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Office 365: The Definition of Value

With Office 365, Microsoft has taken the Office you know and use every day and not just supercharged it with the cloud, but also with the value your licensing delivers. Office 365 is a Software as a Service offering from Microsoft that allows an organization to license Microsoft Office, Email, document management, and Online Meetings all in a simple pay-as-you-go model. Capital expenditures for software lock you into a costly update cycle that requires expertise and ongoing maintenance. With Office 365, you get all of the Office applications such as Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, OneNote, Publisher and InfoPath; in addition to the back-end server services that integrate these technologies together for a simple operational expense based on the number of users you support.
 

Price is a Grocery Store Decision

Price is a grocery store decision; cost is a business decision. When one evaluates business cost they look at value not just the bottom line dollar amount, but the deployment time, mobility, roadmap, and interoperability of the solution. These four key components comprise the value of a technology solution for an organization. They are the reason why Office 365 is the leader in every Gartner Magic Quadrant it qualifies.
 

Speed

Office 365 deploys fast; the basic tenant can be set up in a day and ready to migrate hundreds or thousands of users. Office installations are ready to run in a few clicks with Click-to-Run; you can download and run the entire office suite in minutes. Fast deployments increase confidence in the project while allowing the user to start using the latest and greatest versions of Office.
 

Across Platforms

Increasingly, businesses are finding that mobility is paramount in order to enable users to get work done anywhere, anytime. Working on Office 365 does not require an internet connection, so in those places where connectivity is bad, or there simply is none you can continue to work with Office desktop applications, and they can be installed on up to five devices Mac or PC. Office Web Apps allows you to collaborate live with customers or employees. You can open your documents and edit them with just a web browser. Last, but not least, Office 365 has full support for all of the major mobile platforms with native applications for iOS, Android, or Windows RT and 8. You can get work done no matter where you are or what device you are working on. Devices that support Active Sync will accept policies from Office 365 and let you enforce security for Mobile Device Management (MDM).
 
office 365 devices

Update Cycles

Traditional IT update cycles brought new features and benefits with them every few years, however; this was a slow and tedious roadmap. Things have changed and with Office 356 development is a frequent cadence. Last week, Office 365 users across the board saw their inbox maximum size increase from 25GB to 50GB and SkyDrive storage increase from 7GB to 25GB - all with no additional fees. Continued innovation has replaced the old update cycles and capital expenditures associated with updating server software. Ongoing Security and performance improvements deliver value month after month with the same fixed low price.
 

Integration

Active Directory, CRM Online, and Windows Intune can be integrated with Office 365 to deliver complete user and device management. Another reason to integrate is Single Sign On, this allows your users to have the same password for their domain credentials as Office 365. Windows Azure can be used to support your Active Directory servers to provide you with redundancies for Office 365. Support is included, and all Office 365 plans have a 99.9% financially backed Service Level Agreement (SLA), 24/7 online support and phone support with one hour response time for critical issues.
 

The Competition

Competitors of Office 365 will try to entice you with low costs that prove to have hidden fees and lack-luster consumer grade product offering no integration. Their mobility may be platform specific and requires all of an organizations users to adopt a certain device. Their support may be e-mail only and their service level agreement not financially backed. The value of Office 365 is remarkable starting with the ability to be truly mobile on any device. It also offers the freedom to work on documents and manage them online or offline. Just think of the time and money saved by not having to update or manage servers, not to mention the integration with other software you may be utilizing. Office 365 is the fastest growing business ever at Microsoft simply because customers love the value they get with it.
 

We Can Do This

Bit-Wizards is a Cloud Deployment Partner with Microsoft and stands out as a leader on the forefront of cloud adoption. This sets Bit-Wizards apart from the pack. We have a proven track record and experience to get the job done. If you are thinking about Office 365, give us a quick call and let us demonstrate how it can revolutionize your businesses communications and productivity.

Author

Wiz E. Wig, Mascot & Director of Magic
Wiz E. Wig

Director of Magic