Getting the most out of Office 365 can really help boost your business operations and overall business growth! Office 365 has been around since 2010, but if you’re like most, there’s a good chance you aren’t using this suite of tools to its fullest potential. Most people are familiar with Microsoft’s core products: Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint. And while these are powerful tools, they are only the beginning when it comes to what Office 365 can do.
Always Up to Date
One of the major differences between Office 365 and the Microsoft Office software of old is that Office 365 is a subscription-based service. Instead of making a one-time purchase of a set of software, users pay a monthly fee which grants them access to downloadable versions of Microsoft products, as well as online access to a suite of other tools and applications. This allows users to always work from the most up to date version of Microsoft products and avoid the large sunk cost of upgrading when a new version is released.
Cloud Storage
Additionally, Office 365 subscriptions come with cloud-storage, which allows users to save documents to a secure, personal online storage space (OneDrive), so that they can access and edit documents from anywhere. Because Office 365 comes with online versions of their applications, users can even work on documents from computers that don’t have Office downloaded.
Easily Integrated Tools
Along with its always up-to-date versioning and cloud capabilities, Office 365 offers many other powerful tools and applications. Instead of paying extra for third-party applications, users can often find what they are looking for in a Microsoft application that already exists inside their Microsoft environment and integrates easily with their other Microsoft products. To find these applications, go to www.Office.com and click the button in the top left corner of the home page. From there, users can select the application they want to use. Here are just some of the applications available through Office 365:
- Teams: Communication and collaboration
- OneDrive: Personal, cloud-based storage
- OneNote: Digital note taking
- SharePoint: Cloud-based file storage and collaboration
- Forms: Create, send, and manage forms
- Stream: Video sharing
- Planner: Organizational tool/basic project management
- To-Do: Checklist creation and management
Training and Support
Although the number of tools and applications can seem daunting, don’t let that hold you back! Microsoft provides free training videos on their support site. Microsoft 365 was designed to help business and individuals be more efficient, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach to how it should be utilized. Explore your options and find what works for you and your business growth and success!
By Joe Couillard, Client Relationship Manager
