What Is Office 365? Who Needs It?

What Is Office 365?

Office 365 is a cloud service by Microsoft. It is the updated productivity software you may have been relying on in the business world for many years, including Microsoft Word, Excel, SharePoint and more - now offered in the cloud.

Those software programs were previously only available for installation on your own computer.  Today, Microsoft Office 365 offers those programs in an updated format in the cloud.  This means that you can now use all the same programs you are accustomed to and rely on to do your work in the cloud.  You no longer have to work on one particular computer - you can access the software and all your documents from any- from any internet connected computer.

Who Needs Office 365?

Modern business professionals need up to date software to manage contacts, emails and calendars and to prepare and share documents with potential clients.  Microsoft offers the latest version of their productivity software to all Office 365 subscribers.

Small business teams need the same productivity software as solo professionals, and also often collaborate with team mates and clients to complete projects and close sales.  Office 365 enables collaboration in real time, via their software in the cloud, making it easier for you to get work done.

Cloud services can be an intimidating term for many people, however you will find it easy to use cloud-based software, and find it to be very similar to using computer-based software.  You will still open, create, save, edit, print and share documents in a very similar way, but now you will also have the benefit of some rich cloud only features.

Microsoft Office 365 Overview:

• Outlook allows you to check your e-mail from a new, easy-to-use web interface.
• Calendar gives you access to your calendar and events, with event reminders, event invitations, event categories and multi-calendar options.
• People takes you to your contacts and global address list, including everyone in your organization.
• From Newsfeed, you can follow discussions within your organization and track websites and documents. This is the social networking page for you activities within your organization.
• OneDrive For Business is your personal storage location in the cloud, allowing you to store share, and manage documents in the cloud. When you click a document link, you can preview that document, and then edit it, share it, or follow it in your newsfeed to keep track of activity around it.
• SharePoint & Team Sites act as a cloud drive for the entire team. Everything you can do in your personal OneDrive For Business, can be done in your Team Site. Use OneDrive for your own files, and Team Site for public files within your company. It's team collaboration at a higher level.

Benefits Of Microsoft Office 365:

• Be more productive with the option to work via tablet, PC or phone - wherever you are and whenever you need to get work done.
• Your documents are always updated and always with you via the power of cloud computing; by default, your documents save to the cloud, and when you log in to Office 365, you get roaming settings and quick access to your documents in OneDrive and SharePoint online.
• Meet, work and network with your contacts in the cloud; schedule a meeting, send an email, start an IM, or initiate voice and video calls right from your contact list.
• Host a multi person High Def video conference and enjoy document sharing, brainstorming and note taking with OneNote
• Connect Lync and Skype services, so you can connect with millions of Skype users right inside of Office 365.
• Count on this enterprise-grade cloud solution with robust security, guaranteed reliability and compliant with world’s industry standards, including ISO-27001, EU Model clauses, HIPAA and FISMA and PIPEDA.

Where To Buy Office 365

Only Microsoft sets prices for and sells Office 365, however, Microsoft Certified Partner worldwide are available both as sellers and support providers for Office 365.

This means you can buy Office 365 direct from Microsoft and set it up yourself, however if you are not very tech savvy, or if you have years of data including contacts, emails and documents to copy from your computers to your new Office 365 accounts, you may want to buy Office 365 from a Microsoft Certified Partner like TUCU.

Established in 2003 by IT Consultant Adam Thorn, TUCU provides Office 365 migration and support services in Toronto, and across North America.  Contact us today to discuss your needs and to receive a free estimate for your Office 365 project.