With the rollout of Office 365 Government, there are some interesting decisions to make when upgrading potentially old and expensive servers. There is an increasing need to find a long-term solution to meet governmental needs for compliance, modern mobility, collaboration, archiving and, of course, security. Office 365 meets all federal information security and privacy requirements. So why migrate to Office 365 Government? It is an opportunity to modernize, boost productivity, be more efficient and reduce cost.
Here’s a great example:
Let’s take a look at King County in Washington State. Their customer service policy is what’s called, “No wrong door.” This means that when a citizen reaches any County employee, that employee will ensure the citizen is directed promptly to someone who has the answer.
In order to make this happen, they use Microsoft OneDrive for Business and Microsoft SharePoint Online as key tools in their communication and collaboration. They can collaborate across departments and devices to find what they need. Information isn’t buried on employee’s computers. Instead, it’s in the cloud—well organized and available securely to everyone who needs it.
Using Office 365 search capabilities, information can be found quickly and easily to lead people to that “right door.” Skype for Business is used to see if the author of a document is available online so they can reach out to them in real-time.
With Office 365 and OneDrive for Business, they have that flexibility.
Dealing with potential budget deficits over the years, some government departments have been working with outdated operating systems hardware. Many government agencies are switching to Office 365, an entirely cloud-based solution. It is a hosted service providing subscribers with the Office 365 suite, productivity and collaboration features with security compliance. A particularly attractive aspect of migrating to Office 365 is the reduction in IT administration cost, as well as freeing up time and resources to focus on new initiatives and other tasks.
Here are some reasons to move to the cloud:
Use business-class email through a rich and familiar Outlook experience you can access from your desktop or from a web browser using Outlook Web App. Get a 50 GB mailbox per user and send attachments up to 25 MB. Use your own domain name.
Host online meetings with audio and video using one-click screen sharing, HD video conferencing, and virtual whiteboard. Excellent for distance learning.
Connect with other Skype for Business users via instant message, voice calls, and video calls, and let people know your availability with your online status. Share presence, IM, and audio calling with Skype users.
OneDrive for Business gives users 1 TB of personal storage that syncs with their PC/Mac for offline access. Easily share documents with others through Office or SharePoint.
Work together on projects, in study groups, or in clubs with team sites that help keep related documents, notes, tasks, and conversations organized together. Up to 300 subsites.
Create and edit Word, OneNote, PowerPoint, and Excel documents from any modern browser.
Sync email, calendar, and contacts; access SharePoint sites; view and edit Office documents with Office Online using a browser on Windows Phone, iOS, and Android™ devices.
New third-party and customer-developed apps work with Office and SharePoint to bring web services right into your documents and sites.
The admin portal provides IT detailed configuration options for your services, either from an online portal or through automated management with PowerShell commands.
Get peace of mind knowing your services are available with a guaranteed 99.9% uptime, financially backed service level agreement (SLA).
Cutting-edge security practices with five layers of security and proactive monitoring help keep your data safe.
Your data belongs to you. Microsoft does not scan emails or documents for advertising purposes.
No need to pay for version upgrades; updates are included in your subscription. New features are rolled out to Office 365 customers in an IT-configurable experience.
Manage user credentials and permissions. Single sign-on and synchronization with Active Directory.
24/7 phone support for critical IT issues. For less urgent issues, you can make service requests directly through the admin portal.
Learn more
- Download our free eBook: How to Get Your Team to Use Office 365.
- Watch our 30 min video: Sharing and Collaboration with Office 365.
