David Smetana, Managing Director of 
You've no doubt heard the phrase 'keep it simple' countless times.
Well, the saying rings true for your IT, too.
Many organisations tend to think more complex equals better. But that's far from the truth.
In the case of your Microsoft 365 stack, you'll struggle to find many third-party integrations that offer you more for less. And yet, many organisations still run into the arms of third party software, falsely believing the grass is greener on the other side.
We're here to tear down your IT expectations and convince you that simple really is better.
The benefits of IT simplicity
Businesses that choose to adopt third party solutions rather than stick to the solutions available to them may struggle with costs, support and security issues.
Ultimately, sticking to the Microsoft 365 tools you have available will help you to:
- Maintain the same level of support. Whether you source your tech support in-house or from a managed service provider, adding more complexities to your tech stack will only complicate the support you get.
- Utilise top-of-class security. Microsoft champions security alongside their innovative solutions. With best-of-breed cloud security, identity and access management, data protection and more, you can ensure security across your teams and assets at all times.
- Reduce overspending. Why splash out for a third-party BI tool, for instance, if you get Power BI under your licensing? Sticking to a simple tech stack will reduce overspending on tools that may have more features than you realistically need.
- Integrate all your applications. Microsoft aims to create a complete ecosystem of applications, with all their tools integrating seamlessly with one another. That means you needn't struggle to piece together your work projects, data or communications.
- Keep your ecosystem simple for users. Let's face it - your employees aren't the biggest fans of change, whether it's switching up vending machine snacks or adopting new software. Harnessing the familiar and intuitive Microsoft stack will reduce the need to retrain.
Now, let's dig into how you can tangibly make the most of the tools you have available.
Tap into Microsoft 365's true potential
Are you really making the most of your Microsoft 365 stack?
The likelihood is, you're probably underutilising a lot of key applications and services. Many of which are either included in your licensing or can be a cost-effective add-on.
With that in mind, let's explore five valuable functionalities you can get through Microsoft.
1. Integrated analytics
Around 54 percent of enterprises state cloud business intelligence (BI) is critical to their current and future strategies.
Understandably, your organisation needs to use the right BI platform that drives faster, better business decisions. Thankfully, you needn't look far to find it.
Microsoft's Power BI is the perfect analytics solution. It integrates seamlessly with your current Microsoft 365 applications and can also offer you:
- Personalised dashboards and reports
- Rich, value-driven visuals and graphics
- Industry-leading data security
- The ability to share reports and insights
2. Remote-friendly telephony
Almost 70 percent of employees say Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) systems improve call handling. More than this, 57 percent of those surveyed state VoIP helps with remote working.
Telephony systems are essential for many business professionals, whether they're inside the office or working remotely.
With the right Microsoft integration you can implement seamless call handling in your organisation.
Chalkline's platform of choice enables external voice calling from within Microsoft Teams, securely, efficiently, and cost-effectively. It's simple to use, integrates easily, and can power up your remote working ecosystem.
3. Powerful business process automation
Automation is a key driver of brilliant business transformation.
However, only 61 percent of businesses end up meeting their automation goals.
When it comes to implementing automation, you needn't jump the gun and adopt the most complicated solution available. Oftentimes, it's the smaller, process-driven automation solutions that drive meaningful change.
With Microsoft 365's Power Automate, you can generate no-fuss, low-code automated workflows that speed up your everyday processes.
4. Engaging intranets
Only 13 percent of employees access their intranets on a daily basis. It's an uncomfortably low number, isn't it?
If you house your intranet on a third-party tool, the chances are you're only adding another barrier to the employee experience.
Placing your intranet on SharePoint will enable you to:
- Share cohesive information across your organisation
- Manage content in a simple, intuitive way
- Adopt content management features, such as editorial calendars
- Scale for your growing storage needs and workforce
- Integrate with Power Automate to create automated content and time off approval workflows
5. File storage and collaboration
While we're discussing SharePoint, it'd be silly to overlook the tool's impressive file storage and sharing capabilities.
In today's world, businesses are creating (and storing) more and more files. So, it makes sense to use a cloud-based solution that can easily scale up alongside your needs.
On top of this, however, SharePoint also makes document collaboration a piece of cake. Your employees can work together in real-time, no matter where in the world they are. Your files sync automatically, too, so you needn't worry about dreaded unsaved changes.
Keep IT simple
When it comes to driving the most value from your technology stack, it's best to keep things simple.
There's no need to deviate from Microsoft when it has everything you could ever need. From seamless integration to impressive automation-driven innovation, there's so much you can do with the toolkit you already have.
We hope we've demonstrated the all-encompassing value of maximising your Microsoft stack.
We'll leave you with one question: what can you achieve with the tools you have to hand?
