Small Businesses Punch Above Their Weight With Office 365

Around the world, owning a small business can feel like a constant battle. A battle for awareness, for market-share, for financing, and most importantly, a battle to be the number one vendor of choice for customers. To address these business challenges, small businesses need to be laser focused on driving business growth, not managing information technology (IT).

By Thomas Hansen, Vice President, SMB Worldwide, Microsoft
Business Punch artwork courtesy Shutterstock

Luckily in today’s business world, small companies aren’t restricted to using pared down versions of enterprise-grade IT services. New cloud-based services have become game-changers for small businesses looking to boost their competitiveness and solve their next business challenges. As technology becomes more natural – anticipating what people want and enabling them to interact in natural ways – small businesses can take advantage of “the cloud” to overcome the complexities normally associated with using enterprise-class IT.

Office 365 Small Business Premium is Microsoft’s answer to small businesses customers’ requests for productivity services that are intuitive, but that also provide the full value and benefits typically reserved for larger companies. For example, Office 365 still contains the familiar Office applications, but also adds additional cloud services. As technology becomes ubiquitous with gaining a competitive advantage, Microsoft is launching cloud services with features and functionality that help small businesses punch above their weight to outperform the competition.

So what can Office 365 do for small businesses?

Increase productivity. The new world of work means both organizations and individuals are more mobile and need to be empowered to work whenever and wherever they want. Office 365 supports this new work dynamic with multiple device access to emails, messaging and documents from PCs, tablets and smartphones. This enables employees to enjoy a consistent work experience and improve their effectiveness without be tied to a single location.

Look even more professional. While being professional may be about efficiency and effectiveness, looking professional is all about appearance. With Office 365, small businesses can look their best by having professional correspondence, marketing collateral, websites and video teleconferencing to deliver a favorable impression of their organization. Whether a small business is engaged with existing customers or new prospects, Office 365 delivers the consistent attention to detail their companies need to always look their best and showcase their professional side.

Stop worrying about IT. When was the last time there was a small business success story about an email or backup server? The answer is never. Success stories are written about companies that have reacted quickly to new market opportunities, not about outdated technology. Office 365 allows small businesses to concentrate their limited business resources on what matters most: growing the business. Without the need for an IT department, small businesses get enterprise-class cloud services that are easy to use, provide great communication and collaboration capabilities, and meet privacy, security and reliability standards the moment the service is activated.
Office 365 provides small businesses with the right cloud services to compete on the same level as their larger peers and punch above their weight even in the most challenging markets.