Office 365 is more than just a subscription-based version of the trusty old Microsoft Office package, something we've been familiar since the 1995 version.
Office 365 is a highly-integrated suite of products that goes well beyond the Word, Excel and PowerPoint package we've come to expect.
A thoughtful roll-out or re-launch of Office 365 can be a big boost to your business's productivity and work quality with some tips from your friends at Diamond IT.
Tip 1. Familiarise yourself with the new products
Have you had a good look at Microsoft Teams, Planner, Forms, SharePoint, PowerApps and Flow?
New applications like those above are all designed to work together, and if embraced into company systems and training provide a huge opportunity in increased productivity, accuracy and satisfaction through automation, data integration and collaboration.
Tip 2. Don't forget to train your staff
Applications such as Microsoft Word have become so ubiquitous that the vast majority of people who use them have never actually been trained in using them. How many make use of time savers like Styles and Autotext in MS Word, can write a formula in Excel, and can edit a slide template in PowerPoint?
If you are incorporating new products such as Flow, PowerApps and Teams (and I encourage you to do so) you'll need to look for some training to make sure your staff feel they are along for the ride during the transition period to a new product and way of working.
It's more than just teaching people how to use the software, but in how they are used as a suite and how to get the most out of them.
Tip 3. More mobile than ever
With OneDrive and PowerApps and other mobile-friendly systems you can take Office 365 with you wherever you go.
You can utilise Teams or Skype for Business to make VoIP voice or video calls, edit documents on your mobile device, and share your reports and dashboards from your PC laptop or tablet.
Even when using your desktop PC, you can still choose if you want to access your data via the website interface, or by the desktop application.
Tip 4. Improved security
Embracing Office 365 gives you data redundancy on the web for 30 days, with older retention available as an add-on service through Diamond IT (see below).
Outlook Online's Spam and Malware filtering is amongst the best in the business, boosted by Microsoft's Artificial Intelligence system they've introduced as part of their Windows Defender ATP product in Server 2019 and Azure.
Office 365 is fully integrated with Single Sign-On technology, making life easier for your users to securely access their resources while improving their online security, instead of weakening it.
Tip 5. Have your Office 365 data backed up
Most users don't realise that data stored by your organisation on OneDrive and other cloud storage services isn't backed up. Diamond IT provides an Office 365 backup solution that provides peace-of-mind in the case of data loss or data is inadvertently modified or deleted.
Need help with Office 365?
Our experienced Business Technology Managers (BTMs) are available to assist you roll our an Office 365 project, or to ensure that you have an up-to-date and connected productivity suite. If you need help with yours, give us a call on 1300 307 907 or contact us via the form below.
