My primary use case is for preparing presentations to teach, often on PowerPoint.
Certified Adjunct Faculty, School of Engineering and Computing at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Helps with preparing presentations but it should have more tutorials
Pros and Cons
- "My primary use case is for preparing presentations to teach, often on PowerPoint."
- "In terms of improvement, it should have tutorials when you first have the opportunity to use it, to be able to really learn it."
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
I don't distinguish them much at all from what I can get to, just with normal software installed at the desktop. For example, the tool called OneNote, I have not used it because I don't see the need to.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvement, it should have tutorials when you first have the opportunity to use it, to be able to really learn it.
It can be complex in the beginning.
For how long have I used the solution?
It is on my HP, I've been using it for over 10 years. I don't actively use it. When I log into a faculty, the user interface takes all of us through a portal where Office 365 is the access to Office software. For regular desktop use, I've been using it for three years because I have it on my HP laptop. I am currently using it.
It's on the cloud because no matter what I did with it, saved files would be available on different machines, and sometimes it would be a way to work on PowerPoint and then pull them from that environment when I was at school.
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I haven't seen it fail, in any kind of regard.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I didn't use anything that's similar to it. Just a device where all of the software has been individually installed.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not too complex.
It didn't take any time. It just happened to be working from when I first connected, I did not have to do anything.
On my HP laptop, it came with the computer and it was supported by acquiring a license. I update with a license through Best Buy, for the software itself for the MS Access or for Word. Now with my school, the only way to be aware of Office 365 is when logged in as a faculty. Then we're using the software that they have provided and it's through a connection. It's not on the machine.
What other advice do I have?
Learn a bit before you try to use it. If you are going to experience the best features of it, get to know it first. Don't just ignore it.
I would rate it a six out of ten. I use it minimally.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
CEO/Programmer at Tech Elight
Convert pictures to PDF format with ease
Pros and Cons
- "Most of the work that seems not to work offline works perfectly with Microsoft Office 2013, like converting a Word document to a PDF file."
- "The feature to convert PDF file to a Word document needs improvement as well as the feature to save the file automatically when typing, without using the save command."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use case is for creating files, and typing projects and for converting Word documents to PDF format.
How has it helped my organization?
Most of the work that seems not to work offline works perfectly with Microsoft Office 2013, like converting a Word document to a PDF file.
What is most valuable?
The ability to convert Word documents to PDF file is one of the features I love most. Pictures can be pasted into the Word environment and can be converted to PDF.
What needs improvement?
The feature to convert PDF file to a Word document needs improvement as well as the feature to save the file automatically when typing, without using the save command.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is efficient and effective.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is really good.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support are responsive.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We previously used a different version, Office 2007.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not really complex.
What about the implementation team?
The installation was done in-house.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is not really high, but one can get the software with the license key for free.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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January 2025
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Cloud-based management is valuable and software deployment is positive
Pros and Cons
- "Cloud-based management is valuable and software deployment is positive."
- "Their support is so terrible and unusable except during dire emergencies."
What is our primary use case?
We use it throughout our business for email and documents. It has allowed us to stop maintaining SharePoint and Exchange installs.
How has it helped my organization?
It has allowed us to eliminate a lot of in-house infrastructure and has simplified our software licensing.
What is most valuable?
Cloud-based management is valuable and software deployment is positive. SharePoint, document sharing, and Skype have been helpful as well.
What needs improvement?
They should stop releasing new features and focus on making the existing ones work. Their support is so terrible and unusable except during dire emergencies.
For how long have I used the solution?
Three to five years.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Executive at a manufacturing company with 501-1,000 employees
My most recent deployment went off without issue.
What is most valuable?
- Exchange Online
- SharePoint
- Skype for Business
- OneDrive
How has it helped my organization?
- Removed support and infrastructure of legacy technologies.
What needs improvement?
Be sure you understand ADFS and, if you decide to go with it, what you get and don't get with it. Your users will want it.
ADFS was sold to overcome the issues with entering passwords in all your clients (Outlook, Skype for Business, OneDrive) but, if your password changes, you do have to manually update passwords in all of these clients.
Also, this does not get you direct access to the 365 portal or SharePoint without modifying links to use Federated Services.
This becomes an issue if you use generic accounts for the shop. It will work if each of your users are required to use their own ID. Also, note there is a cost for the Azure instance of ADFS (servers, compute, network, VPN).
For how long have I used the solution?
