By Stephanie Baskerville on March 09, 2017

10 Myths About Moving to the Cloud

 

What businesses really need to know about moving to Microsoft Office 365. Most companies that choose to move to the cloud do so because they have decided they need it for business agility and want the cost savings that come with it.


How can you know whether or not you’re getting it all? If your company is considering Microsoft Office 365 as your first step in moving applications to hosted solutions, you may have found similar inconsistencies in your research—making it difficult to separate fact from fiction.

A common misconception about Office 365, for example, is that it is simply a version of Office accessed by a browser. To help in your migration to the cloud, we’ve created this myth-busting guide for all-things Office 365. When considering Office 365 to power your organization, you need to know the facts. Your business depends on it.

Here are 10 myths:

  1. Office 365 is just Office tools in the cloud, and I can only use it online.
  2. If our data moves to the cloud, our business will no longer have control over our technology.
  3. Keeping data on-premises is safer than in the cloud.
  4. I have to move everything to the cloud; it is an all-or-nothing scenario.
  5. Cloud migration is too much for my business to handle.
  6. Corporate spies, cyberthieves, and governments will have access to my data if it is in the cloud.
  7. I have to learn all new tools to manage SharePoint Online.
  8. Skype and Skype for Business are one and the same.
  9. Email isn’t any simpler in the cloud.
  10. Continuously updating Office 365 will break my critical business applications.

 

Myth 1

Office 365 is just Office tools in the cloud, and I can only use it online.

Fact: Office 365 is the Office you already know, plus productivity tools that will help you work more efficiently.

Office 365 is the Office you already know, plus productivity tools that will help you work more
efficiently. Whether at your desk or on the go, you have the tools to do your best work wherever you are on all of your favourite devices. And, since Office 365 lives in the cloud, these tools stay up to date, are simple to use and manage, and are ready to work when you are.

These tools include SharePoint Online, OneDrive for Business, Skype for Business, Yammer, Public Switched Telephony Network (PSTN), Power BI and Delve Analytics, Advanced Threat Protection and Customer Lockbox.

Plus, with many Office 365 plans, you can install the latest full Office applications on your devices, so you can work offline or online in Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook too.

 

Myth 2

If our data moves to the cloud, our business will no longer have control over our technology.

Fact: You still have total control over technology, but your IT department won’t have to worry about constant updates.

When you move to the cloud, time spent maintaining hardware and upgrading software is significantly reduced—eliminating headaches with it. Now your IT team can focus on advancing your organization’s technology, rather than being a repair service. Plus, you will have more time to spend improving business operations and launching agile initiatives.

 

Myth 3

Keeping data on-premises is safer than in the cloud.

Fact: Security and uptime come standard with Office 365 in the cloud.

Even if your company has a growing security team, businesses can rarely assemble a team large enough to uncover and protect against the hundreds of possible alerts that come through each day. When you switch to Office 365, we act as an extension of your security team. Microsoft data centers are built with scale in mind.

To protect against external threats, Office 365 gives you the option to use Advanced Threat Protection to secure mailboxes against sophisticated attacks in real time. Every email attachment or link is automatically evaluated for suspicious activity, and malicious content is neutralized before the chance of a risk.

Additionally, we staff industry-leading regulatory compliance experts.

 

Myth 4

I have to move everything to the cloud; it is an all-or-nothing scenario.

Fact: You can move to the cloud at your own pace, or use a hybrid approach.

While some early cloud supporters advocated for moving your entire business to the cloud all at once, this isn’t a process that needs to happen overnight. Most implementations start with a hybrid approach—moving a single workload, like email, and growing from there.

As many companies move their productivity workloads to the cloud, the path for each workload is different, and the time it takes for those migrations varies.

 

Myth 5

Cloud migration is too much for my business to handle.

Fact: We’re here to help every step of the way.

When you start considering how to move petabytes of data to the cloud, it’s easy to see why some people think “going cloud” is too big a challenge for IT departments and staff, alike. We’re not going to tell you it’s simple, but you really can get Office 365 up and running quickly.

