Moving an organization’s infrastructure to a cloud-based option can seem like a daunting and expensive experience to manage. Quite the contrary, if an experienced and well versed third party handles the transition. What exactly is Office 365 and what are some good reasons for making the switch? More importantly, how do you make the switch without interrupting and/or up-ending your business?

What is Office 365 and why should I care?

Office 365 is essentially a set of subscription plans for various cloud-based productivity applications. These Office applications are consistently kept up to date and can be securely accessed from anywhere, as they are considered “live.” The entire cloud-based Office suite is designed around the idea of multiple devices. With every Office 365 subscription comes free cloud storage in OneDrive and the ability to run the newest, most complete versions of Office apps like Word and Excel online, either on traditional PCs and laptops or through mobile and tablet apps. It has proven to be a very versatile and powerful utility for businesses.

Office 365 sounds great, but how hard is it to set up?

Interested in setting up Office 365 for your business but not sure where to start? There’s a handy deployment planning checklist from Microsoft that provides an example of enterprise-level deployment, focused on the stages of determining your deployment goals and finding the best approach for your specific business. V2 Systems can also help you with both the planning and implementation of Office 365 in a way that minimizes the impact to staff, who may not be accustomed to the change.

What parts of my business should make the switch to Office 365?

A lot of factors come into play here. What is the nature of your business? Which documents would need to be migrated? These could include anything such as emails, calendars, client documents, company files, and more. You’ll have to “take inventory” so to speak, and carefully consider which items you’re OK with temporarily losing access to as they’re transferred over to the new system. Once again, this is something we can help you with to decrease any potential headaches.

Is switching to Office 365 something I can do without help?

Since we’re essentially an IT company, it may be natural for you to assume we’re going to tell you “YES! You need us! Don’t try this yourself!” And you would be quite correct, but not for the self-promoting reasons you may be inclined to think.

The honest truth is, doing the migration by yourself really can be risky — particularly if you don’t have a whole lot of IT knowledge and troubleshooting experience. You really do need a migration partner. Having one will help you through the process and ensure the safety of your documents. Your company could very easily have several thousands of files to transfer — all of which would be put at risk from even the slightest process interruption. Having your company’s data damaged, lost, or even worse —stolen — would be the sort of headache that makes attempting it just not worth it.

Making the switch to Office 365 is a major decision. Is it the right call for your business? Let us help you determine that. And if you do go ahead with it, you can count us to be there for you every step of the way.

Since 1995, Manassas Park, VA-based V2 Systems has employed local systems administrators, network engineers, security consultants, help desk technicians and partnering companies to meet a wide range of clients’ IT needs, from research, to implementation, to maintenance. Concentrate on your VISION…We’ll handle the TECHNOLOGY!