Office 365 refers to a line of products and related services that make up Microsoft’s subscription-based productivity platform. Plans for businesses include Exchange mail servers, VoIP communications, online storage, SharePoint team sites and, of course, the full set of industry-standard productivity applications that make up the classic Microsoft Office.
By now, most business leaders have a reasonable understanding of how a cloud-based productivity platform like Office 365 works and what it can offer to their organizations. What remains unclear, however, is how it helps them reduce costs. Take a look at some of the ways cloud-based services save your business lots of money.
#1. Simplified Storage
Online storage is one of the most popular cloud-based services of all. Enabling access anywhere through any device with a web browser, cloud storage affords excellent potential when it comes to collaboration, scalability, flexibility, and disaster recovery.
All Office 365 subscriptions come with one terabyte of OneDrive storage space, although you can purchase additional storage if needed. Furthermore, OneDrive integrates fully with the Microsoft Office suite of applications to provide easy backup and file synchronization.
#2. Reduced Infrastructure Requirements
Running an in-house email or SharePoint server costs lots of money since you’ll need to buy your own physical server. You’ll also be responsible for maintenance, space parts, and upgrades, all of which can amount to major monthly outgoings. With Office 365, your in-house infrastructure spending is greatly reduced.
Instead of having to invest in expensive on-premises hardware and the expertise needed to keep everything running smoothly, this cloud-based offering gives you access to all the everyday productivity features you need to keep business running smoothly.
#3. Reliable Backup
Although Office 365 doesn’t come with backup and disaster-recovery features itself, it does help lay strong foundations for them. SharePoint, for example, is not just a collaborative platform, but also a powerful document management system that helps keep your data stored in a centralized and easily manageable location. This makes backup and data retention much easier.
In addition, migrating to Office 365 gives you more control over your data by consolidating it and providing complete visibility through the whole range of Microsoft applications for businesses. After all, it’s always easier to keep your data safe when you know exactly where it is!
#4. Better Collaboration
Office 365 is truly unbeatable when it comes to collaboration, and that also means saving your company a lot of money. With its powerful communication tools, such as Skype for Business, it’s easier and cheaper than ever to keep in touch with partners, employees, and freelancers all over the world.
Furthermore, creating a SharePoint team site allows you to create an online community hub for a department, project, or even your entire business where people can share and co-author documents, read news updates, and much more. With such a collaborative environment on your side, you’ll be able to reduce travel expenses, increase workforce mobility, and reach out to talent all over the globe.
#5. Familiar Interface
There are many ways businesses waste money, and making your employees use systems they’re unfamiliar with is one. With Office 365, there’s minimal need for any additional training thanks to the exceptional ease of use and familiar interfaces of the core Microsoft Office apps. After all, Word and Excel, for example, have been the industry standard in office productivity for over two decades. The greater Office 365 ecosystem is also very widespread to the extent that there’s extensive support available to help you onboard employees.
At F1 Solutions, we’re all about helping businesses save money and take advantage of the very best that modern technology has to offer. If you’re ready to partner with an IT support team and cloud provider you can depend on, give us a call today.
