Taking Your Business to the Cloud

Microsoft Office 365 is the cloud-based evolution of its blockbuster productivity suite, allowing users to access standard Office applications on any connected device they own. Because it’s a web-based platform it receives regular updates and makes it easy for users to share documents with their colleagues, supporting busy teams who are making every minute count.

Since you are probably curious about how cloud technology might make a difference in your business – and in your bottom line – we highlighted a few ways that Office 365 can boost your business productivity.

Access from Any Device

Possibly the most exciting thing about Office 365 is that it can be accessed from any device, at any time. Instead of buying the standard product license for one machine at the office, users purchase a subscription that allows them to run the software on up to five different devices, including PC, Mac, iPhone, Android and others. This subscription model frees up staff to choose where and when they want to work, meaning they can respond to important messages immediately and get important work done even after the office has closed. And it frees up your business to spend less on software package upgrades and installation.

Seamless Collaboration

Office 365 enables document sharing and collaboration in real time, so multiple people can work on the same documents even when they’re located in different offices, cities or countries. When employees can work on projects collaboratively there’s no need to store multiple copies of the same files on individual computers.

Because real-time collaboration allows you to edit documents while your colleagues are still working on them, there’s less chance for conflicts or losing feedback, as each user can “see” what the other is doing and changes are recorded. Office 365 also enables advanced collaboration through its central project tracking capabilities, enabling people to work together on presentations, PowerPoints and spreadsheets without confusion.

Plan Flexibility

Office 365 has a solution for every kind of business environment. Whatever your company’s size today or tomorrow, Microsoft has a plan to meet your needs. Office 365 plans are split into three separate families: K Plans, E Plans and P Plans. The K Plans are for “kiosk workers” who rarely use a PC to perform their duties, spending maybe 10 percent of their time at the keyboard. The E Plans are for typical enterprise workers who spend around two-thirds of their time on a PC. Meanwhile the P plans are for smaller businesses with fewer than 25 employees.

Streamlined Outlook Processes

Some aspects of Outlook have been optimized in Office 365 to make communication work more smoothly and efficiently. For example, to find the office location in your prospect’s email signature, in the standard Office package you’d have to copy the address, open a web browser search, paste in the address and hit enter to find where it is on the map. To do this with Office 365, you can simply click the Bing Maps app button that appears in every email that includes an address.

My Team Groups

Office 365 has added a useful tool that allows users to organize communications within a project team, for example. With Groups, it’s possible to organize all of the files in a single location where everyone can access, edit and share them as required. Groups can also be connected in calendar invitations so everyone knows about the latest deadlines, next meeting, schedule changes and so on that are relevant for their particular projects and teams. The Conversations tool also enables virtual meetings for team members who aren’t located in the same place.

These innovations in Office 365 are maximizing the advantages of cloud technology to boost productivity in the workplace. We’d like to help you explore how Office 365 can help your business generate better results – call DMS Technology now.