You’ve heard about Microsoft Teams but you’re not sure it’s right for your company. Maybe you don’t know enough about it or maybe moving to something new is a bit scary. As a managed service provider, we hear this a lot. So here are some insights to help you decide if moving to Microsoft Teams is the right move for your business.  

Microsoft Teams is part of the Microsoft 365 group. It allows everything to be accessible across different applications. Soon, teams will be bundled with Windows, much like Edge is now.

Pros of Microsoft Teams For Business

A few key points are:

• It’s an app that you can do YOUR way.  Customizable to your business, it can run on desktop and mobile devices.
• Employees can collaborate and communicate from different locations even thousands of miles away.
• Instead of emails, it uses chats, and instead of file folders, it uses channels. This reduces the number of places needed to search in order to find information, as well as a time-saving measure, in that it eliminates endless email strings.
• People can work on these files simultaneously in real time within a very secure framework.  

As a Microsoft 365 customer, you own and control your data. Microsoft will not use it  for anything other than the service for which you subscribed. Microsoft does not have access to uploaded content nor are emails, documents, photos, etc. scanned for any purpose (e.g., advertising) that is not service-related.

Users often say “it’s fun” to the list of  pros for Teams because it stimulates creativity with bots, emojis and other features on hand with a single tap.

Recent Changes to Microsoft Teams

At one time, there would be an extra cost for signing on to Teams. But Microsoft recently changed that to include it if you already have a Microsoft Office 365 account, All your tools to communicate with team members are in one place even when the team members themselves are not.

In addition to the change in fee structure,  the Teams hub now  includes the ability to share:

• A PowerPoint slide deck.
• A window or one specific screen on your device.
• The sound from your computer during a meeting.

Also you can now:

• Satisfy compliance needs by recording  calls organization wide.
• Collaborate on a Microsoft Whiteboard.
• Mute and unmute meeting participants (presenters only).
• Remove attendee’s ability to mute or unmute.

Now for the Caveats of Moving to Microsoft Teams

There’s no question that there are many benefits to moving to Microsoft Teams but keep in mind that the Microsoft Teams environment is only as secure and redundant as you set it up to be. Like many cloud systems, the real value is in the configuration of your MS Teams environment which is where working with a managed service provider such as Internos comes in.

Some cyber security features are built in by Microsoft, including:

• Privacy controls.
• Data center security.
• Protection from hardware and software failures, natural disasters, power outages and other major events.
• Data storage, replication and redundancy.
• Uptime guarantees.

Your business is responsible for:

• All application security.
• End-user and network backup solutions.
• Privacy configuration.

Translation: YOU still need to protect your business from cybersecurity threats that include:

• Human and programmable errors. 
• Ransomware and malware.
• External hackers and internal malicious acts.

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Need help deciding if Microsoft Teams is the right move for your business? Or need help implementing Teams? Contact us or book a meeting, virtual or in person.  We can help you make the right IT decisions for your company.