8 Key Benefits of Microsoft 365

In today’s digital age, productivity tools are vital for both businesses and individuals to thrive. They have become the workhorses behind successful collaboration, organization, and innovation. A significant player in this sphere is Microsoft 365, a comprehensive suite that brings together best-in-class tools to help you stay productive, organized, and connected. With a diverse range of robust features, it offers an unmatched combination of apps, services, and cloud storage, all aimed at enhancing your productivity. If you’re looking to discover the benefits of Microsoft 365 and harness its potential, this guide is your key. We’ll explore the 8 game-changing benefits that Microsoft 365 brings to the table, paving your path to greater productivity. So, fasten your seatbelts as we delve into the dynamic world of Microsoft 365.

Unveiling the Power of Microsoft 365

Microsoft 365 is not just a product; it’s a powerhouse. Introduced in 2011 as Office 365 and later rebranded as Microsoft 365 in 2020, this suite has been a game-changer, enabling organizations to transcend traditional boundaries and reach new heights. It offers a unique blend of familiar applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, coupled with powerful cloud services like OneDrive, SharePoint, and Teams. Furthermore, it integrates AI capabilities, offering intuitive tools that adapt to individual needs and workflows.

Microsoft 365 is all about breaking silos and fostering collaboration. With tools like Teams and SharePoint, it streamlines communication, making it easy for teams to work together, whether they’re sitting next to each other or are miles apart. For instance, Microsoft Teams acts as a unified communication platform, bringing together chat, video meetings, file sharing, and collaboration in one place. According to Microsoft, as of 2021, Teams reached 145 million daily active users, underscoring its central role in the modern workplace.

However, the power of Microsoft 365 extends beyond collaboration. It leverages the cloud, providing access to files and documents from any device, anytime, and anywhere. This flexibility has been particularly useful in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as businesses have had to adopt remote work models. A survey conducted by Statista found that about 44% of Canadian respondents reported spending more time on their computer due to the pandemic, highlighting the importance of having tools that support flexible work arrangements.

Microsoft 365 also prioritizes security, providing advanced features to protect data and safeguard privacy. This focus on security is crucial, especially in light of the increasing frequency of cyber threats. According to the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security, there were over 50,000 reported cyber incidents in Canada in 2020 alone.

Key Takeaways: Microsoft 365 is a productivity powerhouse, offering a suite of tools that support collaboration, flexibility, and security. As work models evolve, having the right tools can be a game-changer, enabling organizations to stay productive and secure, no matter where they’re working from.

The 8 Key Benefits of Microsoft 365

Benefit 1: Seamless Integration & Collaboration

Collaboration is at the heart of Microsoft 365. It provides a set of tools designed to work together seamlessly, breaking down silos and encouraging collaboration. For example, Microsoft Teams allows you to work together on documents in real time, communicate via chat or video, and share files, all from a single platform. This seamless integration can significantly streamline workflows and improve productivity.

In addition, the integration of cloud services like OneDrive and SharePoint ensures that your files and documents are always up to date and accessible from any device. This not only makes collaboration easier but also ensures that everyone is always on the same page, regardless of their location.

Teams and Yammer, are communication and collaboration tools for M365. Many employees are already familiar with video calling, social media-style chats, and instant messaging so these applications are easy to use. M365 simply brings these tools into a business environment. The social nature of these applications makes collaboration easier. Everyone can participate in a video or text chat and they can easily engage in brainstorming sessions or communicate with other team members while working on a project simultaneously.

Microsoft 365 shares the familiar icons, layout, menus, and keystrokes with Office, so if you are switching from Office 2013, the environment will be very familiar for your employees.

Key Takeaway: Microsoft 365 promotes seamless collaboration with its integrated suite of tools, reducing friction in workflows and improving productivity.

Benefit 2: Powerful Tools for Enhanced Productivity

Microsoft 365 is a productivity powerhouse. Its suite of apps and services, like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams, are industry standards for productivity. But beyond the familiar, Microsoft 365 also incorporates powerful AI features. Tools like PowerPoint Designer, Excel Insights, and Editor in Word leverage AI to provide personalized suggestions, automate tasks, and enhance your overall productivity.

For instance, PowerPoint Designer provides design recommendations for your slides, Excel Insights identifies patterns in your data, and Word Editor acts as your writing assistant, suggesting improvements in grammar, style, and clarity. These AI-driven capabilities can save time and enable you to focus on what matters most: your work.

Furthermore, Microsoft 365 also offers app-specific benefits like co-authoring in Word, which allows multiple users to work on the same document simultaneously, and Power Query in Excel, which makes data transformation and manipulation a breeze.

