Demystifying Microsoft Office 365
HELLO! Paul Holmes Technology Ambassador, Smart Dolphins Founder, Social Media Camp 20 + years of technology experience @tpholmes
HELLO! Joe Payne Network Architect, Smart Dolphins 10 + years of network design Joe.payne@smartdolphins.com
AGENDA 1 Introduction: What is Microsoft Office 365 2 Key Benefits & Features 3 Demystifying the Cons 4 Implementation
What is Microsoft Office 365? Office 365 refers to subscription plans that include access to Office applications and other services via the Internet. Many Office 365 plans include the desktop version of the latest Office applications, which users can install across multiple computers and devices. Applications include: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher and Access. Office 365 is two distinct offerings: (1) The Office Suite (Word, Excel, Outlook, etc.) (2) Hosted Exchange (Email, Calendars, Contacts basically everything you see in Outlook)
Why Consider it? (1) Long-standing, legacy application, most widely used in businesses today (2) Mobile & user-friendly (3) Cost-effective
Ask yourself How many locations does your business or organization have? Do you employ remote staff? How many employees are using multiple devices to access and save files? How important is maintaining a current version of your business applications? How integrated is Microsoft in your current infrastructure?
Look at how employees use technology and work outwards from there.
Key Features & Benefits (1) Simplified Licensing You sign up and pay for MS Office 365 monthly or annually. You log into Office 365 and download your software. Need to add or remove a user? Log into the portal and manage your accounts. User-friendly: Installations are initiated by the user, using the simple Click-to-Run installer. Mobile-friendly: Each user can install on up to 5 devices. Flexible: Plans for every business size and need (1-300 employees); No commitment: If you only need the Office Suite for a short period of time (for example: You hire a co-op student for a few months) you can pay slightly more per month and have no commitment what-so-ever. You could use the software for a month and cancel it if you wanted to.
Key Features & Benefits (2) Multiple Devices 85% of organizations allow employees to bring their own devices to work. IDG Research Services You can install Office 365 on up to 5 computers (PC or Mac), 5 Tablets, and 5 phones. Activated devices are managed in the Office 365 portal. Mobile-friendly BYOD-friendly
Key Features & Benefits (3) Automatic Version Upgrade The latest version of Office is made available to you shortly after its release to market. Although not a guarantee, you can also continue to use the older (or current) version until you are ready to upgrade. Simplicity: Easier updates and upgrades; Cost-efficient; New product features, even whole new versions, are installed automatically as part of the normal background update process. Reduced downtime: Because Microsoft is managing Exchange, SharePoint and other servers, your IT professionals don t have to plan for downtime to install patches.
Key Features & Benefits (4) File Storage File Storage: Office 365 includes 1TB of storage with OneDrive. Not only can you store all of your important documents on OneDrive but you can share them as well. Not comfortable storing your data with Microsoft? That s fine too. Mobile-friendly; Enhanced security: small to medium businesses will have better security using Office 365 than they can (probably) afford on their own. Office 365 offers the same user-level security options and Trust Center as the desktop version. Offsite, files are saved in specialized data centers where security is a primary concern.
Demystifying the Cons Cost Cost is the #1 reason people initially don t like office 365. While the monthly cost may appear to be more, it s actually less than purchasing the desktop version. Let s consider this hypothetical circumstance: Desktop Version: If you have two computers, you'd spend $1000 over four years (assuming you upgrade in the third year to a newer version). Microsoft Office 365: $400 for the same interim. Further, you will save money in the long term because you will experience: Reduced downtime; Increased productivity; Decreased data storage costs and; Decreased System Admin and/or IT costs. Data Sovereignty Currently, Microsoft does not have any Canadian data centres. Data sovereignty is critical for certain sectors like Canadian non-for-profit organizations. In June 2015, Microsoft is released a press release stating that Canadian data centres would be operating out of Toronto and Quebec City in 2016.
Implementation Assess: Decide if Microsoft Office is the best fit for your business or organization; Choose a subscription plan that meets your needs; Consult with IT professionals; Migrate historical email to Office 365; Configure Internet domain name to work with Office 365 (mx records, autodiscover); Configure Outlook to work with Office 365. Consult with professionals of similar businesses or organizations that made the transition.
Questions? Comments? Thank you for coming to this presentation. Presenter email: paul.holmes@smartdolphins.com Visit us online: www.smartdolphins.com