What is Office 365 for Business?
A question we get asked all of the time here at Greendata.
We have been at the forefront of these changes in the way businesses are using technology since Office 365 was released in 2011.
And yes, we’re still learning too.
Office 365 certainly has revolutionised the way businesses can communicate, operate, increase productivity and efficiency, anywhere in the country and the world.
So here our aim is to let you know what it is and how it can work for you and your business.
Imagine getting back a few hours of the day just by having information flow across all of your devices.
Just take a minute to imagine what you could do with that extra time.
You aren’t on this journey alone, we are here to help you win back that time.
What is Office 365 for Business?
We’re glad you asked!
Office 365 is a Microsoft product that is a subscription plan to access all of the Office 365 applications and other productivity services over the internet.
The subscription gives you access to all of the usual Office applications, but in the case of Office 365 for Business you do get quite a few extras.
So, if the above doesn’t really make too much sense to you, it can mean if your business currently run Office on each individual device, you can, with an upgrade to Microsoft 365 Business with us, access your information on any computer or device in your business just by logging into your account.
All your data and information is stored in the cloud.
So the ease of doing business just got easier and more efficient for you and that’s just the start as you will find out.
How is Office 365 different than Microsoft Office?
Office 365 is different to Office in many ways.
You can still buy Microsoft Office as a single purchase and install it on one computer if you want to live in the past.
You will find that the applications that are installed aren’t automatically updated to new versions.
This means when a new version becomes available, you have to purchase Office again and reinstall.
Wouldn’t it just be easier to pay monthly, get all the upgrades, set and forget?
We think so too.
Also, other than the ease of using Office 365 for Business you get a limited number of applications with the standard Office install.
The Office 365 suite of applications is extensive and growing as you will read below.
For Office 365 for Business customers you get even more for your dollar as well.
There are many extra applications you get in the Office 365 for Business suite and they are always updated.
Finally, one of the other major differences when you subscribe to Office 365 for Business you get to install Office on up to 5 x PC’s or 5 x Macs, 5 x Tablets and 5 x Smartphones.
So you are already ahead of the game and can access and use your own information at any one of these devices.
Do we get Microsoft Word and Excel with Office 365?
Yes, you do get Word and Excel with Office 365 for Business.
When you subscribe the whole Office suite of applications is ready to go.
Here is a list of what applications that are at you finger tips when you are logged in.
Also a brief explanation of what each application does.
Some of these below have extra monthly subscription costs involved with them.
But that’s understandable when you start to investigate why, they are powerful tools!
- Outlook Mail
- Calendar
- People
- Yammer
- One Drive
- SharePoint
- Planner
- Tasks
- Delve
- Video
- Word
- Excel
- PowerPoint
- Publisher
- Access
- Outlook
- OneNote
- Sway
- PowerApps
- Flow
- Teams
- Dynamics 365
How will Office 365 help my business?
Where do we start with the benefits of Office 365 in a business environment?
There are so many and over time, with more use, you will probably find more yourself.
We can start with a list and elaborate for you from there.
- Can be used almost anywhere on almost any device
- Improved mobility
- Increase your productivity
- Easy to learn
- Business tools at your fingertips
- Freedom and flexibility in the workplace
- Store your data locally and also in the cloud
- Collaborate with your team in real time
- Peace of mind security, health and support
- Your business grows, it grows
- Stay focused on doing better business
- Save you money
- More time to relax
Can be used Almost Anywhere on Almost any Device
No matter what devices your business are running (well almost, if you have a Nokia 3310 we might be struggling!) you can use Office 365 and of course the Office 365 Apps.
Why?
It’s because your licence is connected to you and not the device or specific workstation.
So no matter where you are, if you have an internet connection and have transferred your business over to Office 365 you can login and have access to you and your team’s information.
There are also Office 365 Apps that run offline too and adds information after you get back online.
Improved Mobility
So you decided to leave your office early on Friday for a relaxing weekend at Noosa.
Your 4×4 is loaded up and you think you have everything covered and your team is large and in charge.
But half way up the M1 you get a call from Steve, “Remember that deal from 2 months ago? Well he wants an extra 2% discount and longer trading terms and he will sign it off today”.
“I’ll have to do the math” you reply, “I’ll get back to you”.
Then the thoughts start…
How am I going to check that info?
Will I have to call the office and get all of the data sent out to my email?
That’ll take too long.
Oh that’s right, I had Greendata in the other day installing Office 365 throughout the business.
I just have to pull over, Hotspot my Laptop to the iPhone and then just log into Office 365.
