Microsoft 365: your ally for working remotely

If you have read our earlier posts, you already know the different types of cloud and why they matter. This time we look at one of the software packages that the cloud turned into something genuinely useful for working remotely: Microsoft 365.

What does Microsoft 365 do, and why would your company need it?

Built by Microsoft, it is a subscription service that takes the desktop suite everyone knows — Word, Excel, PowerPoint and the rest — and adds real-time collaboration, continuous updates and online file storage, among other things.

How is Microsoft 365 different from classic Microsoft Office?

You may still be wondering why you would subscribe to Microsoft 365 when a single payment buys you an Office license with the same familiar applications. As we said, the difference comes down to the cloud.

With a classic license you get the tools on one computer, and that computer is where your files are created and edited. Microsoft 365 runs on servers outside your PC or Mac, which means you can open and change your files from anywhere in the world, on whatever device you happen to have.

That is the part businesses care about most, because it is what makes hybrid and remote work possible. Where staff once had to sit in the same office, share a printer and bounce dozens of emails back and forth with Word attachments to work on something together, now they need an internet connection and a link to the document.

It is the most compelling feature, but it isn't the only one. A few others worth knowing:

• Updates. An Office license gives you one version of the suite on your machine. With Microsoft 365 the latest improvements arrive as they are released.
• Premium versions. The standard Office package is perfectly capable day to day, but the subscription adds intelligent assistance that suggests how to write and design your documents.
• Storage. If your device is short on space, or you want more people to reach your working files, you get a terabyte of OneDrive storage.
• Security. A data leak damages your reputation and can bring your operation to a halt. Microsoft 365 comes with advanced security options in OneDrive and antivirus protection through Microsoft Defender.
• Email. You can connect your own company domain and run business mailboxes, which puts your messages on a professional footing.

Which tools do I get?

First, the applications you already know, in their premium versions: Word, Excel and PowerPoint. They cover everything from writing a simple document to building advanced presentations or working through large amounts of data. We will look at several tools in more detail in a future post; for now, a taste of a few:

• OneDrive. Where your documents live, with plenty of room.
• Microsoft Teams. Remote work runs on meetings, video calls and chat. Teams puts communication and file sharing in one place.
• And around thirty more. The suite includes tools built for specific jobs, depending on the kind of business using them.

If you have already decided hybrid work is the road your company is taking, Microsoft 365 makes the transition a straightforward one. The applications are familiar to millions of people, the full suite widens what your team can do, the tools are secure and updated constantly, and they were built for working together at a distance. Rather than trialling something new, why not use what has delivered for years — now with the cloud behind it?