Why should you switch to Office 365?

Microsoft is changing the way you Office.

In the past, Microsoft sold you a CD with the Microsoft Office software on it and allowed you to install it on up to 3 computers/devices. They are now moving to a “monthly service plan” or “subscription” style for Office (and presumably this is just the beginning of software they will provide this way)

You may be saying “Great, I don’t want a monthly bill! I’ll be paying way too much for the software!” but in actuality, the cost of Office 365 business is only $8.25 per month. If you total up what you were paying for that CD (approximately $219 +) it will take you over 2 years to equal that price. And with the automatic updates, new features added without having to upgrade, the capability to install on up to 5 devices (tablets, phones, computers, laptops, etc.) the benefits start to outweigh the fact that you are now on a subscription.

In addition, Office 365 business will install on your device, but it is also accessible via the cloud. That means you can log in to your office from a website. You can get to all of your documents if you store them on the provided Microsoft OneDrive and thus you can office anywhere on any computer.

For a few dollars more you can upgrade to Office 365 Business Premium. This will be advantageous for businesses that need to keep everyone in touch and up to date, it includes hosting of your email on Microsoft’s Exchange platform, where you are able to share calendars with officemates, you can create your own internal office webpage with SharePoint, you can have central document storage with OneDrive, and you get a free Business Skype account.

You may be saying “But isn’t it safer to keep my documents on the premise than in the cloud?” but Microsoft actually has a complete Security Development Lifecycle that prevents, detects and mitigates breaches that many companies do not have the resources to provide. And Microsoft also insures that it meets all of the latest regulations and rules of HIPAA, Sarbanes-Oxley, FISMA and several other compliance regulations. Safety is always a concern, but with the steps Microsoft is taking the risk is far less than it used to be and if you choose not to have your data “in the cloud” you can always continue to store it on your servers and PC systems, it just will not be as accessible to you.

If you are interested in moving to Office 365, give your AcaciaIT rep a call, we can add Office 365 to your Managed Services contract and get you started in just a few short days!