Maximizing Your Microsoft Investment

Digital transformation is not a one-time project, and does not occur overnight. It’s a continuous process that changes as technology evolves and organizational needs develop.

Thrive offers tailored solutions, with a focus on bringing end users into the equation, to drive long-term success for organizations. Our Office 365 Center of Excellence (CoE) is a managed services solution that understands moving targets and changing goals. When utilized properly, clients discover Office 365 improves productivity and maximizes their investment.

Leveraging the Digital Tools at Your Fingertips

A business assessment is the first step to understanding how to best leverage the power of Office 365. Is a basic business license enough, or should a more advanced license be used? How many employees use the products, and are they in the office or remote? Everything should be taken into consideration during the assessment workshop, as we gather key stakeholders and show opportunities for improvement on the road to digital transformation.

When devising a governance plan, guidelines, policies, and processes should always align with the vision and business roadmap. However, this roadmap alignment is not always carved into stone, and changes will occur. Opportunities arise to revisit the roadmap, implement feedback from end users, and make feature additions or software changes as new technology is released or business needs evolve. Your governance plan should account for this evolution.

A defined strategy and governance plan sets the stage for a proper architecture to be put in place. This architecture includes which Office 365 tools will be in use, aligning the necessary applications with strategy and governance, and ensuring the proper design and delivery with customization and configuration.

At Thrive, we seek to create a long-term, consultative partnership with clients, working in a manner that allows for roadmap revisions and reorganization when needed, while delivering value at every stage.

Best-in-Class End User Support Training

Targeted training prepares end users and gives them the ability to fully utilize Office 365 products. While generic training videos may explain general ideas and concepts, they don’t always meet the end user where they currently are. Thrive assembles training on common threads of how tools work based on governance policies, with custom materials designed around specific needs.

Thrive also supports multiple ways to complete the training. In the past, in-person training was a popular option (which will hopefully return in the future), along with Microsoft 365 learning pathways, a customizable training experience with step-by-step learning modules. If governance policies require revisions to the solution, training can be adjusted as needed, helping end users understand the full scope of new offerings.

Over the years, we have seen the bloat that comes with adopting new tools and programs from various providers, requiring administrators and IT staff to be experts on several platforms. This can, of course, also mean extra licensing fees and require further coordination among all users to achieve a desired end result. Thankfully, Office 365 centralizes many offerings for the user and the IT staff. For instance, OneDrive’s interface is similar to SharePoint, enabling users to become accustomed to a platform more rapidly, and to share documents and information more easily.

The Office 365 platform will continue to develop and evolve as time goes on. We will assist with integrating enhancements and new platform features as they become available, keeping your organization on a trajectory that ensures your digital transformation has ongoing impact. For more information about maximizing your Microsoft investment, get in touch with the Thrive team today!