the people and in their business without worrying about infrastructure. Lodestone is a management consultancy that ensures a lean operational structure by selectively outsourcing its IT functions. It is based in Switzerland and operates across 13 countries.

In this case study, you can read about YouSAAS, a software vendor who achieved an increase of over 20,000 users in six months due to cloud computing. Founded in 2006, YouSAAS is a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner that offers its reseller and independent software vendor partners a shared platform to sell hosted solutions.

The cloud is one of the most popular terms in IT today but perhaps also one of the least well defined. FUTURES guides you through the how and the why.

Our guest blogger today is Riitta Raesmaa, partner and co-founder of Sopima, a Finnish SME and part of the Microsoft BizSpark programme!

In this case study, you can read about how the Swedish Red Cross (SRC) has boosted communication within its organisation by 50%, after implementing the Microsoft Online Service cloud offering. The Swedish Red Cross (SRC) is the largest humanitarian voluntary organisation in Sweden. Their work improving conditions for people requires a great deal of coordination across the organisation, especially...

In this case study, you can read about how a French SME was able to provide a flexible, hosted, and worry-free communication solution for its consultants through cloud. Based in Lyon, France, Peaks is an IT company with a mobile workforce of consultants deployed at customer sites. Peaks wanted better messaging and collaboration tools for its consultants to share data and expedite service. It...

In this case study, you can read about the Royal Mail Group has improved their efficiency by giving its employees reliable & simple ways to access information through the adoption of Microsoft’s cloud solution. In the United Kingdom the Royal Mail Group has expanded their IT services agreement with CSC to include Microsoft’s Business Productivity Suite from Microsoft Online...

In this case study, you can read about how Finnish company used the Microsoft Azure cloud platform to achieve rapid deployment while reducing capital expenditure in a secure way. Microsoft BizSpark member Sopima Oy, has launched an innovative business contract service. Use of the Microsoft Azure platform has helped rapid deployment while reducing capital expenditure.

We were very proud to announce the grand opening of our Dublin data centre in September 2009.

Who would start a business development for start-ups in a slump? That’s precisely when it has to be done, says Microsoft.

Microsoft’s Akhtar Badshah wants to be a disruptive influence

Microsoft's Vice President for EU affairs blogs via video on how ICT can stimulate Europe's growth

I just looked up the term Cloud computing on Google News and unless I’m doing something wrong, it appears that the term has turned up in as many news items in the last month as it has in the last year.

John Vassallo (Microsoft VP EU Affairs) outlines the crucial role small and medium enterprises active in the ICT industry play in strengthening the European Economy.

Microsoft's Vice President for EU Affairs talks about the role of ICT into driving European growth