It has been predicted that almost 90% of businesses will be utilising the cloud by 2023. This is great for employees as cloud based services like Microsoft 365 enable new ways to collaborate – and on a much wider scale. One of the great things about using a service like Microsoft 365 is the ease in which coworkers can work together on projects – as the cloud makes sharing and editing documents easier than ever before. With that being said, there are some simple mistakes that employee’s often make that can have a significant impact on workflows.
Here, the experts at Syntax ONE IT Support London discuss a few common IT faux pas that you and your employees should avoid.
Keep your subscriptions up to date
Easily done but often forgotten – it can be very tempting to put off updates to your computer, but without the newest updates and patches, your computer really can suffer.
This is especially true for cloud-based services. Now that almost all of the cloud based services for business are subscription based and paid for annually, it can be very easy to accidentally let subscriptions expire. But the damage can be severe, causing great problems for the staff members utilising the services.
With a package like Microsoft 365, users still have access to files, but changes to them won’t be saved if the complementary cloud has reached capacity. This can make collaboration on projects cumbersome and inefficient. For that reason it is important to keep your subscription up to date. Signing up for automatic renewal offers a simple solution to this problem, making sure that your services continue seamlessly.
Warning: any reputable service provider will send you a notification at the auto-renewal stage. Take the time to go through your subscription when this occurs and ensure that you still require the software – or the level of software you are currently paying for. Businesses with a growing staff may need to upgrade at renewal stage, while other enterprises may find that they can get by with a more basic package than they first thought.
That Goes for Security Too
In the same vein, keeping security features up to date is a necessity too. As a business, you have a responsibility to make sure you are doing what you can to maintain secure systems and protect company data. Working with a quality IT specialist and making use of their expertise will make sure you keep on top of security. Specialists can help you through IT and security decisions.
Back it up
No matter how useful technology maybe, there are times when it can fail us. Computers crash and files get deleted, leaving us with frustrating attempts to retrieve what was lost. One of the cloud’s best features is that back-up is built in – meaning you can relax knowing that everything you need is safely stored. When it comes to group work this is also a wonderful advantage as group members don’t need to worry about having access to others documents and can always count on the most up to date version being ready to go.
Don’t be quick to delete
When working on documents that are shared amongst co-workers, it is important to use and save the correct documentation. One fool-proof way to ensure that the right documents are in use, is to implement proper procedure that the whole team follow when working in shared documents.
Deciding and agreeing as a collective, will save a lot of time and keep headaches to a minimum. Another great thing about utilising the cloud for collaborative work is that there’s usually only a need for one version of a document to be in use at one time. This is especially helpful in minimising the chances that important copies maybe erased or saved over.