Microsoft 365 offers a lot, but what options are valuable for me?

A lot of organizations that use Microsoft 365 are overwhelmed by the number of applications Microsoft 365 offers. It’s not always clear what can be used for what, and sometimes a tool isn’t mature enough to present it to your workforce. Often, implementation of Microsoft 365 happens in one of the following ways:

• A limited implementation: using email through Outlook/Exchange Online and Skype for business for chat and voice conversations. Other Microsoft 365 apps are disabled.
• All you can eat implementation: email gets migrated to Outlook/Exchange Online and a number of basic applications are implemented. The rest of Microsoft 365 is free to use by personal preference.
• A guided implementation: not all applications are open to all users, but a selection has been made that are supported by the IT department.

At Semasu, we firmly believe that a guided implementation offers the best opportunity to implement the correct tools. We can steer clear from the typical pitfalls and jumpstart initiatives, thanks to our many years of experience with similar implementations. Flooding users with tools is not the best idea to start your Microsoft 365 implementation. Finding your critical requirements and finding the correct answers within the Microsoft 365 suite is a better approach. This approach allows you to:

• Focus on what matters most. Look for solutions that cover the needs of most users, relieves the most pain in the organization, enables other processes to be more efficient, etc.
• Setup a roadmap at a pace that is in accordance with the ambition of the organization.
• Include user adoption efforts while implementing applications. Organize trainings, communicate, onboard, ensure management buy-in, etc.
• Offer support for the critical application. Users need a safety to rely on in case something is unclear or isn’t doing what they expect.

The choices aren’t always easy, as there are applications in Microsoft 365 with overlapping functionality. Depending on the culture, you can choose a specific app. You can even allow different overlapping apps as long as the governance of the aspects mentioned above, are in place. We strongly believe every app in Microsoft 365 can deliver value. The critical requirement to tap into that value is to plan implementation and prepare the organization for it. With the right user adoption effort in place for these apps, the new application will bring value to your organization.