You’d best mind your budget if you’re a subscriber to Microsoft 365 or Office 365, as Microsoft plans to increase the price of these services. We wanted to give you a quick heads up and clear the air a little bit preventatively, primarily so that you can adjust your plans if need be.
Whether you’re relying on us to provide you with Microsoft’s services or seeking them out from another provider, the increase in costs is going to be pretty unavoidable. It is, after all, coming from Microsoft, and not every business is going to be able to absorb these prices.
However, this makes the experience you receive from your provider all the more important to consider. This is certainly our focus, as we want to help you make the most of your solutions… particularly if you need to pay more for them.
We’ve made it our business (in a very literal sense) to familiarize ourselves with the tools available for businesses to use, particularly so that we can help you make the most of them. For instance, there are a lot of business tools that Microsoft features in the bundle that have legitimate benefits. For instance:
Teams is Microsoft’s answer to dedicated communication and collaboration needs, giving teammates various ways to work together throughout the day. Other Microsoft products integrate with Teams very well, making it a useful piece of software for any business to have.
The business version of OneDrive functions much like the free version that is intended for personal use, with the capability for many users to share documents on multiple devices and browsers. OneDrive gives its users the access they need, with permissions granted based on each user’s needs.
Similarly to OneDrive, SharePoint is also a document-sharing tool, although it functions more as an intranet for your employees to create and share via process-based applications. In this way, SharePoint gives your team another means to be productive.
Scheduling appointments can be a real pain to manage, which is what makes the idea of having your clients handle it for themselves such an intriguing one. Microsoft Bookings does just that, presenting them with your availability and allowing them to claim a time for themselves.
Aiding in data security, Azure Information Protection adds another layer of protections. This is of particular importance to those that are operating from someplace outside of your network and the defenses you have installed there. Access permissions are also manageable through this tool, allowing you to adjust who can access what on your business network.
Intune is a platform that enables you to control any of your data that is on either your business’ devices, or used on ones that are owned by your employees. It can be considered a version of mobile device management, allowing you to manage the risks that mobile devices could otherwise introduce.
Automation allows your technology and data to do even more for you. That’s what Power Automate and Power BI Pro enable, letting you connect various processes without the need for any complex coding skills. This allows you to fully utilize your data, organizing it and revealing insights that can help drive your business actions.
Yeah, the price increase by Microsoft is a bit of a bummer, but getting more value might be enough to offset the negatives of the situation. We can help you get as much value as possible from all of your tools. Learn more by calling (509) 534-1530.
About the author
Sam is a network engineer with a broad range of experience spanning more than 35 years. He wrote is first piece of code in 1979 and has been involved with the industry ever since. For the last 20 years, he has worked for SCW Consulting where he has embraced his passion for network technology and security.
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