If you own a business, naturally you want it to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible. You want an easy way to create business documents, run spreadsheets and create compelling presentations. You also want an effective way to store documents, safely and securely—and you want all these capabilities on your business computers and accessible from any browser.
That might have been a challenge in the past, but not anymore. Now, there’s Microsoft Office 365.
WHAT IS OFFICE 365?
Office 365 is a subscription service that offers a wide range of integrated online solutions to increase the productivity and efficiency of your business—everything from web conferencing to hosted email and online storage. That means key office applications for both desktops and mobile devices, a wide variety of online services, reliability, security, easy administration and robust support.
Specifically, subscribers to Office 365 comes with the following benefits to users:
- Office applications for PCs and Macs—you’ll get the most recent versions of Excel, PowerPoint and Word, along with OneDrive for Business, OneNote, Publisher and Access.
- Office applications for mobile devices—this includes the same apps you get for desktops, as well as Yammer and Skype for Business.
- Online services—Office 365 gives users cloud storage for every user (accessible from anywhere), online versions of principal apps, as well as interactive reporting functionality.
- Additional benefits for subscribers: subscribing to Office 365 means reliable service (including more than 99% uptime), data security, user-friendly administration, automatic updates, active directory integration and outstanding customer support (offered via phone and online, along with helpful tutorials and community forums).
IS THE NEW OFFICE 365 DIFFERENT FROM PREVIOUS VERSIONS?
Every business is different, and each needs to decide what capabilities and functionalities will best help it meet its key business objectives. For that reason, it’s important to compare Office 365 with other versions of Office, particularly Office 2019.
For one thing, whereas Office 2019 is a one-time purchase (which means the businesses which use it pay a single, upfront cost), Office 365 is a subscription service with small monthly payments (you also have the option to pay on an annual basis). For another, with Office 2019, customers don’t get the update options (such as those for security and regular bug fixes) which many see as a key benefit of Office 365.
In addition, you can only install Office 2019 on a single computer (either a PC or a Mac). On the other hand, you can install Office 365 on all your devices (and sign in to 5 simultaneously), including mobile devices like tablets and smartphones—this means your business and its employees can use Office 365 wherever they are and whatever device they’re using. And, with Office 365, you can securely store your business files in the cloud, allowing you to access them from anywhere (specifically, you’ll get 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage for each user, including yourself and as many as 5 others).
WHAT ARE THE PRINCIPAL BENEFITS OF OFFICE 365 FOR BUSINESS?
Office 365 offers a variety of important benefits for business, including the following 4:
- You’ll stay up and running—no matter what: about 25% of businesses never reopen following a major disaster. Because Office 365 offers cloud storage, you’ll have the peace of mind of knowing that such a disaster won’t adversely impact your business.
- You’ll have built-in security: Office 365 and Sea to Sky Network Solutions will keep your data safe—and ensures that your business receives timely and important security updates.
- You’ll be able to work from anywhere: with Office 365, you no longer need a virtual private network (VPN). All you need is an internet connection.
- You’ll have predictable, monthly costs: You can add or delete users to suit your needs and change your plan to meet the changing demands of your business.
As noted above, every business is different, and only you can decide what’s best for yours. That said, Office 365 offers a unique and comprehensive set of business solutions, ease of administration, and cloud storage, all of which are helping business owners run their companies more efficiently and meet their primary objectives more effectively—it’s one of the reasons Office 365 now has more than 120 million business users.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that Office 365 is right for your business. What it does mean is that owe it to yourself and your business to check out its many benefits. Contact Sea to Sky Network Solutions today to learn more about the different options for your business
