As of April 21, 2020, the official branding of Microsoft’s productivity suite has changed from Office 365 to just Microsoft 365. The new naming convention reflects Microsoft’s strategy of providing a single complete productivity platform for its customers.
Fortunately the change from Office 365 to Microsoft 365 is not going to have much of an immediate practical impact. In general, the subscription you had on April 20 is the same as the subscription you had on April 21, only with a different name.
Is Office 365 a necessary upgrade for your small business? The answer is probably yes. Office 365 is far more than updated versions of your favourite Microsoft tools such as Word, Excel and Outlook. Office 365 is an efficiency and productivity powerhouse. Here are 7 reasons why small business owners should upgrade now.
1. Built in Data security
Office 365 was created with data security at its very heart. Built-in compliance and security protocols mean your cloud storage is really safe. You have complete control over access so your valuable data remains exactly where you want it. Storing your data in the 365 cloud keeps it safe in case of emergency, with up to 1TB of storage per user included at no extra cost.
2. Ditch the licensing drama
Software version differences can become a bit of a nightmare in any small business. Not every system can do the same thing. You even end up with files not opening on certain software versions. Trying to collaborate on a document is a distant dream! Your systems quickly become a hodge-podge of workarounds and lost time. Office 365 includes site-wide licenses with upgrades at the same time.
3. Mail storage for real people
Not everyone lives in the land of inbox zero. In fact, most people tend to leave messages in their inbox forever. Occasionally we might do a quick clean up, but this is only likely to happen when the alert comes in that the mailbox is full. Meanwhile, new emails from customers may be bouncing away with the old ‘mailbox full’ message. Eek! In Office 365, your employees can communicate without worrying about storage space.
4. Better time management
Every person in your business is juggling meetings, emails and contacts – usually across multiple platforms. Office 365 brings all those elements together, integrating seamlessly for more efficient time management. Contacts updated via mobile while offsite are automatically updated across all connected devices. Meetings scheduled in an email are added instantly to the calendar. You can even access files from any device. This means you can edit on the run and then, when you’re back in the office, simply pick up where you left off.
5. Predictable costs
Office 365 has small business covered. Forget about planning (and delaying) those costly upgrades. You choose a plan based on your unique needs and change at any time. You can even add or decrease the number of users as you scale and streamline. It’s so easy to fit Office 365 into your monthly budget while knowing you’ve got the very best and latest in small business software.
6. Work on the go
The days of fiddling with private network and security settings are over, thanks to Office 365. You don’t even need any special IT skills or extra software. Users can now securely access their files from home, during their commute, or in meetings for on-the-fly impressive presentations. Got an internet connection? That’s all they’ll need to squeeze productivity out of every day.
7. Stay up and running with no downtime
A whopping 25% of small businesses shut down permanently after flood, fire, crash, global pandemic or cyber-attack. With Office 365, all your data is stored in the cloud with additional backups available for redundancy. No matter what happens, your data will be there, letting you stay up and running – and always ahead of the pack.
How We Can Help
If you want to control your business with Office 365, contact us today to talk about how to get collaborating in Office 365! Just call 0115 8220200 or complete our contact form.
Nervous about making the switch to Office 365? We are experts in Office 365 migrations for small business. We work outside normal business hours to reduce business disruption.
BONUS
Get our eBook 5 Reasons Your Business Needs Office 365 for even more reasons to upgrade to Office 365.