Usage of software and systems that have outlived their utility adversely affects the business in more than one way. As they are built on the older mechanisms, they will lose the possibility of compatibility with all other modern solutions. Consequently, necessary hardware updates become impossible, making your company unable to integrate with other mission-critical applications. It’s then easy to comprehend why In a July survey of 560 marketing professionals worldwide conducted by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, 36% of respondents said that legacy systems were one of the biggest roadblocks preventing them from implementing real-time analytics and why enterprises are losing $140bn with data trapped in legacy systems.

The only thing which can be extrapolated from this gloomy scenario is that the only way to achieve organizational efficiency is to discard the old ways of functioning by embracing their newer versions. And latching on to the benefits of Office 365 by migrating to it can become the first leg in the long journey of efficiency overhaul.

What Is Microsoft Office 365?

A part of the Microsoft Office product line, Office 365 offers a cloud suite of applications and services. Unlike in the past when Office applications like Outlook, Word, and Excel were run and managed locally by enterprises, Office 365 has brought all of these tools plus more under the single umbrella of the cloud-hosted solution.

Though it was established with a goal of empowering SMB employees with the collaboration tools to take pressure off of their IT staff, Office 365 has seen large scale adoption by the giant companies. The grandeur of that adoption can be gauged by the fact that in the fourth quarter of the fiscal year 2017, Office 365 revenue surpassed that of conventional license sales of Microsoft Office software for the first time. However, looking at the bottom line impacting benefits of Office 365, migrating to it sounds much wiser than most of the meeting room discussions.

Benefits of Office 365 Migration:

1.Reduction in Cost and Operational Time:

As Office 365 runs entirely in the cloud, migrating to the platform reduces costs, challenges, and risks for IT teams. IT managers don’t have to dedicate time and resources while managing local email servers or network drives. Employees only need to access Office 365 for Outlook email and OneDrive file storage, plus get instant access to all of the apps they regularly use, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

More importantly, as a cloud vendor, Microsoft takes full responsibility of ensuring the uptime of the Office 365 platform and providing support to enterprise customers. It greatly reduces the burden of your own IT personnel. 

2. Advanced Tools and Apps:

The always-on-the-move philosophy of Microsoft has resulted in Office 365 which is full of all modern and mission-critical tools. Its best case in point is Yammer, which the tech giant bought for $1.2 Billion back in 2012. It’s a significant addition in the illustrious pack of Office 365 offerings, as Enterprise Social Network (ESN) is going to revolutionize how we plan our work and implement it. They are the prime facilitators of interactions, simplify the talent search and makes lengthy email chains defunct with the ability to ‘like’ posts, comment on your group’s activity and share and collaborate on files incredibly easily. Moreover, it adds to the integration benefits of Office 365 as Yammer aligns perfectly with everything else in the stack which makes the whole experience efficient and smooth.

3.Business Safety:

Office 365 is constituted by multiple security features to ensure the security of your business in the cloud premise. Office 365 applications can be accessed through SSL/TSL encryption. It nullifies the threat of information pilferage by ensuring that intercepted communications or files cannot be read by a person who has no authorization. 

Similarly, Microsoft continuously monitors its systems for suspicious activity and uses a robust incident response protocol. Other security features offered by Office 365 :

● Updated antivirus signature

● Email protection from malware with anti-spam filtering and antivirus software

● Microsoft Trustworthy computing security procedures

4.Enhanced Flexibility:

With an increase in global footprints, the ambit of employees’ communication has also become wider. It gave rise to a slew of devices like intercom, mobiles, and larger digital screens. It pushed back the scenario where the only device that they used was a monitor. On average, employees use 2.3 devices to complete the work. And without these devices, work will be halted – especially if the employee is working from home or is in some remote location. That’s where the importance of flexible working – work anywhere, anytime from any device- sneaks in.

Without setting up VPNs, Office 365 allows your employees to access company files away from the office. By shifting to the cloud, your employees can work anywhere with only an internet connection required – an asset for any company that is aiming to boost its productivity. 

Also, by centrally locating all your files in the Microsoft data center, Office 365 creates a single data source. It allows you to make changes in the documents by sitting at home and your colleagues will be able to see the most recent version of the document. It draws a final pall over the archaic tradition of e-mailing different versions of the same Excel document to colleagues.

5.Easy Scaling:

Unlike in the past, the nature of business sale is no more homogeneous. This is particularly true for the business whose sales see seasonal fluctuations. Imagine a retail store that needs greater efficiency during festival seasons. And if the retailer is a large business magnate with multiple outlets across the globe, amping up the IT setups to meet the demands and establish proper coordination among all the outlets is a difficult feat to achieve. Office 365 offers a credible solution to this nuisance by allowing companies to align with the growth of its business. You don’t have to purchase additional servers or networking equipment when new teams and employees are brought on board. All that IT manager has to do is adjust the company’s Office 365 subscription plan to account for all end users and the services they require.