Key Benefits of Migrating to Microsoft 365

Whether your organization manages on-premises Exchange servers or utilizes a cloud-based platform like Google Workspace, there are numerous advantages to making the switch to Microsoft 365.

Cloud Matrix IT is a Microsoft Partner and developer who helps businesses migrate and develop within the M365 ecosystem. The platform is easy and intuitive to use, secure, and extremely powerful. 

Before we delve into the details, let's address naming conventions.

For most plans, Office 365 has been rebranded as Microsoft 365, though the E3 and E5 licenses remain under the Office 365 umbrella. In simpler terms, small and medium-sized businesses typically opt for Microsoft 365, while larger enterprises favor Office 365 (although Office 365 can still be integrated into advanced Microsoft 365 setups). If this leaves you puzzled, take a look at this comprehensive comparison between Office 365 and Microsoft 365. Typically, we always suggest investing in Microsoft 365 as you'll gain many more advantages over the only Office option.

In any case, Microsoft's cloud service, regardless of its name, is now adopted by over a million companies, and its adoption continues to grow, with FY22 Q2 Earnings reporting a 19% growth in Office 365 Commercial revenue.

The shift towards remote work in the post-pandemic era has spurred previously reluctant adopters to embrace the cloud. The significant benefits of transitioning to Microsoft 365 can be categorized into three main areas:

1. Enhancements in end-user productivity.
2. Improvements in security and compliance.
3. Scalability and cost-efficiency gains.

Now, let's explore each of these aspects in more detail.

The Microsoft 365 ecosystem was designed specifically for SMBs
to manage and grow their business in ways they haven't even thought of.

Benefits of Microsoft 365 for End-users

One of the driving forces behind the adoption of Microsoft 365 is the improved communication offered by Microsoft Teams. Enhanced collaboration is undoubtedly one of the standout advantages of utilizing a cloud-based office suite.

In essence, Teams becomes your central workplace communication tool—a hub for meetings and messaging, often reducing internal email traffic. In contrast, the Google equivalent consists of two separate platforms—Meet and Chat—while Teams provides a unified interface.

Slack has also been a prominent player in this space for several years, but migrations from Slack to Teams are gaining popularity as organizations seek to consolidate data and maximize their cloud investments.

Among all the benefits for end-users in Microsoft 365, productivity is perhaps the most emphasized. Therefore, we won't dwell on this point extensively. Nevertheless, cloud connectivity offers the following advantages:

• Mobility: You can access applications remotely from any device, allowing you to work from anywhere and seamlessly switch between desktop and mobile apps. This proves particularly useful for attending Teams meetings while on the go. Furthermore, you can work offline, and your files will automatically sync across devices once you're back online.
• Real-time collaboration: OneDrive for Business enables multiple users to collaboratively edit documents simultaneously, updating a single file instead of circulating new versions via email. Secure links can also be shared with external contributors, ensuring everyone stays on the same page without losing track.
• New solutions: In addition to the traditional Office apps, the cloud-based portfolio offers an array of new tools like Planner, Editor, Forms, and Power BI. These integrated products introduce novel ways of working, increasing productivity while reducing the risk of shadow IT—more content can be kept within the Microsoft ecosystem rather than scattered across various third-party platforms.
• Resiliency: In case of device failures, cloud access to all email, files, and applications eases business continuity. While not ideal, end-users can continue working on smartphones or tablets while waiting for new laptops. Upon receiving their new devices, users simply log in to access all Microsoft 365 data and settings within minutes.

Naturally, the productivity benefits derived from collaborative tools in Microsoft 365 also lead to streamlined IT operations. Updates are automated, compatibility issues are eliminated, and the service essentially requires no maintenance. Microsoft handles the heavy lifting to keep your Software as a Service (SaaS) in optimal condition, freeing up administrators to focus on more critical tasks, such as security monitoring.

Mobile, office, home, or access machines directly in the cloud, Microsoft 365
can take your business to the a whole new level.

Security Benefits of Migrating to Microsoft 365

In recent years, there have been several high-profile incidents targeting on-premises Exchange servers, causing significant disruptions and incurring substantial costs to rectify. Hackers have been exploiting vulnerabilities on an unprecedented scale, exemplified by the notorious HAFNIUM breach and subsequent ransomware attacks on supply chains.

Prudent security patch management is crucial for on-premises environments, but the unfortunate reality is that many organizations fail to act promptly when updates are released. Despite Microsoft's release of cumulative patches following the HAFNIUM incident, a sample scan of 100,000 servers revealed that 30% remained unpatched five months later—a disturbing statistic that underscores how easily malicious actors can take advantage of negligence.

While cloud security presents its own set of challenges, one of the primary benefits of migrating to Microsoft 365 is the automatic deployment of patches. This ensures that your network remains fortified against emerging threat vectors, sparing administrators from the repercussions of oversight.

