Posted: Monday, 4 July 2016 @ 12:39
We asked a customer who recently moved to Office 365 why they had decided to move, and what benefits the change had bought to the company. This is their blog explaining why.
OK, so at first I was against the whole Office 365 thing. I didn't want to lose control over my mail server and I didn’t like to think I couldn’t even look at my mail server. Just watching those green flashing lights made me feel all warm inside. Until that is, the day I went for my green flashing light fix, but only saw a red solid light. Immediately I thought “Oh Flip!” (or words to that effect).
This is where I got IT Service’s Exchange guy on the case …. And to cut a long story short it was fixed within an hour … which got me thinking about Office 365, and I decided to take a real look at it.
My first fears were “Will I still have access to my mail in the same way, have the same control over its flow, and will my mountains of gadgets all be OK with Microsoft Office 365?”
The short answer was “Yes”. Office 365 works brilliantly and actually works in a more logical and unified manner. Great I thought …. but is it safe? I know hackers are busting to get at my “Adam are you making the Tea?” emails.
Again the answer is “Yes”, because security is a priority at Microsoft Data Centres. With Office 365, you can use the same systems used by Microsoft and other enterprises worldwide to help protect your emails, documents, and networks. These systems scan your messages and documents for spam and malicious software (IT Services advised this is also called malware, although I’m not really sure about the differences myself!) 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Microsoft also say they “Help to safeguard your data and are certified to meet multiple industry-standard certifications”. Brilliant, that’s much better than my current security of a locked server room, with Julie having the key in her bottom draw. Even Stan the IT Services dog knows that’s the setup!
That’s the killer difference - 99.9% Financially-Backed Uptime Guarantee. Office 365 is built from the ground up for reliability, availability, and performance. I would say that with a bit of research I found it has a proven service which is powered by the same Microsoft email and collaboration products that businesses of all sizes have been using for decades. Microsoft Exchange is a product I know and trust and coupled with the fantastic flexibility it affords my business, I can even pay for the Mailbox monthly, without being tied in.
So … how did it go? Seamlessly! The team at IT Services synchronised our mail, calendars and everything else Outlook related and then switched systems over on the weekend. There it was … all done dusted and seriously, NO FUSS!
Brilliant! So if you are thinking about it, do it, because I admit, I do miss those green flashing lights, but I don’t miss that endless spam and nor do I worry about my mail not being there when I open Outlook.
Click here to learn more about Office 365.