Most businesses today are cloud-centric. To have the expected online presence and to conduct a lot of their business in the cloud, apps and services need to move onto the cloud too. Building on the functionality of its longstanding Office suite, Microsoft has developed Office 365 in order to meet this need that caters to both student home use.  Take a look at six of the benefits of using Office 365 in your business.

1 – Flexibility

Office 365 is designed in a way that allows you to be more flexible. You can have a cloud-based solution, go for an onsite package or, like the majority of businesses, choose a hybrid of the two that can be customized to meet your individual requirements. Package sizes and costs are tailored for each customer. You can add employees to the dashboard as your company grows, and conversely decrease the license in the event of downsizing.  Any upgrades you need can be added instantaneously without buying more license keys or actual discs, making it a lot more cost effective.

2 – Ease of Use

Setting up Office 365 is remarkably easy. There are no complicated installations and you don’t have to learn new software. A little playing around to gain familiarity with the new apps and layouts is all you need and Microsoft offer a trial account to allow you to do just that. This is perfect for the less tech savvy among us.

3 – Compatibility

Running a business can be expensive, and not every company can afford to constantly update their operating systems, which is where Office 365 can be beneficial. Microsoft made its software compatible with new and older systems including Windows 7, Vista and even XP – both SP3 and Home editions.  Mac users can access applications using OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and 10.6 (Snow Leopard).

4 –  Easy Collaboration

Office 365 has a feature which allows you to share documents with your staff, other businesses and customers in a single location. This is done by creating a password protected portal in which files can continue to be worked on and showing others the latest versions. This app is particularly useful for sharing larger files that can be difficult to email, and makes working collaboratively a whole lot easier.

5 – Backup and Recovery

Office 365 can be used as a part of your Backup and Recovery Plan. All your information is stored on a distant server, allowing rapid recovery and business continuity. Other safeguards high level of security with incremental and full data backups and replications at regular intervals.

6 – Security

Security is one of the most important factors of running a cloud-centric business, and Office 365 has several high level security measures in place. All of your company data is encrypted, meaning if someone did manage to access it, they still couldn’t read it. Powerful antivirus programs are in place in line with Microsoft Trustworthy Computing Initiative covering all your information, with malware alerts and spam filters that protect your email traffic. The portal is constantly monitored for signs of suspicious activity and has a tested incident response protocol.