Making Remote Work Proactive With Technology

Why should you switch to cloud-based systems?

More than ever before, the pandemic forced many businesses to work remotely, and although we thought it was temporary, some things are here to stay! Many companies are making use of modern technology and are enjoying the benefits of remote and hybrid working styles.Â

A recent study shows that half of London firms are set to continue working remotely 5 days a week, and there are all the tools and resources to make sure it remains as productive as ever.

In this blog post, we will unravel the cloud and online software all businesses should invest in to help your team work better whether it is from home, in the office, or a mixture of them both.

Why should I invest in this?

Remote work is something we see creeping more and more into the corporate world, even if you are still 100% office-based, these online tools help create a seamless working environment for you and your staff.Â

They help your business store and share all of its data allowing your team to collaborate on projects easily and productively.

The two cloud-based systems Astaris recommends are Microsoft Office 365 and Google workspace, and Astaris provide and support these services.

There are different packages available to meet the needs of your team regardless of the size of your business. There are lots of features that are essential for running your business including:

• Word, Excel, PowerPoint (or Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc…)
• Teams and other video meeting tools
• Onedrive and other cloud sharing platforms (easily share files and know they are safe and secure stored in a cloud-based system)
• Email
• Team collaborationÂ
• File management
• Calendars and more

Having all of these services provided by one company, means all of your business and its applications all fall under one, easy to manage umbrella.Â

What are the options?

The two cloud-based systems that Astaris recommend is Microsoft Office 365 and Google Workspace, although similar, let’s take a look at some of the differences.

Microsoft Office 365 is targeted more specifically toward small businesses and SMEs and has 4 plans available starting at a low cost per user (whilst still covering all the basic applications you will need to run your business). The plans are basic, business standard, and can include word, excel, PowerPoint, teams, outlook, exchange, one drive, and SharePoint.

Google Workspace is best known for being super user-friendly, its design is very clean and easy to navigate, which can make it simpler and easier for larger businesses to keep up to date with what’s going on, with so many files floating around. Google Workspace also automatically saves your work as you go and backs it up to the cloud, and doesn’t require saving it under a name that can come in handy.

Overall, Google Workspace can be considered easier to use and navigate, but of course, that also comes down to options and what your team is already used to.

Collaboration

Collaboration is arguably one of the most important features of these online tools, and as remote and hybrid companies will rely on the collaborative elements to make it an easy, successful journey. Let’s take a look at some of the differences between Google Workspace’s and Microsoft Office 365’s collaborative features.

One of Google’s lead selling points for workspace is that it makes collaboration extremely simple, and one of its key features is that multiple people can work together on the same document without having to send it to one another, which is perfect for remote collaboration.

Changes happen to live and in real-time with the option to accept or reject them.

Microsoft Office 365’s has been around for a long time and is very familiar to those in the corporate world. Word, Excel, and PowerPoint in particular are able to be sent with confidence to people outside of the organisation and can be easily opened and read.

Microsoft also has built-in artificial intelligence that can help to create more professional and polished files more easily.

Overall, both options are similar but it depends on what matters both to your business and its staff when it comes to collaboration if your team is mostly remote or hybrid and requires a lot ofpeople working on a project simultaneously, Astaris would recommend Google Workspace for this one-of-a-kind feature.

Which one to choose?

Deciding which one can be difficult when they have so many similarities, the slight differences, however, can make all the difference based on what your business may need and require.Â

If you are undecided, why not get in touch with Astaris and let us help decide which one suits your business best.

Email:support@astaris.co.uk

Phone: 01273 94000