Microsoft 365 for Business is a solution that is packed with features. Knowing how to extract all use out of its many features is important for organisations.
Nowadays, business and technology have been closely linked for a long time. Email has been a part of business for 40 years; E-commerce has been around since the 1990s; and nowadays, most businesses would be lost without the internet, computers, and mobile phones. The nature of technology in business has become increasingly digital; with businesses relying on software for nearly every aspect of their work. This can be seen especially plainly with the ubiquity of Microsoft’s business solutions – not only is their operating system (Windows) the most popular in the world, but their flagship solution, Microsoft 365, is one of the most popular in the business world.
We reached out some IT support companies – some of whom provide IT support for Education, some work with Financial Service Providers, and many other types of business. What they all had in common was that they recommend Microsoft 365 as one of the most complete business software solutions an organisation can leverage.
What is Microsoft 365?
Most people are familiar with the likes of Microsoft Excel, or Word, and there is a good chance that they use Outlook for their emails. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, many more people have experience using Microsoft Teams. All of these products (and several more) are part of Microsoft 365.
Microsoft 365 is a suite of apps and services, all of which are designed to fulfill a different, essential functionality for office-based work. For example, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint allow users to create all the standards types of documentation, presentations, and spreadsheets needed for business. The suite also includes cutting-edge cloud storage and file management, and unified communications capabilities. When we spoke to a company that specialises in Microsoft 365 consulting, they pointed out that Microsoft 365 is highly adaptable to changing business climates – for example, in 2020, when COVID-19 hit, 365 helped many businesses adapt to remote work, and later on, it provided a lot of the necessary functionality for hybrid working.
Getting the Most out of Microsoft 365
The suite has a lot of functionality and a diverse array of features across the different apps and services. Most businesses agree that the potential it has to help businesses transform their operations is huge. So, how can an organisation get the most out of the products?
Leverage the Cloud
When most people think of the cloud, they are thinking specifically of cloud storage. Microsoft 365 for Business has excellent cloud storage capabilities thanks to both Microsoft OneDrive (for individual storage) and Microsoft SharePoint (for shared storage) – both of these apps enable an organisation to store, manage and share files quickly and securely.
However, when we say leverage the cloud, it goes much further than that. In fact, all of the products and services in M365 are cloud-based, and therefore offer users great capabilities. For example, Microsoft OneNote is a handy cloud-based notebook that allows you to make notes on your mobile, and access them on your PC without having to send anything.
Use the Search Feature
M365 is designed to be highly intuitive and easy to use; however it is definitely a very complicated system with a lot of features. Sometimes it can be hard to manually navigate, which is why Microsoft 365’s enterprise search is so worthwhile. All data and intelligence in Microsoft 365 is interlinked. When we asked some IT support companies London businesses rely on, they stated that this is down to the fact that the whole suite is built on Microsoft’s own API, known as Graph. This means that you can search for anything across the whole ecosystem via one of the search bars in any of the apps.