10 minutes later a Notification from the Microsoft Teams App comes through on Steve’s phone.
“Go ahead with deal, I’ve done the math and put the data in a file on OneDrive for you. Tell them that I expect an invite to the Christmas Party this year too”
20 minutes later a notification comes through from Microsoft Teams with an image of Steve giving you a double thumbs up.
Company budget hit for the month, a week to go, life’s good.
And this is only one example of what improved mobility can give you and your business by using Office 365.
Information when you want it and time saving too, so you can get back to what you love doing.
In this case driving to Noosa for the weekend to relax.
The days of being a slave to the office have gone and Greendata with Office 365 are leading the way.
Increase your Productivity
Increased mobility and easy access to information makes Office 365 a superior choice for increasing productivity across your whole business.
By having your team working with the same Office 365 package, using and communicating with the same tools as you, no matter where they are in town, city, state or country has astounding effects on a business’s productivity.
You can share documents, spreadsheets, presentations, new product releases and more with your team in real time if you need to.
Imagine what they can do for your customers with these extra capabilities and also the extra time they gain through the day.
The ease of using an Office 365 Business Solution gives you back hours in the day you would normally lose floundering for information.
Then you can use this extra saved time to do what you want.
Easy to Learn?
If you have used Office products before you should have no problem working Office 365 out.
So is Office 365 easy to learn and use?
Yes, once we install, it is easy to use for the basic day to day tasks it is.
Once you start delving into the Apps and other bells and whistles you may need to engage a bit more of the grey matter.
So for day to day normal business tasks, you should have no problem at all.
Business tools at your fingertips
You can use Office 365 to its fullest capabilities or scale back and just use the basics.
It’s up to you and your team to see how much you can get out of Office 365.
Freedom and Flexibility in the Workplace
No matter how many people you have in your team, no matter where they work from, there is freedom and flexibility in Office 365 for businesses.
Freedom and flexibility can come in many forms.
Whether it is the ability to work from any device no matter where you are or expansion because you have grown.
Or the need to introduce a new App or solution because the way you do business has changed.
Or the freedom that comes from making your business more productive and efficient across all areas.
Office 365 and Greendata are there to help you flex and be free.
Store your Data Locally and also in the Cloud
Don’t be afraid of the cloud, the cloud is your friend.
You have the choice, once you commit to Office 365, to store your data and more in the cloud.
You can still store locally if you can’t let go, we understand that.
But how will access it from wherever you’re working from and from any device if you don’t store it in the cloud?
This is the whole point of making the switch to Office 365 for Business, everything is in the cloud ready for you and your team to access when you and they need it.
But don’t worry, you still have control over who can access your information in the cloud.
You have to give people permission to look at anything you save or work on.
Collaborate with Your Team in Real Time
Your business has its own Social Media network built into it and also there is the Microsoft Teams App as well.
All of these and more work in real time.
You type, you hit send and they get the message.
Also the benefits of Apps like OneNote are crazy. As you type the words are being saved pretty much in real time to the document you are working on.
Even if your best business idea yet pops into your head while you’re in transit from home to the airport, you type it into OneNote and it saves as it goes.
Shoot a message through to your manager on Yammer to check the OneNote document you were working on last week and they can be working on it before the Captain can say “Fasten your Seatbelts please”.
Don’t even get us started on business meetings!
You have your own private Skype Business Network to chat to your team on, share your screen with and also to all use the other collaborative business meeting tools which are at your fingertips.
Real time, real meetings, really productive and time saving.
Peace of mind Security, Health and Support
Rest assured your data is safe with Office 365 for Business, as it is fully compliant with all of the necessary industry standards.
Your Microsoft Office 365 data belongs to you and you have complete control of it all.
There are extensive privacy and visibility controls so you control where your data is stored as well as who has access to it.
Your data (or the information you are typing) is automatically encrypted when it is stored and also when it is travelling over the network for your device.
Office 365 is continually updated to enhance security, this means you don’t have to spend your Saturday mornings running updates on all of you businesses devices.
These updates occur naturally saving you time.
And of course, if the need arises and you want to conclude your subscription to Office 365, you can take all of your businesses data with you.
We don’t often have break ups here at Greendata, so this may never happen.
Your Business Grows, it Grows
Now here is a thought for you.
How do you manage growth of your business from a managed services perspective?
Here is a scenario for you.
Have you done the math on setting up a new employee with all the necessary tools so they can hit the ground running and you can see a ROI as soon as possible?
