“I have my entire office with me in the Surface Pro and Office 365 cloud. If a client has a question, I have an immediate answer. It helps me avoid mistakes and makes me look more professional.”

Peter Murphy, Founder and Managing Director, P.M. Murphy Ltd.When Peter Murphy launched his investment advisory practice, P.M. Murphy Ltd., he decided to make a strategic shift to the cloud early on. By subscribing to Microsoft Office 365 through Vodafone Ireland, Murphy has access to all client files anytime, anywhere, from any device. With his “office on the go,” Murphy can always answer client questions, present a professional image, and generate efficiencies of about five hours each week.

When Peter Murphy worked as a private wealth manager for one of the biggest banks in Ireland, he chafed at the standard operating practice of commission-based selling. With that model, investment advice is free, and advisors make money from the investment products that they recommend. However, according to Murphy, the model is rife with conflicts of interest—advisors are motivated to sell what will make their firms money, not what’s best for the client.

Murphy left the bank to start his own investment advisory firm, P.M. Murphy Ltd., which charges fees for its advice and is thus able to find the very best investments for each of its clients. P.M. Murphy serves high-net-worth (usually €5 to €10 million in assets) individuals and some institutions. The firm consists of Murphy, an administrative assistant, and a nonexecutive director, who also provides investment strategy research.

Needed: Office on the GoMurphy’s clients trust him implicitly with their fortunes, and Murphy needed to find a technology partner that he could trust implicitly with his IT setup. While a wiz at financial advice, Murphy is a novice at technology. He launched his business with a PC, a notebook computer, and a Windows Phone device. He wanted these three devices to talk to one another and sync people, places, and documents. But

achieving synchronized harmony across his small tech universe was nearly impossible.“I would perfect a presentation on my PC and copy it to my notebook for delivery to a client,” says Murphy, Founder and Managing Director of P.M. Murphy. “However, I constantly forgot to also copy and bring other necessary documents. Or clients would ask me a question that I couldn’t answer without access to key materials. I would be forced to say, ‘I’ll get back to you on that.’”

It wasted time—as much as an hour per meeting—when Murphy had to go back to the office, track down information, and email it to a client. And he worried about it tarnishing his reputation. “I want to inspire confidence in my clients at all times,” Murphy says. “Plus, generating an extra hour’s worth of work per appointment is a huge time loss for a small business.”

Murphy had heard of Microsoft Office 365—the complete Office suite in the cloud—and thought that it would be perfect for his needs and budget. He already depended on Microsoft Excel spreadsheet software, Microsoft Word, and the Microsoft Outlook email messaging client, and he had just replaced his notebook with a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet.

“I was familiar with Microsoft products, I trusted Microsoft products, and because Microsoft has a datacenter in Dublin, Office 365 met Irish data protection laws,”

Customer: P.M. Murphy Ltd.Website: www.pmmurphy.comCustomer Size: 2 employeesCountry or Region: IrelandIndustry: Financial servicesPartner: Vodafone IrelandPartner Website: www.vodafone.ie

Customer ProfileP.M. Murphy Ltd. is an investment advisor in Dublin, Ireland. Founder Peter Murphy provides independent, unbiased investment advice to high-net-worth individuals and institutions.

Software and Services Microsoft Office 365− Microsoft Exchange Online− Microsoft Office Online− Microsoft OneDrive for Business

Hardware Microsoft Surface Pro tablet

For more information about other Microsoft customer successes, please visit: customers.microsoft.com

Microsoft Office 365Customer Solution Case Study

Investment Advisor Boosts Efficiency with Cloud-Based Office on the Go

Murphy says. “I reasoned, if Microsoft can’t do this [cloud computing] right, who can?”

Anytime, Any-Device Access to EverythingMurphy decided to get his Office 365 subscription through his local communications provider, Vodafone Ireland, an authorized Office 365 service provider. With Office 365 from Vodafone, Murphy had the peace of mind that he could work from anywhere, on any device, using a super-fast network with local support. “Vodafone’s support combines the expertise and resources of a large organization with personal, local contact, which enhances our Office 365 experience,” Murphy says.

Murphy subscribed to the Office 365 E1 plan, which provides online access to the Office applications plus email, collaboration, cloud document storage, video conferencing, instant messaging, and more.

With Office 365, Murphy puts all client and business documents in the cloud, where they are available to him anytime from any device. Today, he prepares a client presentation on his desktop computer and saves the file to Office 365. From the client’s home or office, Murphy opens the presentation on his Surface Pro, even handing the lightweight, touchscreen tablet to his client for a “hands-on” view of his or her investments.

“It’s a relief not to have to copy files or worry about what I’m missing when I head off to meetings,” Murphy says. “I have my entire office with me in the Surface Pro and Office 365 cloud. If a client has a question, I have an immediate answer. It helps me avoid mistakes and makes me look more professional.”

Significant Time Savings Murphy estimates that having access to everything he needs at all times saves him about five hours a week—one hour per client meeting. “That adds up to a huge amount of time over the course of a year,” he says.

Although currently happy with his approximately 10 clients, Murphy notes that the efficiencies he gained with Office 365 would make it easy for him to double his

client base. “The only way I can expand my business and income without adding more people is to be more efficient,” Murphy says. “With Office 365, I can do that.”

If Murphy decides to expand his business by adding more advisors, he can easily do that, too, by ordering more Office 365 licenses through Vodafone Ireland. Any new employees will be up and running on the latest technology the day that they join the firm.

Persistent Client ConnectionsMurphy checks email on his Windows Phone the first thing in the morning, the last thing at night, and throughout the day when he’s out and about. “Having my phone connected with Office 365 is brilliant,” Murphy says. “When clients call, I can answer their questions immediately, because all the information I need is in the palm of my hand. A prompt response to client questions enhances my professionalism and my service.”

Great ValueLicensing Office 365 through Vodafone Ireland has been great for Murphy’s budget, too. “The Office 365 cost model is absolutely perfect for me,” Murphy says. “I know exactly what I’m going to pay, and my costs are enumerated on my monthly phone bill. I wanted something that was reliable, highly secure, flexible, and priced well, and I got all of that with Office 365—it’s fantastic and does the job.”

This case study is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.

Document published February 2015