Office 365 might be more affordable than the up-front licensing cost of its predecessors, but there’s far more benefits to it than just its price. From keeping all your files in one convenient location to providing better security, here are some benefits of having Office 365 in your small business.
Boosts Productivity
Here’s how productivity looked like in the past. Let’s say you’ve started working on a bunch of files at the office in Lake Forest. If you wanted to have access to those same files at home, in a coffee shop in Irvine, a customer’s store in Mission Viejo, or some hotel across the globe, you’d have to either copy those files to a laptop or save them on a USB stick.
Suddenly your laptop crashes or you lose your USB stick, now you’re at a standstill. If you had Office 365, all your files would be stored on OneDrive, Microsoft’s file hosting service. This cloud-based service allows you to maximize your working hours by accessing files at any time across numerous devices—even on your customer’s desktop.
And because Office 365 comes with iOS and Android apps, you can also access those files on your mobile device. That means, you can easily review that report, presentation, or spreadsheet on your way to your appointment.
Stimulates Collaboration
In the past, collaborating on a document meant sending email attachments back and forth. After reviewing and editing a document, you attached it to an email and then sent it to your group mate.
Team members couldn’t work simultaneously. You had to wait until the other party was done and the file was handed back to you before you could make your own changes, comments, or suggestions.
In Office 365, documents are stored on the cloud, so all team members can access the same document (not several copies of the same document) and then make comments, suggestions, and edits at the same time. Because there’s no waiting time and collaboration is done in real-time, projects can be completed much faster.
Offers More Security
Software updates are essential for all software applications. It helps ensure an application has the latest features, functions, bug fixes, and vulnerability patches.
For updates to be truly effective, they must be applied as soon as they’re available. Otherwise, you’ll be giving malicious individuals the opportunity to exploit a known vulnerability. Unpatched vulnerabilities are often the entry points of ransomware, exploit kits, viruses, worms, rootkits, and other malware.
While timely updates are ideal, they’re easier said than done. Small businesses seldom have a dedicated system administrator who can regularly check for the latest updates and apply them.
Office 365 updates automatically, so you don’t have to check, which means you can be sure your Office 365 is always the latest and safest.
Enhances Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery
In this cut-throat economy, you can’t afford to have any extended downtime. But that can happen when a disaster strikes. A malware outbreak, long power outage, or even natural disasters can prevent you from doing business.
Office 365 stores copies of your files in the cloud, which means they can be retrieved as soon as you have access to a computer. If your entire office (and the computers in it) is completely incapacitated, you can rent a couple of Windows-based computers, access your Office 365 files from there, and get back to business without a hiccup.
An Office 365 migration provides tremendous benefits to small businesses. It’s one of the most affordable ways of improving several areas in your organization.
Unless you want your competitors to get a head start, the time to migrate is now.
BRITECITY is an Orange County IT Services firm supporting local businesses in the area of Managed IT Services, Cyber Security, Cloud Services and Strategic IT.