I have used it for nine years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
Deployment went very smoothly even in its infancy. My most recent deployment went off without issue.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Others report stability issues and there are often warnings in the console but the service has been flawless for us.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
We have not encountered any scalability issues. We have probably increased our user base 20% since inception.
How is customer service and technical support?
Customer Service:
For general support, it is offshored and you open a ticket in the console. It works pretty well. For how-to's or best practices, you will need to have a good partner.
Technical Support:Generally, the technician has a good idea what you are trying to do. There is often a handoff to a group that can actually DO the work.
Which solutions did we use previously?
How was the initial setup?
Our vendor assisted with setup using the Jump Start program. There are complexities with certificates, hybrid, etc., but overall, it went well.
What about the implementation team?
A vendor team implemented it. I would rate them 10 of 10 at the time. Since then, our resource has moved on but they still have a pretty good skillset.
What was our ROI?
I don't have my spreadsheet handy but the ROI was there. Microsoft also provided significant incentives to make the move.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
If it is an in-person query or reference, I do let them know the deal I got, as well as the approach that got me there.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Because of the significant investment we already had in Microsoft, this made the most sense; thus, I did not evaluate competitors.
What other advice do I have?
You may need ADFS; you may need a hybrid environment. Not everything necessarily goes away. Also, user management continues; it just moves to a new place (hosted/the cloud).
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
IT Manager at MAGRABI Agriculture
Scales well and the technical support is good
Pros and Cons
- "The most valuable feature is Microsoft Exchange."
- "The security should be improved."
What is our primary use case?
Our primary use is for email.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature is Microsoft Exchange.
What needs improvement?
The security should be improved.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using Office 365 for about four years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is scalable and easy to expand to more users. We have 200 people in our company who are using it.
How are customer service and technical support?
The technical support is very good.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, this is a very good product.
I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Managing Consultant at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
Easy to use with lots of great applications and easy to access from anywhere
Pros and Cons
- "The solution is quite intuitive and easy to use."
- "I'm not sure if there are areas of improvement. For us, it's working quite well."
What is most valuable?
I like quite a few of the applications included in the solution, including OneDrive as well as Teams.
The solution offers all of the Office features, that we have access to and can use whenever we need to.
The solution can be accessed from anywhere. You don't have to be in the office or at your desktop to use it.
The solution is quite intuitive and easy to use.
What needs improvement?
I'm not sure if there are areas of improvement. For us, it's working quite well.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've been using the solution since the original launch of the product itself. I'm not sure how long it's been. I believe it's been about ten years or so. It may have been since 2011.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The stability of the solution is great. We don't have any bugs or glitches. We don't have it freezing on us. It's reliable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability is okay. However, we have such a large organization, and because IT has to enact it, it takes a while to do each one by one. In order to scale, a company simply has to buy more licenses, so, from that perspective, it's easy.
How are customer service and technical support?
I never deal with technical support directly. We have an in-house IT department that we go to when we need help or have issues.
For example, iinitially I had some issues with the setup of Office 365 on my mobile. However, it wasn't an Office 365 issue. It was all due to some of the company's internal security policies. Our own IT team procured the licenses, so they dealt with the issue, meaning I never had to actually go back to Microsoft for that or make a call to them.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was not complex at all. It was easy for our organization. The implementation is something that is taken care of by the end user's IT team, so I didn't actually handle it myself. Once it's set up, it is easy to use. It's not very difficult; everything is clear. Once you start using it, you'll see it's a very good tool.
What other advice do I have?
We're just a customer. We don't have any business relationship with Microsoft.
We're using the latest version of the solution.
I'd recommend the solution. It's very easy to use and extremely practical. We find it quite useful within our organization.
We don't use any comparable products, so it's hard to rate the solution in comparison to alternative offerings, however, generally, I'd rate the product nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Office 365 Enterprise
Office 365 is one of my most used applications. I love the way that I can leverage the Cloud capabilities of my Office applications to access from anywhere. I have access from my phone, tablet, laptop, desktop, etc., and it is always easy. Outlook is nice when I do not have access to a laptop or phone (rare), and One Drive is my file collaboration solution. Although I like the functionality of One Drive, it can be frustrating if your IT team goes overboard on security. :) The single-sign-on we utilize at work keeps me signed in to all apps, and the applications load quickly and efficiently. Office 365 plus the 64-bit 2016 versions of the Office desktop applications is a great combination that I could not function without. I use Outlook, One Drive, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Yammer, and Skype for Business every day, so without them, I would be "dead in the water.
