Microsoft Windows 365
Benefits To Chicago Business

Microsoft Windows 365: What are the Benefits for Your Business

Key Points:

• Microsoft 365 includes everything you would find in Office 365 and other expanded development tools.
• Microsoft 365 is suitable for businesses seeking a secure, collaborative working environment that integrates several processes and teams.
• The program can help you achieve a digital workplace as it combines the power of cloud computing with a full suite of mobile applications that guarantee access anytime, from anywhere.
• Microsoft Windows 365 is a fully integrated solution with the power to replace some of your solutions with one suite that fulfills most, if not all, of your business functions.

Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have been forced to adopt new working methods. This, coupled with a challenging working environment and the ever-changing customer behaviors and expectations, has pushed many organizations to develop a hybrid working environment.   The hybrid work approach has unique needs and challenges and on top of them is the need for secure, reliable, and collaborative working tools. The tools must facilitate communication, flexibility, and innovation to help a business succeed in this new era of work.

Microsoft Windows 365 is one tool that promotes collaboration, innovation, and communication between teams. It offers a complete productivity suite for most business operations, saving you the trouble of managing multiple disparate systems and applications for your business tasks.

What Is Windows 365?

Windows 365 is believed to have steered a new category of computing known as PCs in the cloud. This is expected to revolutionize how big and small businesses run their operations. Formerly known as Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft Windows 365 is a unified solution tying the productivity of Office 365 business apps with intelligent Cloud services and advanced security. This is a way of delivering PC-as-a-Service. Think of it as streaming for your computer’s operating system, which allows you to carry it anywhere. Everything within the operating system is loaded on a cloud server instead of a specific device so that you can access it anywhere with any compatible device.

How Does It Work?

Windows 365 works much like the Azure Virtual Desktop by providing you with virtual desktops and remote access to applications. It also offers online services depending on your chosen subscription plan. They include Microsoft Teams, SharePoint Online, Yammer, StaffHub, Planner, Stream, Flow, and the usual Office apps from Microsoft. The new service aims to help organizations build more agile and productive teams in the current hybrid working environment.

To start with Windows 365 Business, you first need to purchase a license from their various pricing plans. After finishing the sign-up and billing process, sign in to your Microsoft 365 account from the Microsoft Endpoint Manager admin center, and assign licenses to various users. Once a user has been assigned a license, Windows will set up a Cloud PC for them within 30mins.

Benefits of Windows 365 to Your Business

Microsoft 365 is considered the champion of enterprise, cloud-based productivity suites. It gives your business access to multiple tools and applications that enhance productivity, collaboration, and communication in the following ways:

• It gives your business flexibility in the cloud by providing reliable and resilient cloud infrastructure. Microsoft remains responsible for deploying updates and patches, leaving you to focus on strategic tasks of your business.
• Promotes remote working by allowing employees to access their work desktops from anywhere using multiple devices.
• Tools like SharePoint allow for a smooth flow of information by creating central storage for all business documents and allowing staff to work on files simultaneously.
• The service was built with security in mind. Microsoft handles the entire backend infrastructure to provide business-level security and compliance standards.
• It is more cost-efficient than the earlier versions that were a one-time purchase and had to be repurchased whenever new updates or versions became available. With Microsoft Windows 365, the monthly subscription fee covers all upgrades and updates so that you are always running on the latest version. There are also different pricing plans available to meet different business needs.
• Transitioning to Microsoft 365 is easy since most organizations are already familiar with traditional Office products. Adoption is therefore high with minimal impact on your workforce.

Choosing the Right Pricing Plan for Your Business

Windows 365 services are suitable for organizations of all sizes and industries. Microsoft’s ability to provide multiple plans has facilitated its wide adoption and user loyalty. However, with more plans, deciding what suits your business most becomes more challenging. When looking for the perfect business plan, an excellent place to start is to evaluate what you currently have and then determine what it would take to improve. You also need to understand your needs, not just for now but for the future. Once you know what you need, you can review your budget and then set out to compare the different plans available to see what best suits your business.

Plans available for businesses include:

• Business Basic: It is priced at $5 per month for every user and requires an annual commitment. Features include web and mobile versions of Office apps and 1TB cloud storage, SharePoint, OneDrive, Microsoft Teams, email, calendar, and security compliance features. It is ideal for a very small business that has access to the internet.
• Business Standard: The plan includes all features in the Basic plan and up-to-date Desktop versions of Office apps. It goes for $12.50 for every user per month. It works best for organizations not after the complete online experiences of Microsoft 365 but still need access to the latest Office products.
• Business Premium:  You will get access to the standard plan, device management, and advanced security. The price is $22 for every user per month. It is a considerably expensive plan but the top-level business IT security it offers against ransomware and malware makes up for the cost.
• Apps for Business: This gives you access to Office apps such as Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, and 1TB of cloud storage. There are no additional business features, and you pay $8.25 per month per user. Works for organizations that want to maximize the desktop Microsoft apps.
• Enterprise (E5, E3, F3): The plan incorporates local and cloud-based applications to create smooth workflows and enhance collaboration in large organizations. It has three different offerings, the Microsoft F3, E3, and E5, for $10, $23, and $38, respectively. Besides catering to larger organizations, these plans offer access to Active Directory integration, security and compliance tools, and access to analytics and unified communication solutions.

All business plans require an annual commitment and offer per-user licenses. They can also accommodate up to 300 users except for the Enterprise plans, which have no cap on the number of users.

Do You Need Help with Windows 365?

If you were still on the fence about using Microsoft Windows 365 for business, hopefully, you will understand its effectiveness in elevating your business operations by now. But, like with any other technology, you may still require the assistance of an expert to ensure you are taking full advantage of what the service offers. We offer businesses IT solutions in Chicago and can help you with deploying and managing Windows 365 and other IT problems you may have. Contact CTI Technology today to find out how to stay ahead of the competition and use the service to beat your competitors.