why choose microsoft office 365 for business?

WHY CHOOSE MICROSOFT OFFICE 365 FOR BUSINESS? TEN GREAT REASONS TO CHOOSE OFFICE 365 FOR BUSINESS AS YOUR PREFERRED PRODUCTIVITY SUITE.

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INTRODUCTION.

Many small business owners and key decision makers are opting to transition to the cloud using

SaaS applications such as Microsoft Office 365. Why are cloud services rising in popularity and what

are some of the reasons you should consider using Office 365 for Business?

Currently, Microsoft Office 365 is unsurpassed in the Software as a Service (SaaS) market with a

rich set of capabilities that help small business professionals increase productivity and improve

collaboration among team members. From enterprise level email and applications to powerful

collaboration tools, more small businesses are moving to the cloud with an Office 365 subscription.

Office 365 is a cost effective alternative to the traditional Office license and is easy to administer.

Microsoft has designed the service to integrate with existing Office desktop tools and applications

that you rely on to effectively conduct daily business.

If you have been using Office for a number of years, then you are aware that Microsoft has

continually been improving its Office productivity applications. Office 365 is no exception with an

offering of amazing tools for easy collaboration integrated with the standard Office apps you have

become familiar with over the years.


If you choose the Premium subscription for Office 365 Business, you have access to an impressive

set of capabilities that include all of the features from the Business Essentials and Business

subscriptions plus more features in one integrated and affordable plan. The apps and features

include:

Exchange Online

Outlook

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

OneNote

Microsoft Publisher

OneDrive for Business with 1TB (terabyte) of file storage and sharing

Skype for Business

Business class email, calendar, and contacts with a 50GB (gigabyte) inbox per user

Unlimited online meetings

IM and HD videoconferencing with Skype for Business app Tooltip icon

Access to a social network to help employees collaborate across departments and locations

Access to work management tools to help teams collaborate and multi-task.

Professional digital storytelling tools to create interactive presentations, projects, reports,

and more

Access to fully installed Office applications on both PC and Mac devices.

Access to Office apps on tablets and phones for the fully installed mobile Office experience

on up to 5 tablets and 5 phones per user

Access to online versions of Office in the cloud including Excel, PowerPoint, and Word

Small businesses have access to enterprise level tools and applications all at a very affordable price

of £7.80 per user/per month for up to 300 users (These prices were accurate at the time of writing,

which is June 2016). You cannot possibly purchase that many standard Office licenses for under

this price.


HERE’S 10 GREAT REASONS TO CONSIDER OFFICE 365 FOR BUSINESS.

1. ACCESS YOUR WORK AT ANY TIME, IN ANY LOCATION, AND ON ANY DEVICE. Microsoft Office 365 is designed to be cross-platform which means it can be accessed from

anywhere and on any device.

You can choose what applications you want to download on your computer or mobile device such

as OneDrive, Excel, Word, and others. This enables you to complete work tasks regardless of

where you are.

2. REDUCE OPERATING COSTS.

Maintaining IT for a small business can be difficult from both the maintenance and cost standpoint.

By using Office 365, you have access to enterprise grade tools and apps for a low monthly

subscription.

Microsoft assumes the IT maintenance responsibility including updates, security, etc. which lowers

overall costs for your business.

3. ALWAYS HAVE ACCESS TO THE LATEST VERSION OF OFFICE.

In the past, when you wanted to update to the latest version of Office, you were required to buy

a license for every device which can be quite costly for a small business.

Office 365 is offered as SaaS and is cloud-based which provides you with instant access to the

latest version of the software without the added cost to upgrade.

4. ACCESS TO MICROSOFT ONE DRIVE. OneDrive is Microsoft’s cloud storage solution that provides you with 1TB of file storage. When

you save your files to OneDrive, they are accessible from any device.

You no longer have to worry about carrying an external storage device with you or forgetting your

work when you leave the office. Additionally, cloud storage prevents you from losing your work

as the result of a computer crash or other type of problem.

OneDrive is also easy to download and install on mobile devices via Google Play or the App Store.

Then you can easily open your files in your OneDrive account and adjust the settings to

automatically save the files on each device.


5. IMPROVED SECURITY.

Microsoft oversees the security of your files by employing a team of security experts at each of its

data centers. Each data center is required to meet ISO certification standards to ensure data

security.

Office 365 provides you with specialised user controls that allow you to set privacy rules,

permissions, and who is allowed to view specific pieces of data. This allows you to secure files and

documents without shelling out the expense of maintaining data security.