Microsoft 365 customers who supplement their setup with Dynamics 365 can use this suite of tools with business intelligence applications that can collect and analyze data and offer insights to streamline workflow and help employees make informed decisions. The Power Apps platform allows you to create customized applications with little coding knowledge. Any employee can make a tool to help streamline or automate time-consuming tasks, freeing them up to work on more important aspects of a project.

Key Takeaway: Microsoft 365’s powerful tools, coupled with AI capabilities, offer enhanced productivity, making your work easier, smarter, and more efficient.

Benefit 3: Advanced Security Features

In an era where data breaches and cyberattacks are increasingly common, security is paramount. Microsoft 365 provides robust security features to protect your data and safeguard your privacy. Features like multi-factor authentication (MFA), data loss prevention (DLP), and Advanced Threat Protection (ATP) are built into Microsoft 365, providing a secure environment for your work.

Microsoft’s Security Intelligence Report shows that accounts secured with MFA are 99.9% less likely to be compromised. DLP helps to identify and protect sensitive information like credit card numbers or social security numbers, and ATP defends against sophisticated threats like phishing and zero-day malware attacks.

In addition, Microsoft 365 is compliant with global and industry-specific compliance standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, and ISO 27001, further enhancing its security credentials.

With other software systems, it may be possible for companies to delay updates or forego software upgrades to avoid work stoppages. This can hurt efficiency and cause security issues. Because M365 is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) product, Microsoft handles the updates, creates security patches to deal with the latest cyber threats, and fixes bugs for continuous advanced protection.

Key Takeaway: With Microsoft 365, you don’t have to compromise on security. Its advanced security features protect your data, ensure your privacy, and help you comply with industry regulations.

Benefit 4: Scalability & Flexibility

One of the key advantages of Microsoft 365 is its scalability and flexibility. As a cloud-based solution, it can easily adapt to the needs of your business. Whether you’re a small business just starting out or a large enterprise with thousands of employees, Microsoft 365 can scale to meet your needs.

It offers various subscription plans, each tailored to different types of users – from individual home users to large businesses. As your business grows, you can add users or upgrade to a plan that better suits your needs. This flexibility extends to device usage as well. Since Microsoft 365 is cloud-based, you can access your files and applications from any device, whether it’s a PC, Mac, tablet, or smartphone.

Microsoft 365 offers flexibility in terms of how you work. With tools that support remote work and collaboration, you can work from anywhere, at any time, and on any device.

Key Takeaway: Microsoft 365’s scalability and flexibility make it a solution that can adapt to your changing needs, supporting your growth, and offering a truly modern way of working.

Benefit 5: Access Anywhere, Anytime

One of the central tenets of modern work is the ability to work from anywhere. Microsoft 365 enables this through its cloud-based services. Whether you’re in the office, at home, or on the move, you can access your emails, files, and applications from any device and any location. This allows you to stay connected and productive, no matter where you are.

For instance, with OneDrive, you can store your files in the cloud and access them from anywhere. If you’re working on a Word document on your office PC, you can continue working on it from your home laptop or even from your smartphone. This kind of seamless transition between devices and locations is a significant productivity booster, particularly in a hybrid work model.

In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, this access has been invaluable. In 2023, 20% of the Canadian workforce was working remotely, which is a significant increase from pre-pandemic numbers. Microsoft 365’s remote access capabilities played a crucial role in facilitating this shift.

Key Takeaway: With Microsoft 365, your workspace is not tied to a physical location. Its cloud-based services enable you to work from anywhere, providing the flexibility that modern work demands.

Benefit 6: Streamlined IT Management

For IT teams, managing the diverse set of applications and services used in a business can be a complex task. Microsoft 365 streamlines this process. Since all its services are integrated and managed from a single admin console, IT management becomes much simpler. This unified approach reduces the time and effort needed to manage users, devices, and data.

The Microsoft 365 admin center allows you to manage users, assign roles, monitor service health, manage devices, and much more. Furthermore, since Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based solution, you don’t have to worry about managing servers or performing software updates. Microsoft takes care of all the backend infrastructure, ensuring that you always have the latest features and security updates.

Additionally, Microsoft 365 also includes support and training resources to help your team and users make the most of the suite. These resources include Microsoft Learn, an online learning platform with courses on various Microsoft 365 topics, and the Microsoft 365 Training Center, which offers training guides, tips, and videos.

Key Takeaway: Microsoft 365 simplifies IT management by integrating all its services into a single admin console, freeing up your IT team to focus on more strategic tasks.

Benefit 7: Cost-Effective Solution

Cost is often a major factor when considering a productivity suite. Microsoft 365 offers a cost-effective solution. It operates on a subscription model, which means you pay a predictable monthly or annual fee based on the number of users. This can be much more affordable than purchasing individual software licenses.

