The 9 Key Benefits of Using Microsoft 365 for Your Akron and Canton Business
The ultimate goal of any business is to optimize its bottom line. But this is easier said than done, especially in today’s hybrid work environment. It takes a lot of teamwork, workplace efficiency, connectivity, and streamlined productivity to make your business a success.
With the rapidly changing workplace and business dynamics, it becomes crucial for businesses to keep pace with the changing technology to remain competitive. Microsoft 365 is one such application suite that can help take your business to greater heights. Continue reading to find out how this solution benefits businesses.
Here Are 9 Ways Microsoft 365 Can Improve the Productivity and Connectivity of Your Business
1. Improved Mobile Access
Microsoft 365 combines the power of cloud computing with a full suite of mobile apps, thereby making it easier for your employees to remain productive while traveling, working remotely, or working on site. Microsoft 365 apps focus on individual applications such as Excel, Word, or Teams and are typically free for small businesses.
Even so, if you want to create a truly digital workplace, you need to look beyond these standard apps. For example, you can develop an application built with PowerApps accessible from any mobile device. Other applications such as SharePoint, Planner, and OneDrive also have their own applications which interact seamlessly with one another. By using these apps, you’ll be able to focus on attaining your business’s goals instead of worrying about whether your team is staying productive and connected on the go.
2. Enhanced Knowledge-Sharing Via Cloud Document Management
Most organizations already leverage Microsoft OneDrive or SharePoint for document management, which frees business data from file sharing, optimizes searchability, and provides history versioning and user access management tools. On their own, SharePoint and OneDrive can help enhance knowledge-sharing and productivity, but Microsoft takes them one step further. The cloud-based SharePoint Online in Microsoft 365 improves user interface and interconnectivity, thereby making it easier to manage documents in cloud-based libraries.
And given that Microsoft 365 integrates Microsoft Teams with SharePoint Online, it enables employees to communicate efficiently when creating documents and managing tasks. For example, when an employee has questions about changes in a given document, they can simply send an instant message to a colleague via the integrated Teams feature.
3. Efficient Communication Platforms
In big organizations, communication typically covers several activities, most of which begin with a teamwork solution or a corporate intranet. SharePoint Online is an excellent platform for creating a corporate intranet – Microsoft 365 can facilitate this communication solution without the technical burden of managing your own on-premise infrastructure or server.
As for general communication that takes place outside the corporate intranet, services integrated within Microsoft 365 like Teams improve your ability to communicate with colleagues in the digital workplace effectively.
4. Intelligent Process Automation
Many businesses find it challenging to manage and upgrade processes. Microsoft 365 and Power Platforms provide you with workflow management, online forms, and data storage capabilities that automate your business processes rapidly. By leveraging Dataverse and Microsoft Teams, these solutions cut across departments to serve the whole business. Microsoft 365 integrates numerous external tools – it, therefore, allows you to pull actions from email as an integrated piece of execution from your workflow.
5. Automatic Upgrades
Conventional on-premise software needs frequent patches, maintenance, and upgrades. With its Microsoft 365 solution, Microsoft has created an ever-evolving solution, with new upgrades being released on a monthly, if not quarterly, basis. By leveraging Microsoft 365, your IT team won’t have to upgrade your platform and can therefore focus on accomplishing key business tasks.
6. Robust Enterprise Search
Typically, users need to browse through folders and file shares to locate documents and information that they have created. This process is often frustrating, since documents can get lost in disorganized files and folders. The search function can help solve this problem –they are more effective for locating and using content. Microsoft 365’s enterprise search capabilities have been integrated and fine-tuned within the platform to provide a powerful and cost-efficient search experience.
This search capability enhances communication and collaboration, social content, and documents, enabling users to find content quickly and easily, which minimizes duplication of efforts and improves productivity.
7. Internal and External Collaboration
With Microsoft 365’s communication and collaboration tools, your employees can collaborate with one another and external partners. Whereas email is ideal for tasks such as sharing official documents, recording information, and creating an electronic record of a given action, it’s not as efficient for other collaboration tasks.
When it comes to co-authoring documents and quick questions, for example, SharePoint Online sites, Microsoft Teams workspaces, and instant messaging offer better ways of sharing information. Microsoft 365 integrates these tools, enabling organizations to create a multidimensional collaborative work environment that breaks down geographical barriers to productivity and puts knowledge in an actionable context. All of this while ensuring the utmost security for your business.
8. Fosters Innovation
Every organization wants to be seen as a place that enables and fosters innovation. Microsoft 365 provides your employees with the right tools to foster innovation. It streamlines meetings with digital whiteboards and also provides areas to record interactions and keep notes. As such, information can be shared and retained easily. Employees feel connected, empowered, and engaged, no matter where they are.
9. Increased ROI (Return on Investment)
Whereas Cloud solutions have been around for some time, with Microsoft 365, you’ll have one suite that provides you with a wide range of solutions. Regardless of whether you’re looking to provide the best customer experience or increase your business’s bottom line, Microsoft 365 eliminates the headache of overseeing daily tasks. Businesses can combine most of their process automation, teamwork, compliance, and security solutions into a single suite of fully integrated products. With proper change management and adoption, the fully integrated solution can optimize individual and business productivity at a lower cost.
Round Up
There are several benefits of Microsoft 365, from increased ROI to better collaboration and communication and fostering innovation to enhanced knowledge-sharing. Your employees require the right applications and tools, whether they are working remotely or on-site. With Microsoft 365 and the right partner to migrate and support your solution, your employees will be equipped with the right tools to propel your business forward.
Engage with Rea & Associates to discover more about the benefits of Microsoft 365 and how we can support your solution.
Thanks to our colleagues at Baroan Technologies in New Jersey for their support and help with this content.