Microsoft 365 is the way forward. There’s no doubt about it.
The cloud-based office suite of programs, which used to be called Office 365, is now the recommended way to get Word, Excel, Teams and more.
Microsoft certainly make it clear that’s what they want you to buy, but is it really the best option?
It may appear to make sense to your business to make the one-off purchase of Office 2019. You can still buy this for both Home and Business as well as a bespoke enterprise solution.
However, there are clear reasons why this probably wouldn’t be the best option for most businesses.
The many benefits of 365 make it the much more appealing option. Take a look at why we think so, here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AnSuASngwK8
One of the main features of this cloud-based solution means you can use Microsoft’s apps including SharePoint and Teams wherever you are and on multiple devices.
The license isn’t tethered to one device or IP address and instead, any employee can access what they need to, on the road or at home.
In a world that is seeing more and more people remote working or working from home, this is an essential addition.
Important info can be accessed from your smartphone and if a laptop were to break or be compromised, you could quickly access data or deliver a presentation from another device.
There are some security concerns about the cloud but in reality, it is much safer than many other storage solutions.
Ultimately, all the responsibility for your data’s security lies with Microsoft and their servers and you can bet they take that seriously.
With data being on their OneDrive platform or shared across Teams and SharePoint, you don’t have to worry about procurement of expensive hardware and if something goes wrong, someone else sorts out the recovery.
There are also loads of in-built security features. These include a robust data loss prevention policy, Advanced Threat Analytics and their own Exchange Online Protection with protects against spam and malware.
365 plans are based on a monthly subscription model with no upfront cost. This is also per user so it’s scalable with your business.
The enterprise plans they are offer are also super flexible. It’s all made for organisations like yours so you can choose what you need and pay accordingly. You gotta admit, Microsoft make it easy.
All this is much better for cashflow and although it will of course work out more expensive in the long run, the cost is spread out. You don’t have to dump one big hefty payment all in one go, on a static piece of software that isn’t going to change.
This model allows your accounting team to budget for it each month, plus you get access to all these amazing features, all the time!
Well, collaboration isn’t always simple, but Microsoft 365 makes it a heck of a lot easier. It’s built primarily for teamwork and collaboration.
Programs like Teams and SharePoint are the centres of your communication and filesharing and can be customised to suit your organisation.
Permissions and access can be given to those who need it and it all links together. Something that is spoken about on Teams, can be instantly accessed and moved over from SharePoint or OneDrive.
Documents and presentations on Word and PowerPoint can be edited and proofed in real-time from remote locations.
There’s no need to keep passing documents back and forth, filling up your folders with ‘version 2.docx’, ‘version final.docx’, ‘version final edit.docx’ and so on…
The ability to have regular updates is one of the primary benefits of any cloud-based software.
Constant update notifications can be a nuisance for many consumers but for businesses and organisations these aren’t really an issue.
Microsoft allow you to sign up to an update schedule that suits you. We talked a bit about that in this blog.
Regular updates are a great help and another aspect of good cyber security, as they are often when bug fixes are released and security issues are patched up.
Not only that but new features are added, meaning you always have the most up to date version.
If you’ve not already implemented 365 into your business or you were thinking of moving to the standalone Office 2019, maybe this has convinced you to head down the cloud-based route.
For most businesses, it makes sense. The good news is you don’t have to go far to get it.
We are Microsoft 365 specialists and know how essential it is for remote working.
If you need help with it, get in touch with us today.