Cloud this, cloud that. We’ve all heard about the “cloud” and all its wonderful features but have we ever stopped and thought – where the heck is this cloud and what exactly does this cloud do?
No? Not even a giggle? Tough crowd. Okay, enough boomer jokes – let’s get right into it.
According to Microsoft, Microsoft Office 365 refers to subscription plans that include access to Office applications plus other productivity services that are enabled over the internet. Office 365 includes plans for use at home and for business and services such as Skype for Business web conferencing and Exchange Online hosted email for business as well as online storage with OneDrive for Business. While all of these services sound mighty fine – what exactly does it do differently compared to traditional download-to-your-desktop software?
Well, the cloud is the difference. *cue head scratch and the almost automatic “huh?”*
Okay – it has nothing to do with the cozy-looking fluffy pillows you see in the sky. The technology industry has always been known to use different types of buzzwords such as big data, actionable analytics, and augmented reality. The cloud is one of those buzzwords.
Microsoft describes the cloud as a web-based computing service that is hosted outside of your organization. To put it simply, the cloud is sort of an online storage facility that you can access anytime, anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.
Still stumped? Picture this: say you are hosting a block party for your neighbors and you wanted to bake four cakes for all your guests. However, your oven can only bake one cake at a time. Understandably, you need three more ovens to bake all your cakes in time for the party. You call your neighbors Angelina, Franco, and Pauline if you could bake the rest of your cakes in their respective houses for a small fee instead of buying new ovens. This way, you will be able to bake all four cakes at the same time in time for your party with minimal resources involved. Now substitute ovens for computers – this, simply put, is how the cloud works.
So why should I move to Microsoft Office 365 when I already have Office 2016? Great question, simple answer. With Microsoft 365, you get all the familiar office applications like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint PLUS cloud-based services such as Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft SharePoint, and other services depending on your subscription. As long as you have a subscription, you don’t need to worry about installing software that takes up a lot of your computer’s memory AND you can access it anywhere, anytime since it’s all, as they say, in the cloud. See pros and cons here:
Pros and Cons of Microsoft Office 365
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Pros |
Cons |
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No internet connection = no access |
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Get basic Office 2016 software such as Word, PowerPoint, Excel PLUS cloud-based services such as Microsoft Exchange and Microsoft SharePoint |
Office 365 is strictly subscription-based unlike its Office 2016 counterpart where you can spend a large sum every few years |
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Microsoft takes responsibility for security and reliability |
While it is a good thing that the features in Office 365 change frequently, it may be difficult for employees to keep up with new features and services |
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Office 365 Home subscription can be shared with up to four other people |
Businesses might only use certain services of Office 365 and not use it to its full extent |
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Predictable and reasonable monthly cost |
When subscribing to Office 365, you automatically allow Microsoft to handle your data regardless of how trivial or confidential it may be |
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Excellent cloud storage capacity |
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Office 365’s sharing capability enhances collaboration thus improving productivity |
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I know, I know. That’s a lot of information to take in, right?
I’ll leave you with this: whatever works for business A might not be the right fit for business B and whatever works for business B might not be the right for business C. There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Determining what your business needs and pairing it with rigorous research certainly pays off since not only can you use Office 365 to its full advantage, but you can also avoid paying for more than what you actually need.
Now sit down, relax, and take a breather. Welcome to the cloud.
