Calculating Route Office 365

Make Sure You Cover All Your Bases

Stacy Cote

Browse any of the IT headlines these days and you can’t help but notice Office 365 pops up quite a bit. There is a lot of chatter out there about Microsoft’s new platform. Look through the blogs and you’ll find a plethora of questions people have and their struggle to navigate tough decisions on what to do. Our team has learned about numerous wrong turns along the way, folks heading in a direction that just seems to add costs, time, and maybe even a few gray hairs. Our Microsoft team has been on top of this announcement since the beginning. If you’re even just thinking about Office 365 and need a route you can trust, read on. We have your GPS ready.

Multiple devices are the norm in today’s workforce. Actually, most people have been juggling tablets, phones, notebooks, and more for quite a while now. And to be honest, it doesn’t always go as well as they like. In fact, there is some very heated debate over mobility. Workers are always on the go and need everything at their fingertips. They want everything quickly and easily. As a result, the organization needs to figure out how to make that happen. For example, they grapple with the best way to keep data accessible and secure. And, the never-ending challenge to support so many different devices. An ever-evolving mix of operating systems, software, and technology.

Enter Office 365– a software and Cloud services platform. Office 365 supports mobility so that you can access any of the applications from a number of different devices. And, you’re always on the most up to date product that Microsoft is offering. That’s a huge benefit. Office 365 allows the remote worker to be seamless. Data is accessible 24/7.

Sounds fantastic, right? Well it can be. I think some of the frustration we are hearing is that organizations, specifically regarding the infrastructure, just aren’t ready. Unless the environment is cloud-prepared, this option isn’t going to work. Systems need to be up-to-date in order to implement Office 365. Period.

Interestingly enough, with several products going end of life or end of service soon – such as Windows Server 2003 – many organizations are taking a hard look at their aging systems. Upgrades can require substantial costs out of the gate, so replacing hardware, and then having to purchase licensing up front is very costly. In that scenario, Office 365 is an attractive option.

With Office 365, you have many options. You don’t have to take on everything Office 365 has to offer. And before any move to the cloud, it’s imperative to determine if your environment is even ready. You really need to map out an approach that looks at the big picture.

The Microsoft Practice team at Connection is way ahead of the game. We have developed an online assessment tool to evaluate your current situation and guide you through the Office 365 decision process. It’s imperative to determine if you’re environment is ready. I can’t reiterate that point enough. Here at Connection our Microsoft team is prepared to help you do just that. We can evaluate your current situation and guide you through the entire process. We’re also ready to show you how to administer Office 365 within the Office 365 admin portal. Think of us as your personal GPS and let us point you in the right direction and then help you navigate along the way.

To understand better who Office 365 is best suited for, or where it’s not such a great fit, tips on how to prepare for it, as well as the tools to help determine if you are ready, we put together a fantastic video. We look at the specific components of what we call “Microsoft’s Cloud Stack” and advise the best way to gauge your readiness for Office 365. Your destination is a few clicks away.

You can create a meaningful and productive work experience for every user – no matter where or how they choose to work. Watch now and be sure to take advantage of our complimentary Readiness Assessment.

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