What do you like best?
I like how collaborative Office 365 allows me to be on my projects. Currently, a co-author and I are working in real-time on a project. I could see her typing and commentary while I was making corrections to the APA at the bottom of the page. We can also work asynchronously on projects, store them, and return to them. The ability to work in a browser ensures that I can review, make slight edits to the document, print, and then save. As a person who is moving from a campus computer to my computer, to my printer at home, to my office printer at work, this is about as fast as having a flash chip with me at all times, but I never forget it. It also integrates well with Citation software, similar to Word 10. We have a lot of files we share, and I like how easy it is to access from any location I'm at, as long as I'm logged into my university account.
What do you dislike?
One of the things I struggle with regarding Office 365 is what is the real difference between Office 365 and Google Docs/Sheets other than the price and privacy. At my university, Office 365 is free as long as you are a student or a researcher. As soon as I leave the school though, I'll lose access to Office 365, most of the work I've saved on the system. And while it's... nice? to have so much technology (meaning Access and the other programs that come in the suite) I never use Access but I "have to" have it. I wish it integrated better with my Google Calendar so I could have an app on my phone but if that feature is available I don't have it.
Recommendations to others considering the product
If you are going to be a full-time single user of Office 365, this might make sense if it automatically updates to the latest Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Publisher. It would make sense to pay a yearly/monthly fee to continuously have Word rather than having to buy the expensive office suite every few years or so. But, if you don't need to update to the latest software, if you aren't someone who needs Word, Excel, PowerPoint, or Publisher to be at their most flexible, and if you get around on Google just fine, I don't know if it makes sense to buy it as a single user. However, for large universities or companies that need flexibility, and collaboration for their employees, then Office 365 might be right for you.
What business problems are you solving with the product? What benefits have you realized?
I work on a lot of collaborative research projects and Office 365 lets me share files and reading and work with others. However, I really don't like their "calendar" system integration with Outlook, but I've never liked the Outlook calendar. I always use my Google calendar and I wish there was a way to sync those two, but as far as I know there isn't.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Systems Engineer at a tech services company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Exchange Online and Skype for Business Online are valuable features.
What is most valuable?
Exchange Online: It's the cloud version of Exchange Server and is pretty much easy to use.
Skype for Business Online formerly Lync Online: It's a fully fledged chat cum video conferencing tool. With the integration of Skype and Lync, the tool has now become more useful and helpful.
How has it helped my organization?
There were functionalities of the Lync 2013 client version that were not helpful, like connecting with people outside the organization and having better conferencing abilities. These have now been improved with the involvement of AT&T collaboration with Microsoft Lync. Moreover, Skype for Business Mobile is a more handy tool now.
What needs improvement?
The Skype for Business admin centre could be easier to use.
The Microsoft Intune admin portal still needs some compatibility support to run on all browsers. Presently, it requires IE 11.0 and higher version to work properly.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this product since it's complete launch, which was from March 2013.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The 99.99℅ uptime SLA guarantee provided by Microsoft ensures there are no stability related issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The tool is cloud-based and is based on Microsoft Azure (IaaS and PaaS). This ensures high scalability and elasticity. I have never had any situation with scalability until now.
How are customer service and technical support?
Regular customer support is good enough for all when there is a problem. Apart from that, the community supports are there as well. I would recommend enterprise users to enroll for Microsoft's Premier support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have not used other solutions; however, I have assisted other users and administrators to migrate from Google Business Apps to Microsoft's Office 365 Enterprise and Business Premier environment.
How was the initial setup?
The setup is easy and user-friendly. On-screen guided instructions help make the complex process easy to use.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Pricing and licensing are pay-as-you-go, concept-wise. Plans are available per user per month or per user per year. These are available on Microsoft's website. Users or organizations can choose the plans according to their requirements and budget.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Frankly, the features packed by Microsoft and the compatibility with Microsoft operating systems provides you the best options when compared with other options available in market. You may Google or Bing the same for more comparisons.
What other advice do I have?
If you really need to move to cloud, compare all of the options, check your budget and requirements and subscribe to Office 365's trial pack, which is available for 30 days. Feel comfortable with the product.
If you feel that this product serves your requirement for the money you are paying, you may subscribe to Office 365 Enterprise. If in case you feel that this would cost you too much (for small business organizations), you may look for other cloud solutions like Google Business Apps or Google Apps and other cloud-based applications. You may look in Google for other cloud-based solutions.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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