What is Microsoft Office 365 and How it works

Microsoft 365 (also known as Office 365) is the tool created by the giant Microsoft that allows us to create, access and share documents online between different users in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote, among others. To do this, you only need to have access to the internet and have the OneDrive program.

What is Microsoft Office 365 and its function?

Office 365 is the Microsoft suite that allows us to work with the usual Office tools and the most current collaboration tools , from any device and anywhere in the world.Microsoft Office 365 is available for companies and individuals , that is, you can use it both at work and for your personal affairs, on your private devices. They also have a specific modality available for the education sector. You must hire the most suitable modality and plan based on your needs, since the applications, the capacity of the cloud services and the prices, among other things, will vary.

Difference between Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365

And then what is the difference between traditional Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365? The difference between the two lies in the fact that, in the latter case, users can access files in real time so that they can work on documents collaboratively in a group. In addition, thanks to the email, calendar and video calling tools that the package offers, your work teams will be able to communicate and work better, regardless of where they are.

For companies that do not have an IT department or prefer to outsource the administration services of Ofice 365, when registering in the portal they can assign delegated management . This means giving permission to a third company to manage your O365 assets.

How Microsoft Office 365 works

Old-school users, those who used CDs to install Office, may wonder how Office 365 works. To get your O365 as a business, you must sign up on the product page. For private users, they will need to log in or create a Microsoft account and purchase the product from the online store . Thus, you will generate your subscription to Office 365, which means that you can enjoy the suite of tools on all your devices (computer, tablet or mobile) and keep them always updated . Yes, yes, when a new version of an application comes out, you will have it available in all of them. Either the online or local version.

If your company wants to switch to Office 365, it is important to plan the change , since to acquire its applications and services we will have to choose which plan we want . The different options offered to us include different applications and services; in some cases, such as email or cloud storage services, in addition, the capacity that we are going to need. All this makes it essential that we previously analyze what our needs are . To determine them, we must not only base ourselves on the resources we use today, but also on what our goals are for the future.

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What Is MS Word Used For

However, one of the advantages of Office 365 is the great room for maneuver that its plans offer. If you choose well, a company is unlikely to run into capacity constraints . In fact, one of Microsoft’s goals when defining plans is to simplify Office administration for companies, which will no longer have to control user consumption. The margins are so wide that running out of space is no longer a concern.

Office offers different packages depending on the size of the company or the number of users who will use these services. In addition, users can choose between three types of packages: for private use, for companies or for students or teachers. Each one has its own characteristics (number of users, integrated programs, space …) and, correspondingly, is offered at different prices.

What Applications included in MS Office 365

Once we are clear about our needs, we have to choose the most appropriate plan to satisfy them, so we must look at what applications they bring in each case.

For those who do not know the products that Microsoft 365 includes, programs list below :

• Microsoft Word
• Microsoft Excel
• Microsoft PowerPoint
• Microsoft Outlook
• Microsoft OneNote: For those of you who don’t know it yet, OneNote is a relatively new tool that allows you to take notes and information online. They can be included from notes, clippings, drawings or even audio comments.
• Microsoft Publisher: is Microsoft’s desktop publishing or DTP application.
• Microsoft Exchange: mail or calendar server.
• SharePoint
• Skype for Business: program that allows us to hold professional meetings through video calls.
• Microsoft Teams: unified communication and collaboration platform through chats and video meetings between users.
• OneDrive for Business: online tool that allows you to create, modify and archive Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents in a collaborative way.

In the Company mode, two main profiles are distinguished: plans for small companies and plans for large companies . The difference between profiles is mainly based on the number of users and storage capacity. In both cases, all plans include the online versions of the classic Office applications. The difference between plans (both for SMEs and large companies) will be what additional applications and services we want, if we need mail and the desktop versions of the applications.

MS Office 365 benefits

Microsoft Office applications are the most powerful work tools on the market, we know this well, because we have been working with them for years and all the functionalities that still others have not been able to match. With Office 365, you can not only enjoy its capacity, but also take advantage of the benefits of the cloud : work on any device, anytime, anywhere.
The benefits of working with Microsoft 365 are many, we are going to review the main ones:

• Working in the cloud , although we have already discussed in previous articles the great advantages of working in the cloud, in this case we highlight only the most important: being able to work wherever you want as long as there is a connection.
• Excellent internal organization and collaboration tools
• Use of pioneering tools for content creation and information organization such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  Updated apps
• Microsoft allows you to increase the contracted services as your company grows.

Microsoft’s efforts in recent years to adapt to new ways of working have resulted in excellent collaboration and video conferencing tools, already essential for today’s businesses.

Another relevant aspect that should be noted and that also answers why Office 365 is the ease of keeping applications up-to-date , a relevant aspect for companies’ IT teams. Automating, keeping applications up-to-date, and avoiding affecting users’ day-to-day lives are great achievements that free up precious IT time.

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