Dispelling Five Myths about Moving Your Business to Office 365
If you are considering a move to Office 365 or would just like to know more about it then this is an article you must read. Microsoft’s Office 365 uses Microsoft Azure as its “cloud” offering users a secure access to their data anywhere in the world. Here are five “concerns” that may be delaying action by some companies to migrate their data to Office 365. I hope that by eliminating your concerns, you will re-consider Office 365 as an option for your business.
HealthWare, a Microsoft Gold Competence Partner, was recently awarded a Tier 1 Cloud Solutions Provider status. As a Certified Microsoft Tier 1 Cloud Solutions Provider (CSP), HealthWare Corporation is able to offer Office 365 solutions for your business. Please contact us if you would like to discuss how Office 365 can help your business.
- Myth: If your data moves to the cloud, your business no longer has control of it.
Fact: It’s your data, you can retain a local copy and you have total control over it and your technology. In addition, your servers and software are constantly updated to the latest version available without you having to worry about running updates or having to absorb the cost of these updates.
- Myth: Keeping data on-premises is safer than storing it in the cloud
Fact: Security and uptime in Azure beats anything most businesses can afford (and come standard with Office 365). As the best cloud service from Microsoft, Azure runs on more than 200 data centers across 22 regions world wide. That’s more countries and regions than Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud combined.
According to Vivek Kundra, former Federal CIO of the United States: “Cloud computing is far more secure than traditional computing, because (Cloud Service Providers) can attract and retain cyber-security personnel of a higher quality than many government agencies.”
In addition to security is service availability time and Microsoft has a financially backed guarantee of 99.9% availability for Azure.
- Myth: I have to move everything to the cloud. It is an all-or-nothing scenario
Fact: Microsoft is the only major cloud provider to offer a “hybrid” cloud approach. This is the ability to start slow by moving some of your data to the cloud such as email service. Once you are comfortable you can move more to the cloud at your pace. You have the option to continue to migrate all of your data to the cloud, at your own pace, or retain some of it on your own servers.
- Myth: Corporate spies, cyber-thieves, and governments will have access to my data if it is in the cloud.
Fact: The guiding principle of Microsoft’s security strategy is to “assume breach,” and Microsoft’s global incident response team works around the clock to mitigate the effects of any attack against the Microsoft business cloud. Security is built into Microsoft business products and cloud services from the ground up, starting with the Security Development Lifecycle, a mandatory development process that embeds security requirements into every phase of the development process. Microsoft complies with both international and industry-specific compliance standards and participates in rigorous third-party audits, which verify security controls.
Using Microsoft Azure is as secure or more than using local servers.
5. Myth: Office 365 is easy to use
Human adoption is one of the more critical factures to address. An effective change management plan is a crucial success factor to migrating to Office 365. Too often, there is resistance to change so this must be addressed. Too many organizations get caught out by the fact that Office 365 isn't just new apps and features, it's a new way of working. Failure to manage change, provide solid governance and to train users causes big headaches further down the road.
Additionally, while Microsoft Azure offers significant security features, your data is only as secure as your staff makes it. Protecting passwords, securing laptops and tablets, etc. are still very important security steps to maintain.
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