Office 365 is a cloud-based productivity suite that delivers popular Microsoft Office applications (e.g., Excel, PowerPoint, Word, etc.) — plus some apps you may not know — on a subscription basis. This allows small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to affordably leverage tried-and-tested office applications and enjoy the following benefits:

#1. Reduced IT costs

Office 365 lets SMBs cut down costs on many aspects. Right from the start, you can lessen your office technology’s total cost of ownership because you’re moving from owned hardware to a cloud subscription model.

Since the ownership of IT infrastructure is taken on by Office 365, you can shut down outdated file and email servers and not worry about replacing them. This also means not having to spend on their maintenance, management, and support. You also won’t need to hire IT staff just for patching servers and resolving hardware failures.

What’s more, you won’t need to manage on-premises storage since Office 365 gives each user ample storage through Exchange Online. You can even go a step further to save inbox space by taking advantage of Office 365’s OneDrive cloud storage to share attachments.

You can also save on unexpected expenses for new updates, upgrades, patches, or licenses since Microsoft constantly maintains and updates your Office 365 applications without additional charges.

#2. Anytime, anywhere work access

Since Office 365 runs in the cloud, your staff can easily access their work files and tools all day, using any internet-connected device. Files are automatically synced to reflect the most recent edits, so users are always accessing the latest version of their documents. This allows them to work anywhere — even outside the office or while in transit — which boosts their productivity and allows them to immediately address customers’ demands.

#3. Collaboration and teamwork

Given the cloud-based nature of Office 365, your employees can work together on documents without having to email each other back and forth. For example, all of them can access the same version of a PowerPoint file and work on that file simultaneously, in real time.

Aside from that, Office 365 is also packed with a lot of collaboration tools such as:

  • Skype for Business – Instant messaging software that allows text, voice, and video chats
  • Yammer Enterprise – Social network and communication platform
  • Microsoft Planner – Tool that enables a simple, visual way to organize teamwork
  • Microsoft Teams – Chat-centered workspace that organizes a team’s chat, video calls, voice calls, documents, and files

Because these apps work seamlessly together, your staff can collaborate efficiently. For example, the Skype in-app integration allows users to video chat and screen-share right inside documents so they can receive feedback without having to leave the file. Having all of these applications under one roof creates a more unified user experience that ultimately boosts productivity and teamwork.

#4. Guaranteed uptime

Leveraging Microsoft’s geo-redundancy, state-of-the-art hardware, redundant power supplies, and built-in disaster recovery systems, Office 365 offers a financially backed guarantee of 99.9% uptime. In short, SMBs can always rely on the availability and superb performance of Office 365, so they can provide first-rate service to their customers.

#5. Security and privacy

Office 365 utilizes enterprise-grade, multilayered security, so you’re ensured that sensitive information — be it your customer’s, business partner’s, or your own — is kept private and secure. Some of its built-in security features include:

 

Feature Benefit(s)
Email encryption
  • Ensures that the intended recipient is the only person who can read an email
Data loss prevention (DLP)
  • Checks and prevents sensitive information like social security numbers from leaving the organization via email
Mobile device management (MDM)
  • Monitors, manages, and secures employee’s mobile devices used for work

 

  • Allows you to lock devices or wipe their data if they’re lost/stolen
Advanced threat analytics (ATA)
  • Alerts you of any suspicious behavior on the network using analytics and machine learning (ML)

 

  • Scans emails as they come through the network, eliminating any malicious links and attachments before they reach the employee

 

Please note that not every feature is available across all Office 365 plans, so make sure you choose a plan that comes loaded with all the capabilities your business needs.

Time to subscribe to Office 365

Office 365 helps SMBs get a lot of power, flexibility, and functionality at a lower cost while still meeting their requirements for manageability, reliability, security, and privacy. So let Red Key Solutions help you smoothly transition to Office 365. We’ve helped over 100 businesses conquer their tech challenges, and we’re more than ready to also be your comprehensive technology guide. Partner with us today!

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