Office 365 for business is designed to easily grow as you grow, it is as simple as adding extra subscriptions to your monthly base.
New employees can have access to all of the same tools you and the rest of the team have with one easy setup.
This saves you time and money and it means you and your team can become productive and efficient a lot quicker than in the past.
Also the Apps used with Office 365 have the ability to expand and contract in line with your business needs.
And all of this can be managed monthly if needed.
If you have a project that needs managing for a 6 month contract? No worries.
Setup the new team members, give them access to only what is needed, you monitor as part of that team also.
The project finishes and you contract back to normal again.
Easy.
You are in control, Office 365 can be whatever you want it to be to help your business grow.
Stay focused on doing better business
With all of the advantages of using Office 365 for Business you can stay focused on what you do best, working on your business.
Whether it is improving efficiencies, productivity, focusing on your customers to improve your relationships or even helping your team to become better at what they do.
Getting the time to work on these tasks is one of the hardest things a business faces.
We are sure there are better things for you to do day to day than uploading software into every device or having to head back to the office or workshop to check your computer as well as many other tasks.
With Office 365 for Business becoming the engine room for your business you can turn your focus onto the things that really matter and will benefit you and your business.
Staying focused on these tasks will lead to better business outcomes for you and of course, more time to relax and plan ahead.
Save you money
Office 365 for Business will save you money.
There, we have said it.
Therefore, us here at Greendata will save you money too!
There are so many benefits and features by having Office 365 for Business installed across your business that it would be a long task to calculate all of the savings and potential savings.
Take a step back now, how valuable is your time?
You may be getting a wage or a salary out of your business but does it really cover the hours you put in?
So you would agree if you get back a few of those hours they would be really be priceless to you in the main scheme of things.
Office 365 for Business combined with Greendata’s knowledge will help give you back that time.
Also as a bonus you get a Fully Managed IT Solution at an affordable monthly price so you don’t have to invest your hard earned into servers, software and other tools you need.
So this can save you a lot of money in the long run too.
More time to relax
Last on the list and probably the most important point.
The amount of stressed out business owners we come across is growing.
Most of them don’t have the time to focus on their IT and data management side of their business let alone planning to grow themselves and their business.
This is where working with Greendata and Office 365 for Business comes in.
Sometimes it’s not all about using every single millisecond of the day working yourself to the ground.
Even if you got back an hour a day be automating a few tasks or making it easier to communicate no matter where you are sitting in the world.
You could stay at home on Fridays and conduct your team meetings sitting on your deck by the pool sipping on your favourite beverage (depending on what time of the day it is; this could be coffee, beer or wine).
Answer a few emails and forward a few proposals through from the comfort your buggy at the 9th hole at your local golf course.
Or, if you have good coverage, be anchored offshore with the fish nibbling at your bait checking what the rest of your team is up too and that they have completed their set tasks for the day.
You have the ability to work anywhere and anytime.
You also have the ability to relax anywhere and anytime too knowing you can communicate effectively from anywhere if needed.
Some of these above may take time to get to, but it’s worth the extra effort isn’t it?
Your time is invaluable, but time more time to relax is beyond price.
That’s the end of all of the points from above and there certainly were a few.
At the end of the day we can help you sort through your sticking points so you can start your journey to “Working Smarter and Relaxing Harder”.
Is Office 365 easy to install?
Yes, it is if you let Greendata take care of it for you!
There are so many different scenarios to consider before you start using Office 365 for Business.
These have to be managed and planned and we do this for you.
We know the questions to ask and also offer suggestions through this process that will help make your life easier now and in the long term.
So don’t stress, just commit.
You don’t have to do anything except learn, adapt and enjoy the experience of working with Greendata.
We do all of the installing and set up for you, just call us on this number today 07 5526 0278.
How do I setup Office 365 for Business?
This is the easy one, you don’t have to setup Office 365 for Business.
We do it for you.
See, we are already saving you time and cutting down on your stress levels!
After installing Office 365 across your business we help with the setup on the devices.
Everyone in your business is different and will need different tools to use daily.
After setting up the devices, you and your team will be able to start learning how the Office 365 tools can help you.
This is a learning journey we can take together.
Where do I start?
This is as easy as getting hold of us on the phone 07 5526 0278
Or connect through our Contact Page here, “Lets Connect with Greendata”
We are happy to talk about Office 365 for Business and how it can help you now and in the future.
If your business is on the Gold Coast even better, we are born, bred and based here and can easily set up a meeting with you if needed.
It’s time for you to get a few hours back in your day and we are here to help you.
Talk to you soon!
