Microsoft 365 (formerly Microsoft Office 365) offers a suite of powerful tools that many businesses already use, but often without fully tapping into their potential. Beyond the basics, the Microsoft 365 ecosystem has features designed to improve collaboration, increase productivity, and strengthen security, especially for small to medium-sized enterprises.
If your business isn’t maximising these tools, you could be missing out on significant operational advantages within your Microsoft investment.
1. Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is much more than a chat platform. It serves as a central hub for team collaboration, easily integrating with other Microsoft 365 tools like SharePoint and OneDrive. Teams allows employees to chat, share files, hold video meetings, and collaborate on documents in real time, from any location (with an internet connection). Teams is designed for businesses of all sizes, and its flexibility makes it a must-have for remote and hybrid working environments.
Chat, Video, and Voice Calls:
Whether it’s a quick question over chat or a formal team meeting, Teams keeps communication smooth. Its video and voice call features ensure that employees stay connected, no matter their location.
File Sharing and Collaboration:
Seamlessly integrated with OneDrive and SharePoint, Teams makes document sharing effortless. Team members can co-author documents in real time, helping reduce delays and confusion.
Meetings and Webinars:
From hosting team check-ins to delivering webinars, Teams has built-in tools like virtual whiteboards and breakout rooms that improve engagement and productivity during meetings.
2. OneDrive
Microsoft OneDrive is a cloud storage solution that enables your team to access files from anywhere, on any device. It provides a safe space for document storage and facilitates smooth collaboration (particularly when integrated with Microsoft Teams). With built-in version control, employees can work on the same files simultaneously, ensuring everyone is always up-to-date with the latest information.
Sync Across Devices:
OneDrive allows automatic syncing of files across devices, ensuring that team members can access and edit documents from anywhere—whether they’re at the office, working from home, or on the road.
Secure Sharing:
OneDrive’s sharing options let you easily share files with colleagues or external partners without compromising security and compliance. You can set permissions for viewing or editing and limit access to sensitive data.
Data Backup and Recovery:
By storing files in the cloud, OneDrive helps safeguard your business data. Files are continuously backed up, meaning that in the event of accidental deletion or data loss, recovery is quick and straightforward.
3. Power Automate
Power Automate (part of the Power Apps suite) is an invaluable productivity tool that allows businesses to automate time-consuming tasks, helping streamline processes and improve efficiency. By automating workflows that integrate with other Microsoft 365 applications and third-party tools, businesses can save valuable time and reduce human error.
Automate Repetitive Tasks:
Power Automate enables you to create workflows that automatically perform tasks such as sending emails, updating spreadsheets, or even managing approvals—all without manual intervention.
Integration with Multiple Apps:
This tool integrates seamlessly with popular apps such as Outlook, Excel, and SharePoint, as well as hundreds of third-party services. This allows your business to build workflows that connect different platforms and streamline processes.
Free Up Employee Time:
By reducing the need for employees to perform repetitive tasks, Power Automate frees them up to focus on higher-value activities, such as strategic planning and problem-solving.
4. Microsoft 365 Security Features
Microsoft 365 provides a holistic set of security features to protect your business from cyber threats and safeguard sensitive data. Its wide range of security capabilities help to strengthen your organisation’s defences without compromising user experience or productivity.
Data Loss Prevention:
DLP helps prevent the accidental sharing of sensitive information like confidential client data. It sets policies that identify and restrict the flow of sensitive information across emails, shared documents, and cloud storage.
Multi-Factor Authentication:
MFA adds an extra layer of security by requiring users to provide two or more verification methods before accessing their accounts.
Azure AD Identity Protection:
Integrated with Microsoft 365, Azure AD provides identity and access management (IAM) to control who has access to your organisation’s resources. It can identify suspicious sign-in attempts and block them before they can cause harm.
5. Power BI
The ability to make quick, informed decisions is critical for business success. Power BI is Microsoft’s powerful business analytics tool that allows you to turn your data into visually appealing reports and dashboards. These insights help businesses track performance, identify trends, and make data-driven decisions.
Data Visualisation:
Power BI offers a variety of visualisation options, from simple graphs to complex interactive dashboards, making it easy to understand and analyse data.
Integrates with Multiple Data Sources:
Power BI can pull data from a range of sources—such as Excel, SQL databases, and cloud services—allowing businesses to have a complete view of their performance.
Customisable Reports:
Create reports tailored to specific departments, helping your teams focus on the metrics that matter most to them.
Implement the Microsoft 365 Features Your Business Needs with Expert Microsoft Consulting Services
Microsoft provides a wide range of applications and features that can be customised to suit the needs of any business, no matter how diverse or niche.
As a certified Microsoft Consulting Partner, National IT Solutions can help you pinpoint, implement, and manage the Microsoft services and features that your business needs. Let our team of Microsoft experts help you align your tech stack with business operations to better support your long-term objectives.