Tag Archive for: office 365

Tackle your business challenges head on – With Power Apps

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“I wish I could find an app for that.”

We’ve all been there; you find yourself wishing you could automate-away menial tasks, but you can’t find solutions that do the job. Well, now thanks to Microsoft’s ‘PowerApps’ feature within Office365 you can dispense with menial tasks through the power of automation, freeing you up to focus on the stuff that matters!

Are efficient collaboration and workflow management a constant struggle in your business?

Well-honed work processes are fundamental to the smooth running of any business. Seamless, efficient and error-free work processes are the holy grail for many businesses and spending time implementing such processes will save you time and money in the long run.

Relying on a multitude of applications to achieve a simple objective is one of the common impediments to efficiency in the office. Many users of Office 365 are guilty of inflexibility when it comes to the use of the services and tools they have available to them; preferring to stick to the familiar legacy products. If this sounds like you, then you might want to invest time in exploring alternative tools that could ultimately transform the way your business operates for years to come.

Finding solutions that address seemingly complex processes may seem like a daunting task; it can be a challenge finding the tools that give the results you need and operate within your business’ specific requirements. You may want to consolidate data gathered on various platforms or improve your business’ operation by developing your own app but have no idea where to look to implement these changes… well, that’s where ‘PowerApps’ comes in.

Introducing PowerApps

In essence, PowerApps is a suite of resources that lets you and your team create applications that simplify and streamline cumbersome processes and modernise dated workflows. Increase agility, efficiency and improve productivity by building your own apps and do away with some of the inflexible, off-the-shelf applications you may currently be using.

Improve efficiency and minimise the error by letting your team construct and run an unlimited number of custom apps that simplify and speed up processes. Use visual tools to identify and tackle business-related issues, then tap into the value of your data using apps that help bring together and make sense of information stored in numerous locations.

Simplicity. ‘Developing apps’ may sound very complex and technical, but thanks to pre-made templates, the intuitive ‘drag and drop’ nature of the interface and the ability to deploy apps instantly, you don’t need a degree in Computer Science to develop your own apps with PowerApps. Instead, your team can start building almost immediately without the need for extensive training.

Innovation potential. Power Apps enable digital transformation through the implementation of apps for countless scenarios. Use both Canvas and Model-driven apps to address your business’ unique problems.

Customisation potential. The customisation potential of ‘Canvas Apps’ allows you to develop applications that are optimised for very specific tasks and job roles. You can develop apps for various platforms (mobile, desktop, tablet) and tailor every aspect to your requirements, right down to the smallest details.

Build apps that tap into your data. Create ‘Model-driven’ apps that use your current processes and data streams. Consolidate information from multiple sources and make sense of the data your business holds without having to endure the tedium of manual data entry.

Create Low-code websites. Create a visually attractive and immersive, low-code website for customers and potential customers to interact with. Utilise your data-based, model-driven apps and integrate them with Power BI reports, dashboards and charts to create impressive-looking, but ultimately simple to implement websites that are sure to impress external users.

The PowerApps suite will enable your team to streamline, innovate and improve efficiency like never before. So why not introduce it to your business and allow your team to develop simple, effective and customised solutions to your business’ unique operational challenges.

 

Struggling to find a solution that fits around your business?

At Cloudscape, we use our extensive experience to deliver custom-fit technology solutions to SMEs in London and the home counties. Technology should serve your business’ aims and aspirations, it shouldn’t be something to mould your operation around. We are experts in Cloud-computing and we know how empowering Cloud Services can be when leveraged correctly, so let us help you tailor Office 365 so that it works for your business and the unique challenges you face. Call us on 0207 952 8123 or send us an email info@cloudscape.it.

Tackle your business challenges head on – With Microsoft Teams

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Effortless internal communication is vital to any business but without the proper tools, it can be harder to achieve than you might think. That’s where Microsoft Teams comes in; as this comprehensive collaboration platform integrates with the office apps making communication and collaboration a breeze.

Is poor communication hindering your business’ productivity potential?

It’s easy to get complacent when it comes to internal communication. You may think you have it covered, but if you ever find yourself trawling through email threads trying to make sense of things and if misinterpretation and miscommunication is a common feature of your daily office life then you should consider using new communication platforms to make things easier.

Many users of Office 365 like to remain within the familiar territory of the trusty, familiar family of apps: word, excel, Outlook and PowerPoint. However, Office 365 also contains a plethora of other productivity, communication and efficiency-boosting tools that you should make the effort to become familiar with.

Email remains an indispensable communication tool and it will likely remain so for a very long time. It’s not without its flaws however, as keeping track of multiple email threads and managing attachments can be a confusing, and often a time-consuming ordeal. Sending files via email can be a minefield; expect the file type to be changed and say goodbye to the original as it undergoes multiple edits by various individuals throughout your business. It may eventually return to you unrecognisable but hopefully, it won’t have been renamed!

