You most likely have heard about Microsoft 365 (formerly known as Office 365), the leading cloud-based business productivity platform, providing organisations with access to tools that enable a productive and secure hybrid workplace. While there may be many other software-as-a-service solutions in the market, over 345 million active users from organisations, regardless of size and industry, chose Microsoft 365 to aid or advance their digital transformation goals.
So what is so special about Microsoft 365 that companies choose it for their modern work and security solution? Let’s dive into what we think makes it a standout SaaS offering.
1) Fully integrated solution.
What started as a subscription-based version of mostly Office productivity tools like Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Publisher is now an all-in-one solution for communication, collaboration, content management, process automation, analytics, and security.
With Microsoft 365's fully integrated solution, organisations can expect simplified administration, less maintenance, scalability, and robust security. It also natively integrates with other Microsoft solutions like Dynamics 365 and Azure, making it easier to have a seamless user experience.
2) 24x7 access.
Microsoft 365 provides your users 24x7 access to their most frequently used files and applications using their favourite devices. You can work on or offline on your files and sync them to the cloud once you have an internet connection.
3) Predictable spend.
You can purchase Microsoft 365 via a monthly per-user subscription, the cost of which can depend on the functionality your business needs. The Business SKU cater to the needs of small to mid-sized organisations with less than 300 users, and the Enterprise SKU are best for 301 users and up. With the software upgrades already part of what you are paying for, there will be no unexpected or additional IT costs to worry about with Microsoft 365.
4) Built-in communication and collaboration solutions.
Organisations with remote working as its prevalent workstyle need reliable and secure communication and collaboration solution. Microsoft 365 enables effortless collaboration in your workplace, no matter where your people are, with solutions like SharePoint, Teams, and Yammer.
SharePoint could replace your on-premises file shares to enable real-time co-authoring, version tracking, quick content search, centralised communications, dedicated team sites for department-level collaboration, and more. Teams enable chat, call, virtual meetings, webinars, and secure file sharing, whilst Yammer is for your enterprise social networking.
5) Access a multitude of functions – all in one place.
As a Microsoft 365 user, you get access to many functional applications with Microsoft 365 that you can manage in a single place. Apart from business-class email with Exchange Online and Outlook, Office desktop apps, SharePoint, and Teams, it is worth highlighting other inclusions in Microsoft 365 that we really like:
1 TB OneDrive for Business for personal file storage.
Power Apps for low-code app development.
Power Automate for automating workflows and forms.
Power BI for self-service analytics.
Access to Microsoft Viva Connections, Topics, Insights, and Learning.
Planner and To-Do for simplifying task management.
Forms for capturing surveys or creating quizzes.
Bookings for self-service appointment scheduling.
Stream for creating and sharing videos across your organisation.
Built-in security protects your data, devices, apps, and user identities.
6) Enables secure remote working.
Microsoft 365 runs on Azure, one of the world’s most robust and secure cloud platforms that meet rigid industry and regulatory compliance standards. Its security and compliance benefits are one of the biggest reasons that set it apart from most SaaS solutions.
Microsoft 365 helps improve your organisation’s security posture with Microsoft Secure Score by reporting on your current security state, providing guidance to improve your security posture, and comparing it against industry benchmarks and established KPIs.
Microsoft 365 has built-in data loss prevention, multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, information protection, mail and web filtering, endpoint protection, cloud app security and more. It enables you to double up on your security by giving you full control over who has access to your data by encrypting your sensitive emails so you can apply restrictions to documents that cannot be forwarded or copied. Lastly, it comes with mail and web filtering to proactively defend against sophisticated phishing attacks hidden in email links and attachments, quickly detects malicious websites, and lets you set up malware protection on your company’s devices and files.
Microsoft 365 has a complete stack of tools to help businesses protect their user identities, data, apps, and devices against cyber threats. Its security and compliance tools can help you build the foundation for a secure hybrid work environment.
7) Secure remote desktop from anywhere.
Microsoft 365 stands out even more with its inclusion of a desktop and app virtualisation solution, Azure Virtual Desktop. AVD is a comprehensive cloud-based desktop and application virtualisation platform that provides the best virtual Windows and Office experience delivered on Azure. Qualified Microsoft 365 subscriptions like Business Premium or Enterprise E3 and E5 already give you free access to AVD. All you need is to pay for the Azure resources required.
Azure Virtual Desktop is a great solution for simplifying device and app deployment, scaling efficiently on demand, enabling access to specialised workloads on low-end machines, reducing Windows Server management and deployment costs, and more.
Everything you need in one solution.
Microsoft 365 has everything you need, wherever you need it, in one solution. Its comprehensive and integrated productivity and security tools make it a standout solution that is unmatched in the market today.
If you are planning to migrate to Microsoft 365, do it right the first time. Speak to one of our Microsoft 365 specialists for further guidance.