The Most Popular Office 365 Apps and Integrations

Efficiency is a key part of any successful business. Talk of effective communication, collaboration, automation, organization, data storage, accessibility, and so much more. You want to access your preferred Microsoft Office features wherever you are, get the best updates as they roll out, and have the most relevant integrations at hand.

Yet, the traditional Microsoft Office components still fail to meet some special business needs. For one, the proliferation of systems, applications, and tools makes things extremely time-consuming and confusing for employees who have to navigate multiple channels every day. Organizations have always tried to overcome this challenge through intranets and portals that seek to establish an integrated digital workspace.

Microsoft understands these needs, which is why they have Office 365 apps. They let you use most of the conventional desktop office applications and features, plus so much more. Office 365 also comes with unprecedented integration ability, allowing approved third-party developers to release add-ins. It beats the PC office version on several levels, including:

• Giving you access to the latest feature updates as they are released.
• Instant Office on multiple devices, including Macs, PCs, phones, and tablets with a single account.
• Access to Office’s advanced features on phones and tablets.
• Cloud storage.
• Technical support.

Here are the most popular Office 365 apps and Integrations that might help take your productivity to another level.

Teams

Teams was introduced by Microsoft as a communication channel for facilitating group work. It is a powerful collaboration tool that enables your employees to work together or with external parties remotely. They could be in the same office, floor, or miles apart. You can establish separate channels for a single team, helping overcome challenges such as miscommunication. What’s more, you can put restrictions on copying any work-related data.

This platform also allows you to share documents from word, excel, presentations, and other Microsoft Office tools. You may also place voice or video call chats. Beyond chatting, you can have a dedicated OneNote, file storage, and even connect non-Office 365 applications.

Planner

This lightweight project management tool allows you to create project plans, assign tasks, invite new teammates, track progress, and post updates concerning the project’s status. It also enables users to chat and share files.

It is most suitable for companies that don’t have complex projects or those that are not already using software for project management.

Microsoft OneDrive

OneDrive is, without a doubt, one of the most popular Microsoft 365 apps. With the help of artificial intelligence, Microsoft has upgraded OneDrive, allowing it to view more file types. Besides, accessing recently edited files as well as important folders and files is not only quicker but also intuitive.

Many businesses are drawn towards using OneDrive because its ubiquitous cloud storage is supported by many platforms. Moreover, it allows seamless integration with Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Exchange Office 365. The cloud storage service also has an amazing mobile support app.

A lot has gone into making OneDrive popular storage service, especially over its competitors such as Dropbox and Google Drive Enterprise.

Microsoft OneDrive offers businesses up to 1 TB of storage and the option of storing large files (up to 15GB). It also makes it easy to sync local files or folder copies if you ever wish to view them offline.

Interestingly, Microsoft OneDrive also functions as a standalone cloud storage service. Because of its ubiquity, OneDrive functions on all devices irrespective of the Operating System.

The 2019 OneDrive upgrade came with features such as increased collaboration functionality, artificial intelligence (AI) to help organize files, folders, and projects, and most importantly, increased security and governance options.

Microsoft SharePoint

Simply regarded as an effective combination of workflow, document management, and team collaboration, Microsoft SharePoint use has risen significantly over the past few years.

From its robust ecosystem that supports numerous third-party integrations to its ease of use, there is quite a lot that makes Sharepoint a popular Office 365 app.

Microsoft SharePoint was among the projects the company embarked on to upscale its leadership as a productivity facilitator. Its powerful combination of workflows in combination with Microsoft Office helps implement and actualize broad improvements in organizational productivity.

Microsoft Yammer

Microsoft Yammer is an online business platform designed to bolster communication and collaboration within the organization. Yammer offers a solid business social network that comes with light work-management tools.

The ease of use coupled with a clear interface, chatbox, and the option to invite external members such as clients or partners has undoubtedly made Yammer a suitable Office 365 app for any business.

It is worth noting that Microsoft 365 Yammer app is an online but private business social network dedicated to fostering communication among employees. Its premium model has a good number of features that make it appealing to businesses that are only beginning to experiment with giving employees alternatives to email.

Microsoft 365 Groups

Does your organization feel the need to allow members to collaborate within the Microsoft 365 Suite? Microsoft 365 Groups offers just that and so much more. Microsoft Office 365 Groups is a membership service designed to enable your staff to collaborate across the entire Microsoft 365 suite platform. It implements an interface ideal for group work and sharing projects, especially if your staff members already use Office 365 tools.

Office 365 Groups enables self-service, dynamic collaboration intent on streamlining the traditional hierarchies of your organization. This is a perfect solution and enhancement to the way we work today.

Using Microsoft 365 Groups, employees have access to the tools they need to get the job done, thus enabling seamless collaboration throughout your organization. These tools are delivered by the other set of apps such as Teams, SharePoint, and Exchange, which offers a Mailbox, to mention but just a few.

Microsoft Sway

Over the past few years, Microsoft has reinvented itself by designing apps that are mobile-friendly and cloud-based. One such addition is the Microsoft Sway. Just like Teams is expected to fully replace Skype, so is Sway expected to overtake PowerPoint.

Through Sway, Microsoft expects to provide a cloud-only lightweight story-telling Office 365 application that is easier to use than PowerPoint. Sway provides more narrative devices than the slide after slide of bullet points that we were used to with PowerPoint.

PowerPoint provided a challenge to many starters, with many staring at blank pages, not knowing where to start. However, Sway comes with a bunch of templates to aid in designing common presentations. These templates include business presentations, resumes, newsletters, and portfolios.

If you’re a future-focused business, you’ll want to be abreast with Sway, the popular alternative to PowerPoint.

Conclusion

Microsoft 365 package is stocked with a wide variety of tools ready to be exploited for productivity. These 7 Office 365 apps and integrations present the most popular tools that businesses are using to foster collaboration, teamwork, and organization. Any business that is intent on upscaling its versatility and growth should embrace these apps to the fullest.