Office 365 for Business is much more than just Microsoft Office in the cloud. It offers many benefits for businesses, assisting growth, saving money to name a few. If you are wondering if you need Office 365, we have created a list of the top 10 benefits that Office 365 delivers to businesses, large and small…

1. Scalability

Office 365 gives you flexibility to scale your business quickly as it can grow as you grow. Businesses have the ability to use only the apps they need to create a custom solution for each user or department, and it’s easy to add or remove users.

Since you can scale up as needed, your team can continue to work with the tools they are familiar with as you grow, you don’t have to change to a new system or adapt to new tools.

2. Work Anywhere

One of the main benefits of Office 365 is the capability to work from anywhere as long as you have internet connectivity.

Because it’s entirely cloud-based, email, files and Office programs (including Word, PowerPoint, Excel, etc.) can be accessed from any location and any device. You can create, edit, and share from your PC, Mac or your iOS, Android with anyone in real time.

This is particularly beneficial for companies with multiple locations, remote employees or employees who travel often.

3. Easy Collaboration

Do you have teams that work together on tasks, documents or presentations? Then you’ll find the collaboration features of Office 365 super beneficial.

Everyone who needs to contribute to or edit a document (or spreadsheet, or presentation, etc.), can work on the same version (and get real-time changes) rather than having multiple copies. Versioning is also included in case you need to go to back to an older version.

Furthermore, with multi-party HD video, shared calendars and team chat, team members will always be in sync.

 

4. You’re always up to date

Office 365 is always up to date because it’s in the cloud, so you’ll have access to the latest versions at no additional charge; Gone are the times of software upgrades or patches. Microsoft continually adds new features and capabilities, and you have access to them as soon as they are introduced.

Compatibility issues have also become extinct because all users will be using the same version.

5. Installation on up to 5 devices per user

Multi-device usage is commonplace nowadays; From using a desktop at the office, a laptop while you travel, a tablet at home, and let face it, we’re all guilty of having a smartphone by our side 24/7. The beauty of Office 365 is that documents can now be accessed from any of these devices, and auto-syncing means that the most current version is always at hand.

 

6. Reduces Capital Spend

Office 365 is a subscription-based service, which means you pay an annual or monthly fee per user. It eliminates the large up-front costs for new software; you’re essentially leasing vs. buying. This also moves IT costs from capital to operating expenses.

Although some companies pay yearly, most plans are usually paid month-to-month, which can be helpful from a cash flow perspective. You also have the freedom to switch off services that you aren’t using to cut costs.

7. Eliminates Hardware and Reduces Energy Costs

Because office runs in the cloud, you don’t need servers for your website, emails or document storage. The cost savings are substantial; Removing onsite servers will reduce both energy costs and the need for office space to store server hardware.

8. Mix and Match Plans

Office 365 has various business plans, each with different features and programs. Each employee will have different needs so having the ability to mix and match your plan will mean you don’t pay for more than you need.

Switching between plans is straightforward, so if you have user(s) that need more or less programs or features this can be done with ease.

9. Advanced Security Features

A common misconception about the cloud is that it’s not secure. However, in reality, it isn’t necessarily any more or less safe than an on premise system. It’s all in how you use it and what security measures you put in place.

Office 365 has a lot of built in security features to keep your company’s data safe. Some of most notable include:

• Message Encryption: This feature allows you to send encrypted email, stopping anyone other than the intended recipient from reading the contents of your email. Encryption works no matter which email service the recipient uses.
• Advanced Threat Analytics (ATA): ATA uses analytics and machine learning to detect and alert you to suspicious activity straight away.
  
  ATA has built-in intelligence to learn, analyze, and identify normal and suspicious users or devices, keeping you updated in real-time.
  
  As part of this feature, emails are scanned for malicious links and attachments as they hit your network. If it detects something dodgy, it’ll stop the malicious attachment from getting in. The recipient will still get the email, but will receive a message explaining why the attachment isn’t there.
• Mobile Device Management: This feature helps you secure and manage Office on employees’ mobile devices to protect private company info. You can create and manage device security policies, remotely wipe a device, and view detailed device reports.
• Data Loss Prevention: This monitors emails and prevents sensitive information from leaving your organization.

When enabled, all emails to and from an organization are scanned for information such as credit card, passport or social security numbers.

Although Microsoft has implemented default settings, you still have the ability to decide what to do with a message once an email is deemed non-compliant with your Data Loss Prevention policies; for example, not sending the message, CC’ing management, or a warning to the employee outlining the email may contain sensitive content, etc.

10. Enhanced Email Capabilities

Office 365 users have access to the latest features on Outlook, which has a broad range of impressive email capabilities. Here’s our favorites…

• Boomerang: If you use your inbox as a to-do list, the Boomerang feature will be invaluable. Acting as a snooze button your email, it moves messages to a storage folder and brings it back into your inbox at a time you need it. Boomerang also lets you send messages at different times, it also has recipient reply notifications, and enhanced scheduling features through your Outlook calendar.
• Focused Inbox & Clutter: The ‘focused inbox’ feature automatically places what it determines are your most relevant emails into one folder and the rest into another folder. You also have ‘clutter’, which automatically de-clutters your inbox based on your preferences.
• Time Zone Management: If you struggle to manage meetings across time zones, you can now setup event start times and end times across different regions. You can also display different time zones in the calendar view of Outlook.

 

Office 365 offers some clear advantages for business, whether you need to boost your collaborative abilities, improve productivity or ensure your data stays secure. From online meetings to sharing documents to business-class email, Office 365 delivers solutions that go way beyond the installed version of Microsoft Office.