 

So, what’s the answer? Say ‘hello’ to Microsoft Teams

If you’re an Office 365 user look no further for all your communication and collaboration needs – Microsoft teams have you covered! It incorporates an extensive range of features and its seamless integration with the Office apps means Teams is the only internal communication platform you’ll ever need. Here’s a brief overview of the tools on offer within Teams:

  • Instant Messaging. Emails have their place, but when you just want a quick and easy informal discussion with your team they can prove slow and clunky. Teams’ instant messaging capability allows you to chat with your team both on an individual or group basis in real-time – from anywhere, on any device! The user-friendly chat interface makes keeping on top of conversations easy and simplifies the file-sharing process.
  • Live Document editing. By taking advantage of Office 365’s cloud capabilities, several members of your team can collaborate on a single document at the same time. This eliminates the risk of files disappearing into the Email abyss and lets you keep an eye on editing as it occurs. You know where your files are always because they never leave your control; they remain in the cloud and can easily be accessed through the chat interface. This means you can view a document at any time without having to send an email asking for it to be sent to you!
  • Teams and Channels. ‘Teams and Channels’ are the structures around which you organise group collaboration on the Microsoft teams app. ‘Teams’ are where you gather a group of individuals for collaboration on a certain topic of work. This might be centred around a particular client, a common interest or a business goal. ‘Channels’ are structures that you set up within ‘Teams’ that act as subcategories of the main project. Channels can be set up to focus on very specific topics and you can make them ‘public’ (available to anyone in the Team) or ‘private’ (accessible only to those you choose). These structures make it easy to organise conversations and keep on top of file sharing by thanks to seamless integration with Sharepoint’s file storage architecture.
  • Video and Voice Calling. Microsoft Teams’ Voice/Video calling feature is based on the ‘Skype’ platform and allows you to hold virtual meetings with anything from 2 to 250 participants. Ideal for getting the team together for that weekly pep talk!

 

Struggling to find a solution that fits around your business?

At Cloudscape, we use our extensive experience to deliver custom-fit technology solutions to SMEs in London and the home counties. Technology should serve your business’ aims and aspirations, it shouldn’t be something to mould your operation around. We are experts in Cloud-computing and we know how empowering Cloud Services can be when leveraged correctly, so let us help you tailor Office 365 so that it works for your business and the unique challenges you face. Call us on 0207 952 8123 or send us an email info@cloudscape.it.

Tackle your business challenges head on – Delving Deeper into Office 365

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Welcome to Office 365

The Office 365 offering from Microsoft brings an unprecedented level of convenience, flexibility and productivity potential to the familiar suite off Microsoft Office apps we all know so well. This versatile suite of tools, wrapped in an intuitive, access-anywhere interface is the ‘Swiss army knife’ of daily office life; as it has a solution for almost any challenge you might throw at it.

Like many Office 365 adopters, you may be aware of its potential yet have only used a few of the applications it features. This is understandable, as it can be difficult to know where to begin and exploring the services on offer may seem like a challenging, time-consuming endeavour.

We believe however that you should capitalise on the large range of tools and services you’re paying for, so the following series of blogs aims to guide you through some of the services within Office 365 that you may not be familiar with. We’ll approach the features individually, explaining the purpose, functionality and benefits that each brings. We’ll also explain how using them could further improve productivity, aid communication and streamline workflows in your business.

 

Delving Deeper into Office 365

Typically, the uncompromising nature of ‘off-the-shelf’ software solutions requires businesses to mould their processes to fit.  Fortunately, however, there is a level of flexibility inherent in the Office 365 suite that allows you to tailor a package to suit the way you work. In our ‘Delving Deeper’ series we’ll help you mould the Office 365 service offering around the unique operational challenges your business faces.  We’ll help you confront common operational challenges and answer questions you may have such as:

“What can I do to aid communication between my team?”

“How can I make arrange meetings without drowning in Emails?”

“How can I gain control and oversight of my business’ data?”

“Can I automate time-consuming manual tasks?”

“How can I effectively manage projects and group tasks?”

“How can I leverage the value of my data and make data collection easier?”

“Is there a way I can control the use of group chat?”

“I need to do X, Y and Z, is there an app for that?”

Office 365 sometimes offers multiple solutions to questions such as these.  Our guide will help you choose the right solution for the particular challenge you’re dealing with.

 

Struggling to find a solution that fits around your business?

At Cloudscape, we use our extensive experience to deliver custom-fit technology solutions to SMEs in London and the home counties. Technology should serve your business’ aims and aspirations, it shouldn’t be something to mould your operation around. We are experts in Cloud-computing and we know how empowering Cloud Services can be when leveraged correctly, so let us help you tailor Office 365 so that it works for your business and the unique challenges you face. Call us on 0207 952 8123 or send us an email info@cloudscape.it.