It’s very rare for businesses nowadays to not use Microsoft Office 365. A tech giant that’s been around for decades now, Microsoft has proven itself—time and again—to be something of an industry leader, pushing out innovative technologies we never knew we needed.
If your business is one of the rare few that has yet to switch over, keep reading. This article should prove interesting and informative.
What is Office 365?
Hailed as the ultimate productivity suite for small and medium-sized businesses (and maybe even some on the larger scale), Microsoft Office 365 hosts eight flagship Microsoft applications and over a dozen other programs for personal use and/or occupational operations. If you’ve ever used Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Outlook, then you know how intuitive, comprehensive, user-friendly, and dependable Microsoft apps are. The same state-of-the-art technology and ease-of-use interface is present in every Office 365 service.
To say that Microsoft Office 365 has something for any company in any industry is undeniable. From flexible pricing to fully-customizable services, it may be exactly what your business needs to achieve momentum.
How Can it Help My Business?
By subscribing to Microsoft Office 365, you and your team gain access to a host of productivity applications and cloud-based services from Microsoft—Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access … just to name a few. Depending on your subscription level, all these programs (and more) can be legally installed across multiple devices within your professional network using one single license.
MS Office 365 also offers business-specific, internet-only services specifically for organizations. These services include in-network communication, hosting, and organization for businesses. Some example; Skype for Business Web Conferencing and OneDrive for Business.
Here are 5 of Microsoft Office 365’s Top Benefits
1. More Security
Being a primarily cloud-based service, MS Office 365 has beefed up their security detail. With 100% privacy, greater threat intelligence, and the option to refuse cloud storage back-up, Microsoft has heard consumer concerns regarding potential security risks and has deemed it prudent to address them all.
The proof is also quite evident in the fact that multiple companies are quite comfortable delegating a majority of their data to Office 365 apps and servers. Despite being out for more than a decade now, there have yet to be reports of major data breaches and security failures.
2. Increased Productivity
This almost seems like a given, seeing as it’s marketed as a productivity suite, but Office 365 does, in fact, help improve productivity in both professional and personal settings. It should come as no surprise, considering Microsoft has been improving “basic” operations like word processing, information tabulation, and data presentation through their state-of-the-art programs for years. They’ve brought that same innovation and ease-of-use mindset to Office 365, and the results have been nothing short of stunning.
On top of their eight flagship applications, they’ve released a handful of new services and programs to help organize communication, manage collaborations, eliminate downtime, and improve organization. They even released Office 365 Business—a host of MS applications specifically tailored to improving common business processes.
3. Better than G-Suite
No shade, just truth; MS Office 365 is so much better than whatever G-Suite has to offer. They may seem highly similar at first glance, with applications that are practically carbon copies of the other. Case in point: MS Word and Google Docs, Excel Spreadsheets and Google Sheets.
Most startups on a budget often prefer using G-Suite’s free features while waiting for a more permanent office system—despite the lack of customization and storage space. Once they have their finances in order, they’ve grown so used to G-Suite’s interface, they decide to just upgrade their free subscription to a paid one in order to skip the move and still get all the goodies.
They might think they’re not missing out on much due to the similarity of both productivity suites, but trust us; they are. Microsoft Office 365 and G-Suite have distinct differences—ones that will definitely impact your business’s budget and productivity over time. And as far as we’re concerned, Office 365 is the better choice. It’s cost-effective, intuitive, and offers a ton of powerful features compared to G-Suite plans of the same or similar pricing.
4. Packed with Applications
This is a long one, but it is definitely worth mentioning. Microsoft Office 365 has an application for practically any occupational operation you can think of. Whether you’re a fresh startup or a stable, medium-sized business, there is an app—or handful of apps, actually—available in this productivity suite that your company can, in fact, come to depend on. From the universally-used Word and Excel programs to the more business-specific Skype for Business and StaffHub, Office 365 addresses the common concerns of most organizations with an intuitive, comprehensive, and user-friendly application. Sounds hard to believe, but it’s true.
5. Cloud Based
This is yet another reason why Microsoft Office 365 is such a godsend for businesses. Documents, contacts, connections, forms, files, dossiers—these are the backbone of organizations, and most modern organizations depend on digital storage to keep them safe. Unfortunately, nothing in life is perfect, and technology is no exception. Despite the undeniable durability of hardware, the risk of system failures, manual crashes, and digital data wipes are still very much present.
Hence, the ingenuity of cloud-based storage. Most of Office 365 applications are enabled in cloud-based servers. This means there is always a ready back-up of your files that you can easily access, no matter what device or connection you’re on.
In the end, what you use to improve your business’s productivity is entirely your choice. If you’re content with your current systems, then you shouldn’t feel pressured to change. However, if you desire growth and want to avoid stagnating, a little change could provide you with some fresh perspective—and a burst of renewed energy.
If you’re seriously considering making the switch over to Microsoft Office 365, don’t be afraid to call in the professionals. Migrating all your existing information over to an entirely new suite can be complicated and time-sensitive. It’s a process you should definitely seek professional help for.
