A Platform that Allows Productivity and Collaboration to Reach Their Potential
July 07, 2021
A Platform that Allows Productivity and Collaboration to Reach Their Potential
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Software Version
Microsoft Office 365 (Cloud)
Overall Satisfaction with Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365)
The entire organization is using Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) right now. It offers a lot more flexibility than hosting on-premise in Exchange. The biggest benefit is not having to worry about hosting the data on your own storage. We also benefit a lot from getting constant updates and improvements through Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). Getting the constant evolution of the products in Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) allows us to take advantage of the latest features without having to buy new licenses to get new features like static products.
- Managing user mailboxes and policies is very simple in the Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) environment.
- Accessibility from anywhere is extremely useful since all anyone needs is an internet connection.
- The account security features are easy to set up and they work very well. We have MFA turned on for everyone, and that gives a great peace of mind that accounts are that much more difficult to hack.
- The various modules are a bit fragmented. They have features that switch to different modules, and occasional rebranding can sometimes cause brief confusion.
- When releasing newer versions of things, sometimes the feature set of the old version is not completely covered. This is kind of a thing with other Microsoft products though like with Windows 10 and the Control Panel versus the Settings app.
- Microsoft sometimes releases what feels like half baked solutions for things. My example is for Teams, but it still can tie into Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). Planner is a decent solution for managing projects, but the functionality is quite bare bones. Additionally, the Approvals app for Teams is missing some key features like email reminders that Approvals in Power Automate does have. Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) might still develop these further, but it's not a sure thing.
- While we do enjoy getting the latest features and benefitting from having everything hosted by Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), this can also lead to issues caused by updates they push out. However, these are very rarely mass outages. It's just worth noting, but it's still a very reliable platform.
- The ability to effectively manage mailboxes and content in the environment. This also includes mail flow rules and items like that.
- Security options for user accounts. While more basic licenses don't have access to all of the account security options, you can get very granular with locking down logins even beyond using MFA. This offers a lot of flexibility with how to secure accounts.
- Scalability is very simple along with license management. If we need to figure out if we're wasting licenses somewhere from account cleanup issues, we can run reports to find options. We can also add more licenses easily. Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) also offers generous trial options for various add-ons to see if they are features we really need or want to use.
- We have been able to reclaim our storage on premise by not having to host mailbox databases there. This has saved us on having to purchase more storage as often.
- We have been able to be more flexible in working with fellow organizations by having the environment hosted by Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365). This helps with growth very well.
- Using Intune to manage devices has simplified BYOD management and security. This was more difficult or not really possible prior to tapping into Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) as an offering.
- Google Workspace (formerly G Suite)
Google Workspace does offer a lot of collaborative features, and I believe they offered multiple people editing the same document at the same time before others. And Google Drive and other storage competitors were superior to OneDrive. However, Microsoft has clearly invested heavily over time into the Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) platform. I have been using Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) since the beginning. It was quite rough around the edges. Management for admins was more cumbersome and required Powershell most of the time. The service also had stability issues in that first year. However, the platform is lightyears beyond what it was in the beginning. Uptime is rock solid. OneDrive is a benchmark now instead of lagging behind. Couple that with the email platform, Teams, and Sharepoint, and you have one incredible productivity sweet that just continues to get better. Yes, it is not perfect, but nothing is. But, I have consistently found Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365) to be reliable and it doesn't let us down.
Do you think Microsoft 365 delivers good value for the price?
Yes
Are you happy with Microsoft 365's feature set?
Yes
Did Microsoft 365 live up to sales and marketing promises?
Yes
Did implementation of Microsoft 365 go as expected?
Yes
Would you buy Microsoft 365 again?
Yes