Let’s face it - technology has changed considerably in the last decade. While most businesses used to host their own email, very few businesses do nowadays.
If you can remember back to the good ‘ol days, you might recall your in-house server crashing and leaving your business without email. If you’re lucky, and you had solid backups and hardware at the ready, you might be down for just a few hours, but if you had no backups or new hardware available, you could be down for several days. That’s a terrifying thought. Email is the backbone of almost all businesses today. You use it to communicate with your partners, vendors, customers, colleagues, and your family and friends. And without it, your business could be in trouble.
To avoid downtime and technical frustrations, businesses have transitioned to cloud-based subscription services – like Office 365 or Gsuite. By making the switch to Office 365, businesses no longer need to maintain and configure their own email infrastructure.
Office 365 is monthly subscription services that includes email, Microsoft Office applications, and even collaboration tools like SharePoint and OneDrive that are not included in the traditional office suite – depending on the package you select. Here are 5 benefits you get when you move to Office 365:
- Flexibility: With an Office 365 license you can download Microsoft Office apps on up to 5 devices at a time. That means you can access Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook on any of your devices. Whether it’s a desktop computer, laptop, tablet or your mobile phone. That means you can access your documents from any one of your devices - whether you are on the go, at a coffee shop, in bed, or at the office. Here’s another bonus: If you happen to replace any one of your devices, you don’t need to buy the subscription again, you can just install the software on your new device.
- Accessible Anywhere, Anytime! Office 365 is a cloud-based service. That means you and your team can work from anywhere, anytime. As long as you have an internet connection, you have the ability to access your office applications and email – anywhere, from any device. And if you store your files in OneDrive, you can access all your important documents from anywhere too!
- Communicate and Collaborate Easily: O365 includes several tools that make it easier for you to communicate and collaborate with your team, and your customers. Office 365 includes a program called Microsoft Teams (formerly Skype for Business) that allows you to communicate instantly with your team, regardless of their location. It also includes OneDrive and SharePoint – both very powerful storage and collaboration tools. OneDrive allows you to store and access all your files in an encrypted cloud-based repository, while SharePoint allows you to share documents with your team and edit them together!
- Data Control and Security Features: Microsoft offers built-in security features with Office 365. When you use Office 365, you receive enterprise-grade data security on all your devices. This helps keep your sensitive company data safe from a cyber-attack. O365 includes: spam filtering (although this is only a basic filter), email antivirus scanning, and controls to help regulate who has access to what data. These tools are built into Office 365, which means you don’t need to spend additional time and money sourcing and implementing these security protocols in your business.
- Up-To-Date Software: When you use Office 365, you always have access to the latest versions of Office at no additional cost. That means your devices receive the most up-to-date features, and you don’t need to go through the hassle of uninstalling and reinstalling Office every time there’s a new feature. You will have access to the same up-to-date version of Office on all devices.
Office 365 is the new model for business email. Not only does it simplify email management, it also includes a wide range of cloud and collaboration tools that making it easier for you to communicate with your team, your clients, and your vendors. If you are considering Office 365 and want to know if it’s a good fit for you, please give us a call at (416) 966-3306, or send an email to [email protected] and someone from our office will be in touch to assist.