Taking 365 to the Next Level
Microsoft 365 has rapidly become one of the most used platforms for work tools on the planet, and most of us are familiar with their wide variety of tools – most of our technological experiences began on the platform. This familiarity brings with it many positives but what some don’t consider is the negatives that familiarity can bring. Knowing the tools well may have likely led you and your team to not explore them, many have made this mistake regarding Microsoft’s suite of tools. Of course, you have heard of Excel, Word, and Outlook for example, but have you heard of any other tools in the suite? Do you know how they can help your business?
Let’s look at some of the challenges that you face daily in your workplace, and what Microsoft tools are capable of remedying them.
Business challenges that can be solved by Microsoft
1. Connectivity with the team at all times
New ways of working have emerged in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, during its peak business owners adopted an at least partially remote working team just to simply survive – and the practice has continued post Covid. Connectivity has become essential, with your team spread out it is essential that not only you are connected to them but that they are connected to one another at all times. Access to your colleagues no matter their location is essential.
Microsoft Teams is the tool that makes this level of connectivity possible – Cloud computing with Teams allows your team to always stay in contact no matter their location in the world. Microsoft Teams collaborative capabilities alongside SharePoint and OneDrive allows you to file-share, chat, and conduct video conferences all in one place. A bonus is that it is intrinsically part of other tools in the suite, making it a revelation.
2. Efficient time keeping and meeting of targets
We live in a world that operates on demand – if a customer wants something they want it now, or at the very least when it was promised. Some businesses find this very hard to achieve, especially when it comes to the more monotonous tasks. Let’s use an example to make this easier to understand, your business is growing rapidly, due to this growth your social media is getting a lot more engagement, which is obviously a wonderful thing, engagement is always positive – but unfortunately this means that one of your team has to now dedicate a lot of their time to managing those social channels. A lot goes into it, they have to like and following those that tweet your business for example. You didn’t employ that member staff to do that, they were employed due to other skills they brought to your business that are now not being used because they are wasting their time on mundane monotonous tasks.
Microsoft Power Automate is the solution. When someone tweets about your company you must – at the very minimum – acknowledge that you have seen the tweet, and this should be done in a timely manner, but the problem is that this isn’t always possible for a variety of reasons - what if they tweet out of work hours, or in the middle of the night for example? Power Automate allows you to set up a workflow that will follow them, sends a reply, and then adds their details to a spreadsheet that is emailed over to you automatically for your approval. Power Automate allows your skilled members of staff to continue doing what they do best - the excellent work that got you that social media following in the first place. Allow technology to take the task of following your customers back and recognising their presence and interest online.
3. Organisation
Modern work can’t be random, it requires an organised and planned out approach. You must arrive at work with a structured plan of how your workday will play out. Of course, it is impossible to always stick to these plans, but it is essential that you try - start the day off with the right intentions and start as you mean to go on.
Microsoft To do is a cloud-based task management app. It allows your team to manage their tasks from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. To Do can revolutionise your workplace, with it your team will always know what they need to do be doing and when.
4. The ability to freely share files when working remotely without concern about security
Many have realised that working from home doesn’t mean that no work gets done. That team member needs to be contributing to the same standard as they normally do, and to do so they need access to all the files they would normally use when on premise, whilst maintaining adequate levels of security. This can be difficult to achieve; Microsoft’s offering is only part of the solution.
Microsoft OneDrive offers a one stop shop to store, share, and synchronise your work files. The app connects with Teams and allows you to access your entire team no matter their geographical location. You can grant others permission to access, edit, and work on files simultaneously with other members of the team – you are in full control. OneDrive makes it possible for you to access your files anywhere in the world with an internet connection – and you don’t even need that if they are synced to your PC or Mac.
5. Cyber Security
This one is very relative, the levels at which you need your security measures will depend entirely on you and the data you are protecting. In the modern world cyber security should be at the very top of your business concerns – with cyber criminality on the rise the threat of you becoming the victim of an attack has grown to never seen levels. You need the right tools to combat this growing threat, unfortunately Microsoft doesn’t offer a solution that guarantees cyber security – that is impossible, but it does offer a tool that if used alongside other tools and the correct education can remedy some of the dangers.
Microsoft 365 security defaults define security parameters for all of your users - no matter their geographical location - which can be activated to enforce a number of procedures automatically. The good part about this feature is that it comes at no extra cost it is part of the service for free (at minimum, the free tier of the Azure Active Directory service). It isn’t the redeeming feature to fix all your cyber security worries – that doesn’t exist, but it does start you off on the right foot toward a much more secure future.
The wide range of tools they offer to help you solve these business challenges can be intimidating, but when you realise that the tools such as Microsoft Teams are so much more than a chat, and calling app, and learn that it is a place for group working on projects, client-based conversation, and also access to other third-party apps within the Teams environment. Business Process Automation can stitch together your integral apps allowing them to complement each other and use data from each other to achieve results, if you don’t wise up to the capabilities of Microsoft tools you could be losing out on a lot of functionality.
Now you know the business challenges that can be solved by Microsoft’s tools, along with the fact that you are likely already using the platform – why not leverage it, most businesses are only scratching the surface of what Microsoft is capable of. The levels of communication, collaboration, and productivity possible can be truly unbelievable – unfortunately most don’t have the technical competency or Microsoft knowhow to utilise it correctly – that’s where we come in. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of our expert IT support team, we are primed and ready to help you get the most from your IT landscape and 365’s range of tools in the most secure way possible.
Ensuring you get the most from the tools at your disposal
Our team of experts will take the time to get to know you, your team, the way you do business, and your goals and visions for the future. We will work together with you to learn what compliments the way you do business and will ensure that you are constantly up to date with the latest tech that is beneficial to you, whilst simultaneously ensuring you stay compliant to regulations at all times. We will help you with your Digital Transformation and educate your team on how to use the new tools at their disposal to their full potential. With our help you can introduce up-to-date tools, remain compliant, and be confident that your team are doing everything they can to aid in both. Don’t hesitate, get in contact with us and see how we can help you.
