This blog posting answers the question we find most perplexing to our clients.
Do I really need Microsoft Office 365 right now? Like H2O, is it the universal solvent that is critical to IT life or is it junkie-junk Kool-Aid that I can live without?
But First, a Commercial Break...
As if all of you haven't had enough IT Drama in your lives by now, please visit our Facebook page for a short Academy Award winning documentary depicting the harsh conditions faced by IT professionals in the Metro NYC area and their struggle to survive as they meet the unpredictable needs of their end users.
Now - the Feature Presentation!
What exactly should I do with Office 365?
In our three month long blog arch, we're going to address its advantages and disadvantages, how you can best integrate it into your IT environment, and what, if any, compliance issues could arise by doing so.
Thumbs up
- Reduced Security Challenge – spend less time having to worry about all the “belt and suspenders” approach of network security involved with Email and document security for managing your own Exchange environment.
- Simplified Archival, Discovery and Compliance - seamlessly integrated document management eliminates the need for countless other workflow “point solutions” that also increase the complexity of managing and securing the environment. O365 is only solution we are aware of that gives you built-in disaster recovery, auditing, electronic discovery, QuickBooks integration, and customized time management all in one integrated cloud environment.
- Operational Efficiency – no more time wasted managing upgrades of hardware/infrastructure and patching software to keep all of these disparate solutions integrated and up to date in the environment. The burden is shifted away from internal IT resources to an industry leading cloud hosting provider.
Thumbs down
- You may not use all it has to offer. Less than a quarter of functionality is typically utilized (Palmetto Technology Group, 2016). This may or may not be the case for you depending on your technology requirements, but if you are curious to find out then please contact us to discuss further.
- Hard to keep up with compatibility issues. Because O365 interfaces with so many different applications on the desktop, changes in one part of the chain inevitably cause disruptions if compatibility isn’t closely monitored.
- Not good for spotty Internet buildings in Manhattan. You’re out of luck if this is your situation anyways, but as O365 is cloud-based this is especially true.
Stay tuned for next month when we'll address Microsoft Office 365 integration issues. Thanks for reading!
Sources
Palmetto Technology Group. (2016, March 31). The Pros and Cons of Office 365 for Business. [Web log post] Retrieved from http://blog.goptg.com/blog/2016/03/31/the-pros-and-cons-of-office-365-for-business
