Despite the obvious benefits and the suitability of the solution, some SMEs remain reluctant to migrate to the cloud for various reasons. Yet migrating to Office 365 is not as complex as it seems, and partnering with Dial a Nerd can ensure you take advantage of all of the benefits, with none of the worries.
The Microsoft Office 365 suite is a cloud-based version of traditional Microsoft Office software that is particularly suited to the small to medium enterprise (SME) market, the migration is fairly straightforward because the relatively smaller size of the organizations allows for maximum flexibility in the implementation process.
There are many benefits associated with moving to Office 365 including enhanced mobility and dramatically reduced investment in software and infrastructure.
Office 365 offers SMEs access to the latest Microsoft Office tools and versions, without the cost of constantly upgrading; access to advanced features and functionality like Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Lync Online and Microsoft Office Web apps are also included. With Microsoft Office 365, SME users can easily access sophisticated e-mail archiving solutions as well as rich collaboration tools without massive additional investment in infrastructure that previously made these systems prohibitively expensive to implement.
A major concern for the SME is downtime associated with the migration, as any time spent unproductively can cost the company precious income. The reality is that the whole implementation process can all happen within a day once the decision to move is made. The migration itself takes normally around half an hour per user and the disruption is minimal if there are no major issues. The process can even be conducted over the weekend so that any issues can be addressed outside of business hours.
Another concern for SME users is that their experience with the Office suite will be different in some way, or performance will be negatively impacted by the migration. For users on the latest version of the Office suite, there will be no difference whatsoever when using the software. Yet, if the organization is still using an older version of Office such as 2007 or 2010, then a difference in the experience will be noticeable, but this would have happened anyway when upgrading to the latest version of a traditional Microsoft Office suite. It is important to notice that while a reliable and fast connection to the internet is necessary (as it would be to send mail from any mail client even if non-cloud-based), the bulk of the work can still be performed offline and synchronized when the connection becomes available. In terms of performance, migrating to the cloud does not affect the speed of applications negatively. Users may even have a smoother experience because they are now leveraging the full capacity of a cloud-based server.
A migration to Office 365 will certainly offer substantial benefits in the majority of cases. From a financial point of view, the reduced capex required to have the most up-to-date software available is a very valid argument, since the software is delivered on a subscription basis there is no need to migrate to a new version in future as all the updates happen automatically at the server level. The licence is also valid for up to five devices for users. Furthermore, web applications, which make Office applications available on mobile devices, enable flexibility and mobility.
Partnering with an experienced specialist SME IT outsourcing provider with a proven track record like Dial a Nerd is essential to ensure a smooth, hassle-free transition. We will help research all the options to make sure the chosen one is right for your business. In addition to that, we will also take care of the necessary precautions like backing up important documents and emails before the migration happens to ensure you can leverage all the benefits seamlessly.
