Microsoft Office 365

What is OFFICE 365?

The modern workplace is changing; employees today demand the freedom to work anywhere, with anyone, at any time, across any device.

While meeting these demands, organisations must also address cybersecurity threats, and manage many other challenges such as changing working practices, the proliferation of consumer apps and personal devices across an organisation, and an always changing regulatory and compliance environment. Microsoft Office 365 is a cloud-based software suite that makes it easier to simplify communication and collaboration among employees, manage files, and manage meetings on the move. Office 365 combines the familiar features – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook – with the next generation of productivity-based services, such as Skype for Business Online, Planner, and Delve, to bolster collaboration and communication.

Office 365 is fully scalable to business need; flexibility means it can be expanded to match ongoing requirements. It also has built-in industry-leading security, compliance and privacy controls, and world-class support for worry-free migration and ongoing assistance. There’s no upfront cost with Office 365’s monthly subscription model, which can help organisations budget more efficiently and keep costs down, and businesses can share and edit documents on the move, as well as manage meetings and other tasks, on any iOS, Android and Windows device.

Office Favourites

• Word

  The world’s most popular word processing programme, Word is the starting block for most creative projects, enabling the creation, saving and sharing of many types of document. The latest version of Word Online enables simultaneous collaboration with colleagues using Skype, helping with the creation of more polished, interactive content than ever before.

  Word can be used to type letters, memos, notices and envelopes for mailing or distribution, as well as to produce newsletters, brochures, books… the possibilities are endless.

• Excel

  The latest version of the spreadsheet powerhouse helps business make better data decisions by turning numbers into insights with state-of-the-art analysis and visualisation tools. Excel is ideal for entering, calculating and analysing data such as sales figures and turning a spreadsheet of numbers into a pie chart or diagram. It can also be used to store text-based data such as client lists, employee data and mailing lists.

• Outlook

  Updated for the cloud, Outlook’s email and calendar service helps employees stay on top of essential business communications, wherever they are and whatever device they’re using. It is now more deeply integrated with other Office applications than ever before for a seamless user experience. Besides being used to send, receive and store emails, Outlook can also serve as a personal information management tool. Features include daily, monthly and weekly calendars, address books for storing contacts, an area to keep typed notes, task reminder features and a full journal.

• PowerPoint

  A business staple, PowerPoint can help with mastering any presentation utilising slides, with text, images, shapes and videos. PowerPoint Online extends the Microsoft PowerPoint experience to the web browser, enabling work to be done on projects directly online where the presentation is stored. Office 365 customers with Office Online can view, create, and edit files on the go. With its simple and easy-to-use interface, PowerPoint can be employed to create just about any kind of presentation for any kind of audience.

• Next Generation Applications

  Many businesses still pay for third party applications when they already have access to similar productivity boosting tools as part of their Office 365 solution.

• Exchange Online

  It’s easier than ever to provide users with the business email they need to stay productive with Exchange Online. Users can keep all their important data in one place, in the In-Place Archive,
  and have access to email, calendar and contacts on all browsers and across any mobile device. Integration with Outlook means that users enjoy a rich, familiar email experience with offline access, and automatic patching eliminates the time and effort of maintaining the system. Exchange Online also offers organisations greater security for and control over their environment. With mobile device policies, a business can create approved mobile device lists, enforce PIN lock, and remove confidential company data from lost phones. Valuable data is kept safe with anti-malware and antispam filtering protected mailboxes, while data loss prevention capabilities prevent users from mistakenly sending sensitive information to unauthorised people.

• SharePoint Online

  Microsoft Office 365 provides access to a rich productivity application suite and SharePoint keeps that information moving throughout the organisation. Users can sign in to SharePoint from any desktop or mobile device, and have constant access to information on project statuses, client histories, the locations and schedules of co-workers, and anything else related to a project.
  SharePoint can also be used for developing web-based business applications, such as the company website, intranet or partner portal. SharePoint is highly configurable, and organisations can customise the application to their own requirements. SharePoint can also help organisations make better decisions based on business intelligence. It’s not only easy to search through company files, but SharePoint can help users discover patterns and display trends over time, or relationships between different inputs through easy-to-understand graphs and charts.

• OneDrive for Business

  OneDrive is an integral part of Office 365, providing a place in the cloud to store, share and sync work files, across any browser or device. Documents can be easily shared and worked on collectively using familiar Office applications – for example, two team members can co-edit a document without
  confusion arising from having different versions. Users can also set expiry dates on a shared link, and add permissions to all those with whom the link is shared. Critically, OneDrive provides enterprise-grade security that consumer online storage services lack, helping to protect the privacy of content while complying with industry standards. IT admins also have greater control, with the ability to audit external sharing invitations, limit external sharing for specific users, and manage external sharing domains.

• Skype for Business Online

  Skype for Business Online makes modern conference calls easy. Call, message and share work via powerful collaboration tools and schedule online meetings with a single click in Outlook. Skype for Business Online offers presence, instant messaging, desktop sharing, voice and video calling across any PC, Mac, tablet, or phone. Skype for Business is great for answers needed in a hurry – it’s easy to see if a person is available beforehand, and response is instant. Some enterprises can save a large slice of their IT budgets by eliminating third party conferencing and phone charges, and PBX maintenance charges, by implementing the integrated voice capabilities of Skype for Business, including PSTN Conferencing, Cloud PBX, and PSTN Calling.

Benefits of OFFICE 365

• Improved collaboration

  A new generation of productivity-based services makes collaboration among teams as simple as a click of a button

• Increased Productivity and Efficiency

  Office 365’s range of next generation applications makes it easy to work on projects, organise and assign tasks, share files, chat with co-workers in real-time and create professional, media-rich content

• Work Anywhere

  Access to familiar applications as well as business-grade email, shared calendar, and online meetings, from anywhere, on any device –including Windows, iOS and Android phones

• Free Up Resources

  Less time is needed for installing, upgrading and managing software, meaning businesses can focus on growing their business

• Reduce Costs

  Use the Office 365 version that meets business needs and pay on a monthly subscription basis to help keep costs down

• Access Valuable Data

  Office 365’s applications provide access to a wealth of information usually siloed in diverse applications across an organisation

• Scalability

  Add capacity whenever you need it with OneDrive, so you can continue to share and collaborate without worrying over storage limits

• Stay up-to-date

  It is always the latest version of Office 365 thanks to regular feature updates, whether used on a PC or a Mac

• Security / Privacy

  Built-in security, compliance and privacy controls