When you read blogs like this, it is most likely because you are looking for new, modern solutions that can solve problems or weaknesses that may have been plaguing your organization for a while.
It may also be that your responsibilities go above and beyond your title, and you’re someone who’s constantly looking for better ways to do things, to increase the quality of service and employee productivity, to show what is being done elsewhere, and – ultimately – to help the organization be successful.
As a CIO, IT Director or Manager, you are preoccupied by the tools and services that your users have at their disposal to face the music. But in many cases, the music is drowned out by the sheer volume of data, information, solutions, software and systems that the only sound you hear is the complaints from your users – or worse, your customers – that there is just “too much” to deal with.
No worries. Office 365 was designed to facilitate communication and collaboration within organizations & teams, and to make the information easy to get to.
Identifying the issues
When we talk with IT managers, analysts, administrative personnel and users, and listen to their feedback, we often hear that they feel that the solutions used are not adequate for the organization.
There are several points raised, notably:
- An increase in the amount of data to deal with
This results in a loss of productivity because of the growing amount of data and the limited functionality of the systems in place.
- Limited access to information and tools
There is a lack of flexibility in accessing information and being able to leverage it from anywhere, on any device, especially considering the growing need to be able to work remotely, be that telecommuting or executives who need to travel frequently.
- The lack of any « social » tools in your business processes
Social media is not yet part of your internal business culture. This makes it harder to attain certain business objectives or marketing strategies that would increase financial results.
- A lack of real-time access that can cause delays and loss of business
It is often difficult to get timely access to information, which can make it difficult to make the right decisions, get the right products or deliver services to customers.
- The complexity and lack of user friendly features
Many users complain of the complexity of the information systems, and how the lack of user friendly features makes it hard for a lot of users to leverage these.
- Weak security
There is more and more doubt that the information is secure and confidential, and the awareness that any breach could prove costly to the organization.
- Innovation is stalled
The organization does not have any solutions that allow users and teams to collaborate efficiently on common projects. This can pose a risk in the achievement of business objectives.
Offer real life solutions to allow collaboration!
The answer to so many of these problem can be provided by Microsoft Office 365, a modern and innovative solution that has many advantages.
Organizations who deploy Office 365 normally see the following benefits:
- Increase in productivity
Outlook emails, contacts, calendars and documents are accessible from anywhere, on any device, using a web browser.
- Better collaboration with both internal and external users
- Hold online meetings with colleagues, partners and clients with Skype for Business, using audio, video and screen sharing functionality.
- Share documents with colleagues, partners and clients using OneDrive or SharePoint.
- Allow co-editing of documents using Word, Excel and PowerPoint
- Quickly share updates and information using Yammer, an enterprise social network tool.
- Familiar Office tools that users know
Office 365 includes the latest versions of the familiar Office suite that most business users know: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, etc., now available on all platforms and all devices, always ready no matter where you are.
- Look more professional and remarkable
It is easy with Office 365 to project a professional and innovative image. For example, you can easily create quality PowerPoint presentation right online or create SharePoint sites to collaborate with external partners and clients.
So why hesitate?
Effective communications are key to business success
What makes Office 365 so interesting to organizations is that its foundation lies on a suite of technologies that have long proven their worth in a majority of corporate settings. It is therefore not such a big leap for users in most organizations as they are already familiar with some, if not all, of the applications.
Where Office 365 really shines is in all the new possibilities it offers around collaboration, making it easier for team members to work together efficiently.