Since Microsoft 365 is a cloud-based solution, it reduces the cost of maintaining servers and other IT infrastructure. Plus, it includes automatic updates, ensuring that you always have the latest features without having to pay for upgrades.

According to a Forrester report, Microsoft 365 can provide significant return on investment (ROI). The study found that an organization could achieve an ROI of 102% over three years by moving to Microsoft 365. Another study conducted by Forrester Consulting employed four fundamental elements of TEI in modeling the impact of Microsoft 365 Apps: benefits, costs, flexibility, and risks

• Cost Savings: According to Microsoft, consolidating your IT solution stack with Microsoft 365 can lead to critical cost savings while elevating productivity, employee experience, and security
• Total Economic Impact: A case study conducted by Forrester Consulting found that a typical organization experiences benefits of $3,143 per user over three years versus costs of Microsoft 365

Key Takeaway: Microsoft 365 is a cost-effective solution that provides significant value, not only through its robust features but also through cost savings in IT infrastructure and maintenance.

Benefit 8: Continuous Innovation

Microsoft is known for its commitment to innovation, and this is evident in its approach to Microsoft 365. The suite is continuously updated with new features and improvements, ensuring that it remains at the forefront of productivity tools. Whether it’s new AI capabilities, collaboration features, or security enhancements, Microsoft 365 users can always expect to have the latest and best tools at their disposal.

In 2020, Microsoft introduced several new features to Teams, such as breakout rooms for splitting meetings into smaller groups, Together mode for a more engaging meeting experience, and custom backgrounds for video calls. As reported by Microsoft, these new features aimed to improve the remote meeting experience, which has become a central aspect in today’s workplace.

Another innovative solution that Microsoft 365 has introduced is Viva’s Learning system. This AI-powered system curates formal and informal professional development opportunities from a variety of sources and presents them to employees within their workflow. It empowers employees to upskill at their own pace and convenience, promoting a culture of continuous learning. With Viva’s Learning system, companies can enhance employee skills, boost productivity, and foster a more engaged and capable workforce. This is yet another demonstration of how Microsoft 365 is redefining productivity in the digital age.

Microsoft also offers an Insider Program for Microsoft 365, where users can get early access to new features and provide feedback. This continuous cycle of feedback and improvement ensures that Microsoft 365 remains a cutting-edge solution that adapts to the changing needs of users.

Key Takeaway: Microsoft 365 is a solution that evolves with your needs. Through continuous innovation, it ensures that you always have access to the latest productivity features and improvements.

Microsoft 365: A Real-World Scenario

Case Study: How a Company Transformed with Microsoft 365

MLT Aikins LLP, a prestigious full-service law firm in Canada, employs over 700 individuals across six strategically positioned offices in Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton, and Vancouver. Their extensive resources and wide geographic coverage enable them to meet the diverse needs of their clients, from personal legal matters to large-scale corporate affairs.

ISSUES FACED

Over the past few years, MLT Aikins has been upgrading their IT infrastructure and recently hastened their shift to a hybrid work model by incorporating more cloud technology, including Microsoft 365. They initially contacted Softlanding for a project to update their Active Directory, but they also had a significant task they wanted to address: the migration of their OneDrive.

MLT Aikins used six internal servers, each located in one of their six offices. As part of their modernization plan, they intended to decommission their existing servers and transfer their data to the cloud. This move aimed to improve team collaboration and enable remote work, granting staff the ability to access documents from any location and at any time.

SOLUTION PROVIDED

Softlanding, with its vast experience in implementing, migrating, and supporting Microsoft 365 solutions, was the ideal partner to aid MLT Aikins in their mission.

Softlanding devised a thorough data migration plan for the OneDrive migration, which included detailed reports and documentation to offer a clear picture of the data volume and the suggested methodology to adopt. The decision was made to migrate each office individually to better comprehend the client’s processes and guarantee a smooth migration for the end users. The Softlanding team offered extensive support throughout the entire migration process and effectively addressed any challenges that arose during the project.

In addition, the Softlanding team assisted with the change management aspect of the migration, creating email communications and documents to notify the end users of the impending change, ensuring a smooth and seamless transition.

Key Takeaway: Microsoft 365 isn’t just a productivity suite; it’s a transformative tool that can overhaul your workflows, bolster security, foster collaboration, and promote a flexible work culture.

Written By:

softlanding

Softlanding is a long-established IT services provider of transformation, professional services and managed IT services that helps organizations boost innovation and drive business value. We are a multi-award-winning Microsoft Gold Partner with 13 Gold Competencies and we use our experience and expertise to be a trusted advisor to our clients. Headquartered in Vancouver, BC, we have staff and offices in Toronto, Montreal and Calgary to serve clients across Canada.

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