6. ENTERPRISE GRADE SUPPORT. In addition to the complimentary support provided by Microsoft, BrightVisions also provides

enterprise grade support and consultancy services for local Office 365 business users, with

telephone and remote support provided by our service desk team that are based in St. Neots.

Our team of tech support professionals can help you with everything from daily use issues,

deployment, installation, and more.

7. 99.9% UPTIME SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENT GUARANTEE. When you subscribe to Office 365, Microsoft provides a comprehensive Service Level Agreement

(SLA) which guarantees an uptime of 99.9 percent.

The SLA covers every part of Office 365 in addition to each user. You also have access to a Service

Health Dashboard which provides service health visibility on a daily basis, giving you peace of mind

and improved business continuity.

8. APPLICATION AND FEATURE RELIABILITY. Many cloud service providers tend to change or discontinue applications at a moment’s notice

which provides small businesses with inconsistent delivery. When you subscribe to Office 365,

Microsoft provides you with advance notice to help you plan accordingly in the event of any

changes.

You always receive the services to which you subscribed without any surprises or hidden fees. If

Microsoft makes any big changes to the software, they always notify you at least one year in

advance.


9. FLEXIBLE DEPLOYMENT.

If you are not ready to move all of your files and documents to the cloud, it is possible to do it

gradually using a single cloud platform, a solution on the premises, or both types of solutions

simultaneously known as a hybrid environment.

This also helps if you are a business that must meet specific compliance requirements and allows

you to have employees using a cloud solution while others work on the premises. If you choose a

hybrid solution the integration is seamless with access to the same productivity tools both in the

cloud and on the premises.

10. SCALABILITY.

Office 365 is scalable allowing you to add or subtract tools and applications as your business needs

change. This is much more cost effective than having unused IT infrastructure sitting around in

anticipation of business expansion. Instead, you can modify services at a moment’s notice.

As you can see, the advantages of using Office 365 for Business significantly outweigh any

disadvantages. Additionally, a cloud solution such as Office 365 levels the playing field between

small businesses and large enterprises by placing advanced tools and applications within reach for

smaller organisations.


5 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT OFFICE 365 FOR BUSINESS.

1. According to Okta, a recognised leader in Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS),

their Microsoft Adoption Guide shows Office 365 adoption has been on the rise since 2013. In

2014, Office 365 took second place which placed it in front of Google Apps and directly in

competition with Salesforce.com CRM platform. This made Office 365 the number one application

in the SaaS market.

In 2015, Office 365 surpassed Salesforce.com and has continued to grow at a fast pace, according

to Business Insider. In 2016, Gartner named Okta as a leader in the 2016 Magic Quadrant for cloud

SaaS and Identity and Access Management as a Service (IDaaS). The company deploys Office 365

as part of its security management.

This is the third consecutive year Okta has been recognised as a leader, and the only vendor named

a leader for all three years of the report’s existence. --Gartner, Inc., Magic Quadrant for Identity

and Access Management, Worldwide, Gregg Kreizman and Neil Wynne, 6 June 2016.

2. Most decision makers for small business choose the Premium subscription to Office 365 for

Business due to the impressive tools and applications at a low price point. Office 365 also makes

solutions on the premises redundant which makes disaster recovery more cost efficient. So far in

2016, Microsoft has grown Office 365 revenues to just under 64 percent.

3. Google tried to compete with Microsoft Office 365 by offering all of its apps under the basic

subscription. Instead, Office 365 completely surpassed Google Apps as the top solution in the

SaaS market.

4. Microsoft uses military grade encryption in all of the Office 365 applications. This prevents

hackers from reading the data during transmission if they attempt to intercept the information.

5. Files and documents created with Office 365 are backwards compatible with Office 2010 and

2013. It is possible to use Office 2007 but you will find the functionality is limited. In terms of

Office 2003, the compatibility program was discontinued in 2014.


WHO ARE WE?

BrightVisions is a Professional IT services organisation that’s based in St. Neots, Cambridgeshire.

We provide SMEs throughout Cambridge and the surrounding Counties with an Award Winning

range of IT Support services and technology solutions, including Office 365 for business

consultancy and deployment services. You can find out more about these services by visiting the

following web page - http://www.brightvisions.co.uk/service/office-365/

WHERE ARE WE LOCATED?

6 Eaton Court Road, Colmworth Business Park, St. Neots, Cambridgeshire PE19 8ER

HOW CAN YOU CONTACT US?

Telephone: +44 (0)1480 708888

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @Brightvisions

http://www.brightvisions.co.uk/service/office-365/

why choose microsoft office 365 for business?

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