Since Microsoft rolled out its Office 365 plans, enterprises everywhere have adopted this flexible suite of cloud-based applications. Maybe your enterprise is one of them. But are you making the most of the newest capabilities in Office 365?

Essential Office 365 Benefits

You might think you, your employees, and colleagues are familiar with Office tools, but with Office 365, there are many new benefits to be had. Make sure you review these eight important benefits below and ask yourself if you’re seeing them in your operations. If you aren’t, it’s time to make Office 365 work better for you.

#1 – Are You Using the Tools You Need?

Office 365 offers a full suite of business tools to help your enterprise operate efficiently and achieve its growth goals. But are you using them?

Everyone is familiar with the classic Microsoft applications: Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Outlook, Skype for Business, and OneNote. Office 365 allows you to subscribe to all of these and more.

For online collaboration between different teams, try SharePoint. Prevent silo mentality with the social networking application—Yammer. Keep documents securely stored for easy access on OneDrive. And gain new insights into your operations to inform your business decisions with Power BI.

#2 – Do You Take Work Out of the Office?

You know Microsoft Office has the tools you need to work more efficiently. Office 365 just puts them in the Cloud so employees can access them on all their devices without the need for separate licenses and downloads.

Sending someone on a business trip? Expecting an important communication after hours? Working from home? With Office 365, workers are no longer tethered to an office desktop. They can open that shared Excel spreadsheet in a client’s office, receive and respond to emails in Outlook after dinner, and collaborate with remote colleagues on SharePoint.

Office 365 brings your workplace into the 21st century and allows you to offer employees the kind of work flexibility they want from a modern enterprise.

#3 – Are Teams Collaborating More?

Enterprises love the ease of collaboration with Office 365 applications. The suite’s many features allow employees and teams to work together on the same tasks, no matter where they are.

One such feature is Microsoft Teams. This application has calling features, a file storage system, instant messaging, and more to simplify business communications. With Microsoft Teams, you can have meetings and share documents without being in the same room, building, or even city!

Another useful tool is SharePoint. This application allows you to store and share any file you want, such as company guidelines, meeting notes, templates, and projects. Best of all, you can access files stored on SharePoint from any device. So, when you need a document on the weekend or during an international business meeting, it’s right there at your fingertips.

#4 – Are You Scaling Your Operations?

Scalability is another way Office 365 offers flexibility for your enterprise. You can pick and choose relevant applications to create custom work solutions for different teams to maximize productivity while saving money.

Facing a downsize or anticipating an expansion? You can also easily remove or add licenses as needed.

#5 – Are You Still Worried About Updates?

Never worry about using old versions of software again. Because Office 365 is in the Cloud, you will always have the latest versions of your applications at no extra cost. Microsoft automatically extends upgrades to all users and sends you information about the latest products and security patches, so you stay in the know. You never have to worry about compatibility issues or implementing upgrades when you’re using Office 365.

#6 – Do Security Concerns Keep You Up at Night?

Rest assured, Microsoft didn’t overlook security benefits when designing Office 365. Because the Cloud makes access to applications and documents so easy, some people mistakenly believe it’s not secure. But as long as you’re using Microsoft’s security measures, the Cloud is actually more secure than a server on your hard drive.

Here are a few security features you should be using with Office 365:

• Message Encryption lets you send encrypted emails that only the recipient can open.
• Advanced Threat Analytics can identify any suspicious activity in real-time, so you can react quickly and protect your enterprise.
• Mobile Device Management allows you to manage Office 365 on your employees’ mobile devices.
• Data Loss Prevention helps prevent leaks of sensitive information like credit card details, passport information, or social security numbers.

#7 – Have You Seen a Return on Investment?

While some enterprises might have questioned the costs of moving to the Cloud and subscribing to Office 365, ultimately, this change should save you money. When used to its best advantage, Office 365 can reduce the costs of mobility, technology, energy, and compliance by eliminating hardware and servers. Many enterprises see as much as a 150% ROI with Office 365. That’s a fantastic costs-saving benefit.

#8 – Are You Being Flexible?

One of the reasons Office 365 works so well for many different enterprises is its customizable plans. You can choose the plan you need and only pay for the tools and licenses you will use without a multi-year commitment.

For maximum flexibility, buy your licenses through a Cloud Service Provider (CSP) who can help you manage your Office 356 subscription. This is a great way to meet all of your enterprise’s needs, even as those needs change.

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