Why Winston-Salem Businesses Should Move to Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 is eliciting quite a buzz from businesses of all sizes these days. More and more businesses are becoming increasingly comfortable with the idea of using cloud-based platforms to enhance productivity at a calculable, flexible cost.
According to a recent report, approximately 70% of Fortune 500 companies have already taken their business data to Microsoft 365, and small and medium-sized businesses are now following suit. SMBs have started implementing Microsoft’s productivity suite into their daily operations to leverage various Microsoft applications to meet their constantly changing business needs.
Moving to Microsoft 365 Brings Several Benefits To Your Business
Moving to Microsoft 365 from an on-premise IT environment poses a significant step for any organization. Migrating to the cloud not only introduces a wide array of tools but also paves the way for new routines and workflows. On top of that, it enables you to rethink productivity.
Here is an outline of the top benefits businesses can get when they migrate to Microsoft 365:
1. Enhanced Mobile Access for Anywhere, Anytime Productivity
Microsoft 365 combines a full suite of mobile apps with the power of cloud computing, making it easier for employees to remain productive while working on-site or remotely. Microsoft 365 apps usually focus on individual applications (Excel, Teams, Word, etc.) and are free for small mobile devices. Depending on your business’s needs, you may want to look past these standard apps to create the ultimate digital workplace.
For example, you can use PowerApps to build an application that can be accessed from any mobile device. The power of Microsoft 365 apps such as SharePoint, OneDrive, and Planner enables you to focus on delivering your business’s mission instead of worrying about whether your team is staying connected and productive while on the go.
2. Streamlined Knowledge-Sharing
Most businesses already use OneDrive and SharePoint for document management. These apps help them improve searchability, free business data from file shares, and offer solutions for managing user access and versioning history. Independently, these capabilities help enhance knowledge-sharing and productivity, but Microsoft 365 takes them a step up a notch. With Microsoft 365’s cloud-based SharePoint Online, the enhanced user interface and interconnectivity not only offers seamless document sharing but also makes it easy to manage documents in cloud-based libraries.
And given that Microsoft 365 integrates Microsoft Teams with SharePoint Online, it also enhances employee communication during task management and document creation. For instance, in case an employee has questions about changes in a document, they can easily send an instant message to a colleague via integrated Teams features.
3. Business Continuity
With documents and files stored in the cloud and frequently backed up, your business will continue to operate normally in the event of a disaster in your office. Regardless of what happens to your physical devices, your files, data, and emails are safely stored in the cloud. Additionally, Exchange also has recovery features – this means individual emails or even the whole inbox can be restored if need be. No matter the situation, it can be business as usual if you’re using Microsoft 365.
4. Enhanced Internal and External Collaboration
Microsoft 365’s collaboration and communication tools will enable your employee base to collaborate effectively with each other as well as with external partners. Whereas email is a great communication channel for certain tasks, including sharing official documents, recording information, and creating an electronic record of an event, it is not as efficient for other collaboration activities.
When it comes to co-authoring documents and quick questions, SharePoint Online sites and Microsoft Teams workspaces provide better ways of sharing information. By integrating these solutions, Microsoft 365 enables businesses to have a multifaceted collaborative work environment that eliminates geographical barriers to productivity and puts knowledge into actionable context. It does this while maintaining the highest levels of security and compliance, including content expiration, data loss prevention, and other common ways of restricting access to data.
5. Optimization of Costs
Unlike earlier versions of Office products that had to be repurchased and installed every time a new version comes out, Microsoft 365 is paid for as a subscription model. With it, upgrades are part of the monthly cost. This means that you’ll always be operating with the latest version.
There are different types of Microsoft 365 licenses and plans from which you can choose. As such, you can optimize costs depending on your business’s needs. You can also quickly scale costs with your user base. Whenever someone’s license usage increases, the associated costs usually go up, but when someone leaves, it goes down. Moreover, as you pay on a per-user monthly basis, you can predict your budget correctly.
6. Efficient Communication Platforms
In large enterprises, communication usually covers a wide range of activities, most of which begin with a teamwork solution or a corporate intranet. Among other tasks, a corporate intranet enables you to deliver services and information and provides a central hub for employees who want to learn more about overall initiatives and explore resources.
SharePoint Online is an excellent platform for creating an enterprise intranet, and Microsoft 365 enables you to facilitate it without the technical burden of having to manage your own server and on-premise infrastructure.
And as for general communication outside of the corporate intranet, services that are integrated inside Microsoft 365, such as Teams, improve your ability to communicate effectively with colleagues in the digital workplace.
7. Increased ROI (Return on Investment)
While cloud solutions aren’t new, you can have one suite that controls them all. Whether you are a business seeking to deliver the best customer experience or a non-profit organization working towards a one-of-a-kind mission, Microsoft 365 removes the headache of managing daily tasks. Businesses can integrate tasks such as process automation, teamwork, compliance, and security into a single suite. With proper change management and adoption, the fully integrated solution can drive both individual and organizational productivity at a lower cost.
Wrap Up
There are several benefits businesses can gain from Microsoft 365, from greater flexibility to productivity gains and improved communication and collaboration to increased ROI. Your employees need the right tools and applications, whether they are working from home or the office.
With the right Microsoft partner, your team will be equipped with the tools to drive your business forward. Parkway Tech is the ideal IT services and support company for Winston-Salem businesses. Our IT solutions will take care of your business’s IT needs today, all while planning for tomorrow. Contact us today to learn more about our services.
