For more than 25 years, Microsoft Office has been the industry standard for small, medium, and large enterprises. Offering a suite of applications that increase productivity and provide solutions for day to day tasks, more than 1.2 billion people use Office applications every year.
Microsoft has continually developed their Office suite to provide improved functionality and new features, and recently they’ve shifted to a more versatile SaaS (Software as a Service) model. Office 365 is the latest iteration of Office for businesses, and it incorporates everything that was available on the traditional desktop platform, with additional value offered to subscribers.
These are the top benefits of Office 365 Cloud for your business.
A Subscription Based Model Means You’re Always Up to Date
Keeping software up to date is important. Not only does it mean that you get access to the latest features, but it also ensures that you are using the latest security and stability patches. An Office 365 subscription means that you and your staff will always have access to the latest online and desktop versions of Microsoft Office software.
You Can Still Install Office Locally on Your Workstations
Office 365 incorporates a number of innovations made possible with cloud computing, but you will still get access to locally stored offline versions of applications like Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and OneNote. This makes the transition to Office 365 seamless, and unlike some competing cloud software, work can be done even without an internet connection.
Collaboration is Possible with SharePoint and OneDrive
Collaboration is important for today’s businesses, and allowing your staff to collaborate can allow for better project management, business outcomes, and it can even reduce time required to complete tasks. Online based components of Office 365 like OneDrive and SharePoint allow for knowledge sharing, file sharing, and collaboration through shared documents. Office 365 can also be used for collaboration between businesses.
Office 365 Makes Deployment Easier
Because Office 365 works on a subscription basis, software deployments can be authorized and provided to users from wherever they have an internet connection. Teams will no longer need to wait for IT support to get applications installed on new machines, and it makes rollout to remote sites and field workers much easier and faster.
Your Office Can Become Decentralized and More Accessible
Teams on the road can access cloud based data from any location, and this data will always be up to date and visible to teams at head office or other sites. Access extends to smartphones and iOS devices, making BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) a real possibility for businesses both small and large.
Security Can Be Configured to Control User Access
Documents stored in your Office 365 cloud through SharePoint or OneDrive can be provisioned with access permissions that ensure only authorized staff can see them. Access is logged and can be audited, with each user having a unique identity on your Office subscription. This makes it simple to share important information without having to worry about it becoming visible to the wrong team members. Overall, the security offered by Office 365 could greatly reduce the load on your IT team, and could even eliminate the need for full time IT staff, allowing you to instead rely on more efficient managed IT services.
Office 365 Lets You Work with Familiar Applications
One of the most significant benefits of all is that Office 365 allows you to work with the software you’re familiar with. Almost every professional has a working knowledge of Microsoft Office, and many have advanced skills for databases, spreadsheets, and other document types. There’s no learning curve with Office 365 because it uses the same industry standard software that companies trust.
With the addition of cloud collaboration, cloud storage, robust security, and an always up-to-date subscription model, Office 365 is the most compelling productivity suite available on the market today.