The nature of cybersecurity dictates that security will always be a concern. However, the Microsoft cloud offers a degree of security through:

• Threat protection: The Defender portal incorporates anti-phishing features that identify emails containing malware, promptly blocking their delivery to significantly reduce the risk of zero-day exploits. The 'prevention, detection, and remediation' model can enhance your security posture.
• Privacy controls: Various options allow you to safeguard privacy, including blocking access from unsecured Wi-Fi networks and setting expiration dates for externally shared links. Additionally, data is encrypted both at rest and in transit, and you can remotely wipe content from lost or stolen devices.
• Automatic MFA: The default security settings make it easy to enforce multifactor authentication (MFA)—a process that requires users to confirm sign-in attempts through additional verification methods, such as receiving PIN codes on their phones. This greatly bolsters your defenses against brute-force attacks on usernames and passwords, while advanced conditional access policies can also be configured.
• Information governance: To prevent data leakage, sensitivity labels can be applied to specific users, groups, or content. Access can be controlled, and actions such as email forwarding, printing, copying, and pasting can be restricted to ensure compliance and safeguard confidential information. With global data centers, multi-geo data residency is also an available option.

Regarding compliance, the cybersecurity risks associated with PST files are well-documented, and achieving compliance with data privacy regulations such as GDPR and CPRA becomes nearly impossible when these files are present in your environment. However, one of the significant advantages of Microsoft 365 is its virtually unlimited mailbox storage, eliminating the need for users to create PST files to store email content on personal drives.

When considering the benefits of migrating to Microsoft 365, the opportunity to transition away from PST data should not be underestimated. Centralizing these files facilitates compliance management, reduces the risk of security breaches, and relieves a substantial burden from administrators who are frequently tasked with resolving corrupt data. Consequently, it is highly recommended to identify and migrate PST files as part of your transition to the cloud.

Every aspect of Microsoft 365 has a security component that helps
business remain secure while enhancing work collaboration. 

Business Advantages of Cloud Migration

While the potential for enhanced productivity and improved security may be enticing, financial constraints can delay digital transformations. Nevertheless, many organizations might find themselves caught in a 'sunk cost fallacy,' believing they should stick with on-premises infrastructure due to prior heavy investments, even though migrating could ultimately lead to cost savings.

Various reports suggest that the return on investment (ROI) for Microsoft 365 is notably favorable, with a Forrester Total Economic Impact study indicating a 135% return within three years.

When evaluating the business benefits of migrating to the cloud, it is crucial to consider:

• Retiring legacy platforms: As you transition away from on-premises networks, you will naturally witness a reduction in server and energy expenses. The need for ongoing maintenance will also be eliminated when migrating to Microsoft 365—a significant advantage since legacy systems typically require specialized knowledge that is increasingly scarce due to the evolving landscape.
• Scalability: One of the primary benefits of Microsoft 365 subscriptions is the certainty of costs. You can accurately budget and customize plans to ensure that each group has access to the most suitable workloads for their roles. Moreover, you can instantly scale up or down, adding or removing licenses as business requirements dictate. This is particularly beneficial in the event of rapid growth or seasonal fluctuations. For what you're getting with Microsoft 365 compared to what you pay, it's extremely competitive. 
• Support: As Microsoft gradually phases out support for legacy Exchange servers, the transition to the cloud will become a matter of 'when' rather than 'if' for most organizations. Support for Exchange 2013, for instance, is scheduled to end in 2023, making it more susceptible to security vulnerabilities as Microsoft shifts its focus toward cloud services.
• Data centralization: In regulated industries, retaining archive data for compliance purposes has long entailed storing this content on third-party platforms to circumvent Exchange server limitations. However, with the key benefit of virtually limitless storage in Microsoft 365, it is now economically viable to 'bring your data home' to Microsoft. A global cosmetics company, for instance, estimates an 800% ROI by moving email archives to Microsoft 365.

Regarding archive centralization, migrating to Microsoft 365 presents an opportunity to harmonize data governance best practices by transforming journaled data into a cloud-friendly model.

The need for comprehensive, immutable email records predates the capabilities of Exchange storage, so content was traditionally offloaded to a journal repository. However, since Exchange Online provides in-place storage, there is no longer a need to maintain third-party journaling.

Therefore, transitioning to Exchange Online provides an ideal opportunity to convert journal archives into the modern, in-place format. This transformation process identifies the senders and recipients of each message and places copies in a hidden section of all associated mailboxes—effectively returning the data to its rightful place.

Ultimately, a journal archive migration can simplify eDiscovery and compliance while maximizing ROI, enabling you to retire legacy journaling in favor of cloud storage that you are already paying for.

So, what are the benefits of Microsoft 365?

We've explored numerous advantages of migrating to Microsoft 365, but in reality, we've only scratched the surface.

As Microsoft clears the path for organizations to retire their Exchange servers, it is evident that cloud adoption will continue to rise. With the potential to enable flexible work arrangements, enhance security, and ultimately bolster your bottom line, the benefits are clear.

Furthermore, Microsoft has committed to becoming carbon negative and achieving zero waste by 2030. These ambitious 'moonshot' objectives are commendable, and substantial progress has already been made.

If your Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) goals align with these efforts, highlighting them as key benefits of migrating to Microsoft 365 could help persuade your leadership team to approve the transition.

If you want to explore growing your business with the help of the cloud, or maybe you're already in M365 but want to explore using all that you're paying for, reach out to us for a chat.