10 best features of Microsoft 365 for small businesses

Formerly Office 365, Microsoft 365 is a complete software with a number of purposes to assist your small business. Office 365 for small businesses has been, and continues as Microsoft 365 to be, an entire service that makes it simple to collaborate on initiatives, retailer information, configure your IT infrastructure, and extra, and offers one of the best electronic mail suppliers in Microsoft Outlook.

In this text, we’ll run via the highest 10 features that make this group of merchandise preferrred for small enterprise homeowners. Read on to seek out out whether or not Microsoft 365 might assist make your small business extra productive – and once you’ve completed, be sure that to learn our information to the best Microsoft Office alternate options too.

1. Secure information storage

Microsoft’s OneDrive is included in your Microsoft 365 package deal, and it lets you retailer as much as 1TB of information safely and securely. Microsoft has invested closely in making OneDrive as safe as it may be, and goes to nice lengths to take care of it, together with a zero-standing entry coverage that ensures engineers can not entry consumer accounts until they’re particularly requested to. 

OneDrive can be a superb vessel for collaboration. It lets you share and collaborate on Microsoft apps in actual time from any location and on any appropriate system, secure within the information that your recordsdata are securely backed up always.

2. Company-wide licensing 

Licensing generally is a main headache for small enterprise homeowners. Multiple software program licenses will be costly and tough to navigate. You might end up in a scenario the place only some members of your workers require sure sorts of software program, so it may be laborious to justify the expense.

With Microsoft 365, your single license charge covers all of the software program options supplied by the platform. This one-off cost is way simpler to handle, and allows predictable pricing so you may finances higher. Even you probably have workers members that don’t use sure merchandise, it does not matter since these merchandise are included as commonplace.

3. Market-leading phrase processor

It’s extremely probably that the majority, if not all, of your workers would require the use of a phrase processing platform sooner or later. Microsoft Word is by far the best identified and most generally used phrase processing software program out there. Your workers are probably properly conscious of the software program and subsequently already competent in utilizing it. 

From a enterprise level of view, Word’s commenting performance is one other key promoting level. With feedback on Word, it’s simple to collaborate on paperwork or request modifications with out having to create a brand new model of the doc each time. 

4. Ideal for dispersed groups

Word isn’t the one collaborative factor you’ll discover on Microsoft 365. With so many individuals working remotely for the foreseeable future, collaborative communication platforms have gotten ever extra widespread, and crucial. 

Microsoft Teams is a serious participant available in the market and comes with the Microsoft 365 Business package deal. Using Teams, customers can host convention cellphone and video calls and collaborate on recordsdata in actual time. The software program additionally swimming pools your organization’s Microsoft apps in a single place, so you may work on complicated duties collaboratively. Read our Microsoft Teams evaluate to seek out out extra.

5. Excellent electronic mail services

Microsoft Outlook is one of the best-known electronic mail purchasers, and comes as commonplace with Microsoft 365, the place it may also be paired with Microsoft Exchange, a business-focused electronic mail server that gives safe electronic mail supply, prioritised mail services, and automatic and synced calendars. Other electronic mail perks embrace a 50GB mailbox, cloud-based administration, a customized area title, and extra. 

6. Top-notch cyber safety

Microsoft ensures a really excessive stage of safety safety for its merchandise, primarily via Microsoft Defender. Emails are protected with defences in opposition to a number of cybersecurity threats, together with malware, viruses, ransomware, phishing, and basic spam. 

It’s additionally potential to combine password safety on recordsdata and different enterprise info, and you’ll even immediate customers inside your community to replace their safety credentials frequently. Additionally, you may prohibit the copying or saving of business-specific info to third-party apps, and remotely wipe compromised recordsdata or databases. 

7. Financial administration and planning is simplified

 

Microsoft Excel is a well known software for creating and managing spreadsheets, which can be utilized by your HR and finance groups to watch the incoming and outgoing property for your organization. The newest model of Excel additionally consists of superior reporting and information visualisation features, so you may current these stats simply. 

Another app, Microsoft Planner, lets you handle your organization duties with ease. A really user-friendly software, Planner additionally consists of information visualisation instruments that any member of your staff can use, regardless of their IT literacy. 

8. Mobile and internet accessibility 

A standout characteristic of the entire Microsoft 365 platform is its accessibility. There are internet and cell variations of all of the core apps. This means customers can work on any company-related duties they could have to with out the requirement of being current within the workplace. Each consumer can join as much as 5 iOS or Android cell gadgets. 

9. Build your individual intranet 

Collaboration between teammates on Microsoft 365 doesn’t cease at OneDrive, Word, and Teams. Microsoft SharePoint takes this one step additional. Using SharePoint, customers can really create intranet websites to share and showcase work internally.

At its core, SharePoint is a platform for creating particular staff and venture websites that staff can go to, and collaborate on by sharing information, recordsdata, and different media. On a company-wide stage, SharePoint can be utilized to create an intranet system to interact with groups each inside and out of doors of the workplace surroundings. 

10. Presentation instruments 

You may keep in mind Microsoft PowerPoint from faculty or faculty. But this presentation software program has come a great distance because the WordArtwork days. Now, it may be used to create skilled enterprise shows that may be shared simply, and embrace interactive components too. 

The newest model of PowerPoint consists of speech-to-text features, 3D animations, and even an AI-powered presenter coach that lets you nail down your presentation methods. 

Summary

Microsoft 365 is the platform to beat. As a software for enterprise, it offers every little thing you must plan future methods, handle your small business property, talk along with your staff and prospects, and current new concepts.

Some of the apps included, equivalent to Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Word, are market-leading providers all on their very own – coupled collectively, they create a software program package deal that’s laborious to beat.