Video Transcript:
Are you a business that’s ready to move to a 100% cloud infrastructure like most modern business have? If so, Microsoft Office 365 is worth considering for its powerful suite of business applications. With files fully stored online, employees are able to access files from any computer from anywhere in the world with internet access. They just need to open a web browser like Chrome or Internet Explorer and then can work with Office 365 regardless the device being used.
So what is Office 365 exactly? It’s been around for a while, always evolving, but there is still confusion about what it is and how it supports businesses. Think of Office 365 as a toolbox rather than a single program. Each company will likely use it differently, but as a suite of tools, it has all or nearly all of what most businesses will need for foundational operations.
For some businesses, Office 365 may be all you need. Some businesses, of course, will need to layer an additional cloud software application specific to their industry. Much like an actual toolbox in Office 365, there will be tools employees use frequently like a favorite hammer.
Other tools may be used less often, but are valuable when needed, and some tools may be rarely used. The good news is that none of the tools in Office 365 requires robust technical skills. They were built for the power business user, the non-tech person who needs to get a job done.
So what’s in the Office 365 toolbox? Well, let’s take a look. First, we have Outlook Online, which is email and calendars. The big advantage here is that employees have access to their email and calendar from anywhere.
The toolbox also includes OneDrive for files and folders. For security, most companies don’t want their employees storing important documents directly on their computers. If a computer crashes or an employee leaves the company and no one knows the files are stored there, data can be lost forever.
Or if a laptop with sensitive information on it is lost, it can pose a serious liability. For years, the solution to this problem was the dreaded shared drive. A more modern solution is to move away from shared drives, and move these files online in the cloud for two key reasons.
First is cost. Online storage is cheaper than maintaining a growing number of file servers and data centers. Maintaining servers is expensive.
Second is efficiency and convenience. Corporate file servers are behind company firewalls, which means employees can only access files if on the company network. Moving these files online makes them more accessible.
The beauty of OneDrive is that it replaces both the local folders on your computer, as well as the shared drive. However, employees can still create directory structures and manage files, just like they would on a computer. The experience of working with files and folders in OneDrive is very similar to working locally.
The biggest change and benefit is the physical location of those files, which is in the cloud. Office 365 also includes SharePoint and Teams as powerful collaboration spaces. Let’s look at SharePoint first.
This is one of the most underutilized tools in Office 365, but it’s only because a lot of users don’t know its power and value. With SharePoint, employees can quickly create a collaboration space for a team to work in that is flexible and customizable. They build advanced website and intranets with SharePoint, but there are also some basic uses most businesses will find helpful.
First are lists. A list for anything can be created quickly. An example would be a standard operating procedure checklist.
Next up are document libraries. Much like OneDrive, Teams can store files inside document libraries with a SharePoint site. It’s important to note that in Office 365, you can store files in SharePoint or OneDrive.
Pages are also helpful for some teams. With just a little know-how, employees can design and publish webpages for your team or organization. An example might be a webpage for a specific project.
Now, let’s take a look at Teams. With the way modern teams tend to work, like writing less emails and preferring more immediate interaction through chat, Teams is becoming a top choice for collaboration. While the user experience in SharePoint can be customized in Teams, the space is the same, but different features can be added or removed.
In Teams, you can create chat threads on specific topics, or upload and share files to your team space, and of course, schedule and conduct video meetings similar to how Zoom works. Office 365 also features all of the traditional Microsoft Office applications businesses rely upon, including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. More recently, Office 365 has an add-on product called Copilot, which is an AI companion to improve productivity and efficiency, which many businesses are finding valuable.
It’s worth noting that a concern about Office 365 in the cloud is that it won’t be as secure as traditional server farms, which is simply not true. Data in Office 365 is protected behind multi-factor authentication mechanisms to provide even better security than traditional servers, with the added benefit of accessibility via the cloud. In the end, the Office 365 solution is more secure, more accessible, and more cost-effective than server farms by leveraging Microsoft data loss prevention, Azure information protection, and multi-factor authentication.
If you’re not in the cloud using Office 365, it can be a bit daunting to figure out how to make the transition, but it really is a jump worth making for businesses, both for cost savings and efficiency. As a local Arizona-managed IT services firm serving only Arizona businesses, we’ve helped dozens of companies successfully make the transition to Office 365 and reap the rewards. If you’re ready to move away from on-prem or outdated shared drive environments to a secure, affordable, and powerful solution, give us a call.
We’d love to help you out.
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