Making the Move to Microsoft Office 365

In recent years there has been an online revolution that has begun to benefit small and medium sized businesses that are looking for more efficient ways to work. The world is becoming more accessible and at the heart of this is the development of cloud technology that means we can work on the move with greater ease than ever before.

The Benefits of Microsoft Office 365
It used to be that if you wanted the Microsoft Office suite you needed to install it manually on each computer with a disk and the chances of accessing everything remotely was a pipe dream. Nowadays, with advances in cloud services you can get optimised solutions to suit your business whether you are an SME looking for the basics or a large company with advanced IT needs.

Microsoft Office 365 provides:
• A low maintenance approach to your IT provision.
• Powerful tools that can be scaled up or down depending on your requirements.
• A secure environment for your business to operate.
• A cost effective way to run your IT services by only paying for what you use.
• The support you need to handle any problems that may arise.

The Advantages of Moving to a Cloud Based Email System
A cloud based email system such as Outlook on Office 365 provides more flexibility and greater access, wherever you find yourself in the world. The whole system allows you to share and work on documents online and improve productivity whilst working remotely. Cloud based email provisions generally offer greater storage levels which is great for businesses that deal in large files and want to send more information electronically.

Even better, employees can access their emails at anytime, anywhere, making it easier and quicker to respond to customer queries and demands.

The Difference Between Office 365 and Google Apps
Whilst they both provide the same kind of tools, there are some important differences between Microsoft Office 365 and Google Apps.
• 365 offers different versions at various prices to suit the pocket and needs of a wide variety of businesses from the small start up to large corporations.
• Microsoft’s provision offers a more robust privacy policy than Google – they state that they will categorically not use any of the information or data you store for third parties. Google, on the other hand, may use your information for advertising purposes.
• Office 365 offers the most storage space – 50GB on Outlook and 25GB on Skydrive – an important consideration for businesses that are looking to expand or regularly deal in large files.
• Google Apps is entirely online based whilst Office 365 can be installed and accessed on any desktop.
• Office 365 has more powerful features on their tools such as Excel and Word compared to Google Apps.

A cloud based office environment is now the product of choice for many businesses from SMEs to big organisations, and Office Microsoft 365 is at the forefront of innovations that keep them all competitive.