As a cloud-powered solution, Microsoft 365 can help businesses unlock new levels of productivity and value.
For many businesses, productivity and efficiency is closely tied to the tools that they use. Communication, content creation, collaboration, and so many other crucial components of business these days are executed with the use of digital technology. A prime example of such technology is Microsoft 365 – the well-known business solution that contains the likes of Outlook, OneDrive, Teams, Word, Excel, and several more products. Lots of businesses rely on Microsoft 365, and we reached out to a number of companies about it. In London IT support companies are likely to recommend M365 to businesses as a complete productivity solution that simplifies software management.
Many of the IT companies we spoke to also admitted that they rely on M365 as well, and when we asked them why, they said because it is powered by the cloud. But what are some of the ways that the cloud powers Microsoft 365 to provide such a valuable experience to businesses?
- Secure File Sharing
File sharing is essential in business, and it has been particularly important in the last few years, when a lot of businesses around the world have been supporting their employees to work remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions. Microsoft 365 enables fast and secure file-sharing thanks to the cloud – in particular, with Microsoft SharePoint and OneDrive. Unlike methods such as emailing files, or internet-based file transfer services – which require files to be sent to servers before reaching the intended recipient – there is no risk of data being intercepted with cloud file sharing, because the data never actually leaves the company network. Furthermore, uploading files to both OneDrive and SharePoint, and syncing devices to these products, can both be done very quickly.
- Never Lose Data
Many people in business know the frustration of having worked on a piece of work for many hours, forgetting to back the file up, and losing all the progress they made. Luckily, with Microsoft 365, you can ensure that this never happens again. We asked a company that provides IT support for Charities about this, and they said that this is possible because all the data that is created in any M365 app is saved to the cloud so you will almost always be able to recover file data. Furthermore, all files in SharePoint and OneDrive are versioned – this means that you can see a history of all the changes that have been made to the file; so if work is accidentally overwritten, you can easily restore to an older version before the data was lost.
- Cross Platform Syncing
Another valuable effect of Microsoft 365 being cloud-based is platform syncing. All of the apps and services that are included in the solution are available on desktop (Windows and Mac), mobile (iOS and Android), and the web (all web browsers); furthermore, the apps are not tied to a single device (like how software used to work). The data from apps get sent to the Microsoft Cloud, which means that you can be working on one of the apps on your mobile, and you can pick the work back up on the app on your desktop, or in a web browser.
This has been a feature of M365 since it originally launched as Office 365, and many of the earliest Office 365 companies used this feature to enable a more flexible way of working. In the last few years, due to COVID-19, work flexibility has become a bigger priority than ever before, and platform syncing has enabled users to work remotely, and to split their time between the office and their home.