We’ll help you every step of the way, with information and tips on firewall configurations, reverse proxy requirements, identity options, migration possibilities, and a phased approach for hybrid setups. We’ve created several paths you can follow, and in most cases, you can use your existing tools and processes throughout the migration, so day to day work won’t be disrupted.

 

Myth 6

Corporate spies, cyberthieves, and governments will have access to my data if it is in the cloud.

Fact: It’s your data, not anyone else’s.

This is a top fear about the cloud among many businesses, but it is unfounded. Your IT team manages access, sets up rights and restrictions, and provides smartphone access and options. Further, your company remains the sole owner: You retain the rights, title, and interest in the data stored in Office 365.

• You are in control of your data.
• You know what’s happening with your data.
• We provide strong security protection for your data.
• Your data won’t be used for advertising.
• Microsoft encourages government inquiries to be made directly to you unless legally prohibited and will challenge attempts to prohibit disclosure in court.

 

Myth 7

I have to learn all new tools to manage SharePoint Online.

Fact: SharePoint Online abstracts maintains the infrastructure, without changing anything else.

All of your hard work learning how to manage SharePoint is not lost! SharePoint Online shares the same familiar administration and management tools, whether your deployment is in the cloud, on location, or in a hybrid of the two. Although your customizations aren’t populated to the cloud, all the administrative controls remain the same.

When moving to SharePoint Online, you no longer need to bother with controlling the workload implementation—instead, your IT team can focus on controlling its configuration. With the convenient, one-time, expert-led implementation that SharePoint Online handles, your IT team can reallocate time they used to spend on implementation and can concentrate on building strong, strategic tools for the business. SharePoint Online simply abstracts the infrastructure, enabling you to focus on the solution.

 

Myth 8

Skype and Skype for Business are one and the same.

Fact: Skype for Business is your link to hosting productive meetings, not just phone calls.

The version of Skype you use at home is great for a small number of users and is free, unless you want to make calls to landlines and mobiles.

Alternatively, Skype for Business lets you add up to 250 people to online meetings, gives you enterprise-grade security, allows you to manage employee accounts, and is integrated into your Office apps. With the use of Skype Meeting Broadcast, you can host virtual meetings connecting up to 10,000 participants.

Your employees can:

• Instantly see when someone is busy or available.
• Start an instant messaging session by double-clicking a contact name.
• Share a desktop during a meeting.
• Invite outside partners to join a meeting via a full-feature Web-conferencing experience.
• Integrate video through a webcam for a call or a conference.

 

Myth 9

Email isn’t any simpler in the cloud.

Fact: With automatic updates, you don’t have to worry about email downtime.

When you move your business’ email to the cloud, you can rest easy knowing that the experts who created the software are taking care of the maintenance and updates. Your IT team no longer needs to worry about installing updates, and can instead focus on bigger IT needs.

Software updates and fixes are delivered automatically as soon as they are released. However, your IT team can always pause these updates or control when they happen through the Exchange Admin Center.

 

Myth 10

Continuously updating Office 365 will break my critical business applications.

Fact: Office 365 updates won’t negatively impact your existing applications.

We know that a lot rides on your employees’ ability to use business-critical apps and add-ins with Office. We are committed to Office 365 compatibility with the tools you use every day.

Here’s how we do that:
• Offer the same worldwide standard of desktop applications with the familiar tools you know and love, including Word, PowerPoint, and Excel.
• Collaborate closely with leading software vendors and provide them tools and early access to ensure that their Office-compatible solutions continue to work with Office 365.
• Provide customers with guidance and best practices for update management and development to help you avoid compatibility issues.

 

Let us help you!

ProServeIT has helped many organizations as their trusted Technology Advisor. Contact us today to figure out how you can take advantage of Microsoft Office 365 and start your journey to the cloud.

 

Published by Stephanie Baskerville March 9, 2017