3 myths about Office 365 that just aren't true

The rate of innovation involved with modern technology is increasing with every year. Companies are working hard to constantly give new features to their clients, a sentiment that is especially true of Microsoft’s Office 365. This cloud-based productivity platform has exploded on the enterprise IT scene and is completely changing how and where employees complete tasks.

Despite having been on the market for nearly five years now, those who haven’t had the chance to work with Office 365 yet still don’t know much about it. In fact, there is a portion of this population that have formulated myths based on unfounded rumors and hearsay. We wholeheartedly believe that Office 365 is an incredibly beneficial tool, and we would hate to see a company miss out on it due to unsubstantiated claims.

Therefore, we’ve put together a list of myths about Office 365 that just aren’t true, and what the reality behind the situation actually is.

Myth #1: It’s not secure

No matter which sector your company works in, one of your most important areas of concern has to be cybersecurity. This is because a data breach could seriously affect how clients view your organization. A study from Centrify found that two-thirds of consumers living in the U.S. will stop their business relationship with an institution following a major hacking event. Clearly, staying on top of your firm’s security is of the utmost importance.

This is especially true when you’re talking about a platform like Office 365. This service handles so many pieces of important information that it makes sense for people to be worried about it’s ability to mitigate the risks of a cyberattack. However, the idea that Office 365 is inherently less secure than other options is completely false.

Microsoft has spent years refining and polishing the security features on Office 365, and it truly shows. This service has been built from the ground up with cybersecurity in mind, and businesses all over the world rely on Office 365 to keep their data safe. The company’s website even has a list of the most important features, which are:

• Identity security: Ensuring that only the right employees have access to secure data is paramount. Therefore, Office 365 relies upon multi-factor authentication, which means you have to utilize multiple security credentials in order to log onto an account. This puts another obstacle between your company’s data and the hackers.
• Data and app encryption: Encryption is by far the most important tool in the fight against cybercriminals. Office 365 utilizes this technology when information is moving between systems and when it’s stored on a particular device.
• Responding to issues: Microsoft stated that Office follows the response tactics of the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This includes having a dedicated security team, detecting and analyzing threats, containing incidents and spearheading an investigation after everything’s said and done.

Clearly, there are too many security features baked in to Office 365 for it to be considered a vulnerable platform. Working with this tool means that your data has an added level of security that will help lower the chances of a data breach.

Myth #2:  It’s going to steal your job

One of the major selling points of Office 365 is that it clears up a lot of technical issues that other platforms present to company IT teams. While it is obviously a clear advantage, some workers see this as a threat to their current position. They see all the work that they put toward just keeping their current system running, and they think if they don’t have to do this maintenance then they’ll be out of a job.

While this comes from a very real place of self worth, this is once again a very false myth. Although Office 365 will streamline certain processes and eliminate the need to constantly put out fires, it won’t completely take away the need for a robust IT department. As a matter of fact, the truth is quite the opposite.

Office 365 gives you the opportunity to explore internal goals like never before. Due to the fact that you won’t have to waste time simply fixing what should already work, you can move on to opportunities to expand your current IT infrastructure. A deployment of this platform isn’t the death of the IT team; it gives your department new life.

Myth #3: Moving from a different platform is next to impossible

This is less of a specific Office 365 myth and more of a misconception for most newer technologies. Companies very often get comfortable with their current solution, and they start to imagine that making the move to another platform would just be more trouble than it’s worth. Of course, the multitude of benefits provided by Office 365 show that this just isn’t the case. Sticking with an older solution that doesn’t work properly just because you’re used to it doesn’t make any sense, and it could end up costing your company big in terms of productivity and effectiveness in dealing with client needs.

However, making the transition can lead to certain obstacles. But don’t worry, ISG Technology is here to help. Our staff members have quite a lot of experience dealing with moves to Office 365, and we can help make sure yours goes as smoothly as possible.