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Bringing the power of the Microsoft Office suite and the benefits of cloud computing together to provide a cost effective and flexible solution.
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Have You Migrated To Office 365

So you think you know Office?
Many companies claim that they know Office365 and perhaps they have successfully installed some licences. However, Boldfield are the real experts in this field with many successful implementations.

Office365 is a powerful tool with several very tangible benefits, however, in many cases Office365 migrations run into issues. Lack of knowledge on how to integrate the new system with legacy systems is often an issue.

In many cases the installation of Office365 being simply a substitute for what was there before. This is a failure to make use of the many useful and free productivity benefits that Office365 offer.

Our technical director Iain McFarlane explains more:

Getting The Most From Office 365

Make sure you get the most from the massive feature set.

Key failures that we see are: –

  • Seeing Office365 as a simple substitute for Exchange and standard Office licences
  • Not predicting the impact Office365 will have on other systems and not planning for all aspects of its implementation
  • Failing to comprehend the capability set of Office 365 in terms of collaboration, projects, mobility, conferencing, business intelligence and many much more.

In many cases new deployments miss the range of new features in Office365 which could be useful for them but are not used. many of these are free, other come with a very reasonable monthly charge.

On the subject of charging, we can offer month by month service meaning that you can vary the number of users and the package each month. Need an extra Project Manager with a Microsoft Project licence for three months? No problem we can handle that.

There are many tangible benefits to Office365 like the monthly fee to save on cash flow and the ability to use Office 365 across multiple devices and platforms but few installations really maximise the benefits of the product.

Some simple examples of the new and often used features of Office365 are:

  • Co-Authoring (Multiple people working on the same Word,Excel or PowerPoint document at the same time)
  • Collaboration
  • There are many collaboration features such as Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, Planner, Project,Yammer.
  • Data Saving
  • Send another user a link to a document rather than attaching a file
  • Clutter
  • You can teach your inbox to declutter itself!
  • Excel Quick Analysis and Maps
  • Rows of data can be turned into maps and let Excel do repetitive tasks for you
  • Capture
  • Use Lens to capture business cards, whiteboards and more into your OneNote
  • Use your own information
  • Using Power BI and Delve

It costs nothing to talk to one of our experts to make sure that you get your Office365 migration right and that you make use of the massive feature set that is now provided with the Office365 suite.

The Right Solution

What version of Office 365 is right for you?

Office 365 is a cloud computing solution from Microsoft bringing the power of the Microsoft Office suite and the benefits of cloud computing together to provide a cost effective and flexible subscription based solution to businesses. Learn more about Office 365 here.

The benefits of Office 365 include:

  • Monthly subscription based plan – pay for what you use and no sudden unexpected costs
  • Access to the latest versions of Office applications – no more worries about upgrades/licenses and having different versions across your business
  • Access to applications on your desktop so you can work when not connected to the internet (dependant on plan choosen) – just like the old Office
  • Store files either locally or in the cloud
  • 99.9% uptime
  • The implementation can be built around the specific needs of your business
  • Access to applications from multiple devices including smartphones, tablets and Macs
  • Support from our local helpdesks in London, Peterborough and Cambridge

Many different versions of Office 365 are available as shown below so it is important to get the right advice as soon as you are contemplating this move.

Kiosk K1 P1 P2 Business Essentials Business Business Premium Office 365 ProPlus E1 E3 E5
Maximum user limit 300 300 300
2Gb Mailbox POP or Mobile device only Y Y
50Gb Mailbox Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
In Place Hold Y Y Y Y Y
Unlimited Archive Storage Y Y Y Y Y
Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Y Y Y Y Y Y
Office on up to 5 devices (including tablets and phones) includes OneNote and Publisher Y Y Y Y Y
Online Versions of Office Y Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
1Tb OneDrive Storage Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Skype For Business – Instant messaging, online meetings and video conferencing Y Y Y Y Y
Yammer – Corporate social network Y Y Y Y Y Y
Planner – Work management Y Y Y Y Y
Sway – Profesional storytelling tools for reports and presentations Y Y Y Y Y Y Y
Microsoft Access Y Y Y
Remote Desktop Server compatibility Y Y Y
PSTN Conferencing and calls from Skype For Business Y

 

Boldfield are also expert in the seamless migration from legacy systems to the new Office365 world.

As a Microsoft Partner, Boldfield can provide you with Office 365 support and tailor your installation to set your business up and get you going. Call us now for more information on how Office 365 could benefit your business and a FREE trial.

Your Microsoft Office 365 Partner

Ensure you choose the right Office 365 partner.

Boldfield is a Microsoft 365 business partner. We pride ourselves on ensuring that you get the right delivery for your application. Planning is a massive part of that process. We’ve highlighted some of the important things that you should look out for when choosing an Office 365 partner to work with on an installation. We’re committed to ensuring you get exactly what you need.

Committing your business to Microsoft Office 365 is a significant step forward in most businesses. Getting your choice of partner right and it’s a pain-free journey. Getting it wrong could mean significant delay, down time and disruption. Here’s our Boldfield guide to making the right choice.

The Right Partner For A Successful Migration

Making sure that your Office 365 partners are fully certified and versed on migration at scale is vital to the success of any project. Having a good technical support infrastructure where people from first line support upwards know what they are talking about. Ensuring that you’ve been specified the right office 365 solution is key. Check that your partner has examples of successful installs from similar sized businesses. Maybe they have case studies or could arrange a phonecall with a satisfied client. Boldfield would be happy to give you a list of happy installations. We’ve also got case studies for you to look at here.

Get The Right Support Plan In Place

The Microsoft partners who resell office 365 should be fully versed in recommending both the right package as well as the correct support. For example, it would be a disaster to discover that you have some of the more advanced solutions licensed from Microsoft, like for example, Azure Active Directory, but the Microsoft support doesn’t cover it. If you’re using 365 Enterprise, ensure that your support plan matches. At Boldfield, we appreciate it’s important to plan. That’s why you are the most important person in an implementation. We need to understand what your business goals are and your existing needs.

Getting The Right 365 Products Included In your Plan

There is a whole range of managed services built right into Office 365. There are also a whole array of extra solutions that don’t come supplied as standard. As a partner, you should be guided through the process to ensure that you only have what you need and, most importantly, you are paying for what you need. We ensure that this is followed meticulously.

Having a team – Like Boldfield who can advise and clarify what each additional product is, will ensure that you don’t get to the end to find you don’t have a vital part of your business operational due to an oversight.

Have You Seen The Benefits?

When you choose a partner to work on an Office 365 roll-out choose someone who has a track record of being able to demonstrate true total cost of ownership. Moreover, they should be able to show that the Microsoft Cloud solutions they have chosen for your business represents a cost saving. We pride ourselves on being able to clearly demonstrate how you can make savings using a cloud based solution like Office 365 – make sure that your partner is too.

Office 365 partner checklist

Microsoft offers two partnership certification programs. An Office 365 partner must install 50 licenses in their first year to get a Cloud essentials partnership. A Partner must install 150 licenses just to apply for the Cloud Accelerate certification. Afterwards, they must install 500 license to stay certified.

Not only that, with this volume of installations, it should be very easy to supply testimonials from happy customers. Make sure that you are satisfied that you have received the right recommendations for your business. Check that it is going to satisfy your business needs. If there is something that you are not too sure if you need. Ask your 365 partner to  clarify the implications of adding a license or including it. Most importantly, ensure that you can understand what your total cost of ownership will be as a result. Finally, ensure that the support matches the software that has been specified.

At Boldfield, we excel at providing the right installation to the right client.