Ultima Blog

Essential Microsoft tools to improve professional productivity in your organisation

Written by Ultima | 17-Apr-2018 13:32:31

If you’re looking to use technology to increase productivity in your business, the place to start is mobility.

By enabling mobile access to communication and collaboration tools, as well as work-related documents and information, you’ll see immediate improvements in employee productivity.

Businesses using technology to enable a mobile and flexible workforce are able to reduce costs, add new revenue streams and gain competitive advantage.

Adopt a cloud-first strategy

The UK Industrial Strategy, a report set out by the government with the aim of addressing the problem of the country’s low productivity, suggests organisations should adopt a cloud strategy.

Their studies show that many businesses are still reliant on legacy IT systems with ageing servers that regularly fail. The solution to this is for companies to put new cloud-based services in place that will enable them to gradually phase out some of their old physical systems.

Moving all, or just some, of your applications to the cloud can bring about a host of new opportunities, not least the ability to make your workforce more mobile and flexible.

Deploy Microsoft Office 365 Business

Deploying and managing Microsoft Office 365 Business across your company allows you to provide your staff with all the Microsoft tools they’re familiar with including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.

Users can be added and removed in minutes, and it’s simple to manage user credentials and permissions with single sign-on and synchronisation via Active Directory.

Collaboration is made easy as files are stored online, meaning they can be shared, and co-authored, in real time from any location. Your employees will always work on the most up-to-date versions as OneDrive for Business stores files online so that they can be synced.

You can use Skype for Business to improve teamwork and collaboration with live chat, audio and video conferencing and internet telephony. It integrates fully with other elements of Office 365 to embed real-time communications in everything you do.

Policy documents and contracts can also be stored and shared securely on OneDrive - making this a valuable tool for professionals, particularly lawyers and those in the financial services sector, when they’re conducting business away from the office.

Use the most versatile devices

With the latest Intel® processors, high-resolution touch screens, quality Dolby® sound and HD cameras, Microsoft Surface devices have been designed to adapt to all working styles.

The Surface Book is a full-sized laptop that adjusts to the way you work by transforming into three different configurations. It’s light and portable enough to carry anywhere, yet powerful enough to hold all your data. 

Surface devices have been designed to combine the best features of a desktop, laptop and tablet, eliminating the need to carry multiple devices. They give professionals the flexibility to react to clients in real-time by accessing data from one compact, portable device – so they’re never tied to the office.

Keep pace in a changing workplace

By using cloud technologies and the latest devices to equip a mobile and flexible workforce, you stand a chance of keeping pace with a constantly evolving business landscape.

If your employees can be as connected at home or on the move as they are in the office, then productivity and performance levels will soar.