Cloud Ops Delivery Manager at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Easy to set up, and good communication tools promote collaboration between employees
Pros and Cons
  • "The features that we find good and what we use the most are Outlook and Teams."
  • "The dashboard can be made more user-friendly."

What is our primary use case?

We mainly use this solution for email, but other services that we use are Teams, Yammer, SharePoint, and others. I used it in my own company, and I also use it with my clients.

How has it helped my organization?

Using the tools provided by Microsoft 365 Business has made the people in our company more collaborative. We are able to better keep in touch with each other using email, Microsoft Teams calls, chats, as well as Yammer.

What is most valuable?

The features that we find good and what we use the most are Outlook and Teams.

What needs improvement?

The dashboard can be made more user-friendly.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft 365 Business
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft 365 Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,246 professionals have used our research since 2012.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Microsoft 365 Business for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is pretty good. We have not had any issues specific to it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability has not been an issue for us. We had bought enough for our requirements and also planned for future needs, so we have not had to scale very much.

In my company, we have between 500 and 1,000 people. The client that I work for has a user base of between 4,000 and 5,000 people.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup was easy.

What other advice do I have?

In summary, this is a good product and overall, it has been pretty good.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: partner
PeerSpot user
OEM Medical & Defense Business Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Poor performance, not as good on the cloud, and offers lower quality than an on-premises version
Pros and Cons
  • "The installation process is straightforward."
  • "The cloud performance and the ability to work remotely are actually not very good. I prefer to work on-prem on my laptop. The quality is better."

What is our primary use case?

Microsoft 365 can be useful for SharePoint, our personal documents, and Outlook, among other applications.

What is most valuable?

The on-prem version is better. I prefer to work directly on my laptop.

The installation process is straightforward. 

What needs improvement?

I do not like Outlook. They should be able to build something better.

The product could be more stable and the performance could be better.

The cloud performance and the ability to work remotely are actually not very good. I prefer to work on-prem on my laptop. The quality is better.

For how long have I used the solution?

We just started using this solution. It hasn't been that long yet. It's been a few weeks, or maybe a month so far.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is okay. It could use some improvement. Especially in Outlook. The performance is poor when it comes to the cloud version. I do not like it.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have about 160,000 users on the solution at this time. 

How are customer service and support?

I've never contacted technical support. I cannot speak to how helpful or responsive they would be as I have no experience dealing with them directly.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did not use a different solution. We simply used the previous iteration of Microsoft.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is pretty simple. The solution simply runs in the background, and therefore, there's not much needed for a setup.

In my organization, I'm not sure how many people actually handle deployment or maintenance.

What about the implementation team?

I can handle the setup process myself. I did not need the assistance of an integrator or consultant. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't handle any licensing or payments related to the solution. I can't speak to how much the solution costs the organization or how often we pay for licenses (whether it is monthly or yearly).

What other advice do I have?

Since we are using the cloud-based version of the solution, we're likely always on the latest iteration. It's probably up-to-date.

I'm not a big fan of the solution, especially the cloud offering. I prefer when it is on my laptop. I do not like working on the cloud. The version just isn't as good. For that reason, I would rate the solution at a four out of ten.

I'd recommend the solution as it's really the only solution on the market.

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.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Microsoft 365 Business
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft 365 Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
768,246 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Manager, Information Technology at a university with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Easy to use, quick to deploy, and offers good scalability
Pros and Cons
  • "The pricing is reasonable."
  • "If they offered more integration capabilities, that would be ideal."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use it on a daily basis for business processes. We use Microsoft Outlook quite a bit. 

What is most valuable?

The solution is easy to use.

The product is quite stable.

We have found the solution to be scalable. 

The pricing is reasonable. 

The solution is quick to deploy and easy to implement.

Technical support has always been helpful.

You don' need to run through too much training. Everyone knows how to use Microsoft 365 for the most part.

What needs improvement?

There is no better solution than 365. I cannot recall coming across any aspect that is lacking. 

If they offered more integration capabilities, that would be ideal. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have used the solution for a very long time. It's likely been more than ten years at this point. It's been a while.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. the performance is great. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is very good. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so. it's not a problem.

We have about 1,000 people in our organization that use the solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

Technical support is very good. They are helpful and responsive. We are satisfied with the level of service that they have provided to us. Technical support has been very friendly.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not overly difficult for us. We found it very simple and straightforward. 

The deployment is very fast. It takes a maximum of 30 minutes or so.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the initial setup by ourselves. We didn't need any assistance from any integrators or consultants. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is very reasonable. It's not overly expensive. 

What other advice do I have?

I am a customer and an end-user.

As a cloud-based solution, we are always on the most recent version. It's automatically updated. 

I would rate the solution at a ten out of ten. We are very happy with the solution and its capabilities.

I would recommend the product to other users and organizations. 

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.
PeerSpot user
Product Manager at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Good functionality, with little to no maintenance required but it doesn't transfer well with Google Docs
Pros and Cons
  • "It works as expected."
  • "As an example, there isn't a clean transfer to a Google Doc outside of hosting it as a .docx file."

What is our primary use case?

I work with Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel as well.

I use Microsoft 365 Business for content creation.

What is most valuable?

I like the base functionality. It works as expected. 

I'm not going to say I got wowed by it. It is something that has always been presented to me as the product to use. 

Over the years, I have become familiar with it and I feel comfortable using it.

What needs improvement?

As an example, there isn't a clean transfer to a Google Doc outside of hosting it as a .docx file. That seems to be the functionality that would probably have to be updated on a Google Docs side, and not necessarily Microsoft 365.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for several years. It's been since elementary school.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I haven't had any issues with the stability of Microsoft 365 Business. It has worked as expected without giving me any major issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable solution. 

Virtually everybody in the organization is using this solution. Outside of maybe a couple of people on the engineering team, only because they are not responsible for the content creation.

We have approximately 75 people in our organization who use this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not had to contact technical support. I haven't had any real issues. If anyone has any questions, they just ask me, but I am not the official administrator for the product.

How was the initial setup?

It pretty much just sits alone. We don' really require anyone to maintain this solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't have any information on the pricing. I do not administer the license, that falls with the CFO.

What other advice do I have?

You know exactly what you are going to get whenever you use it. It won't necessarily wow you but it gets you from point A to point B, and that is what is important.

I would rate Microsoft 365 Business a seven out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Vinay-Singh - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager IT & Security at mCarbon Tech Innovations Pvt., Ltd.
Real User
Top 10
Easy to use, overall stable, and user-friendly
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft 365 Business is easy to use and user-friendly."
  • "The solution is overall stable. However, while using Teams there can be some performance issues during meetings."

What is our primary use case?

We are using this solution for many of its features, such as Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams.

What is most valuable?

Microsoft 365 Business is easy to use and user-friendly. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft 365 Business for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is overall stable. However, while using Teams there can be some performance issues during meetings.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

We have approximately 50 users using this solution in my organization.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not needed to use the technical support for Microsoft 365 Business.

How was the initial setup?

The installation is easy. Everything is on the cloud, you download the solution and install it.

What about the implementation team?

We did the implementation ourselves.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is an annual license required for this solution. For a smaller organization, it could be expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft 365 Business an eight 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.
PeerSpot user
Data Warehouse Engineer at a government with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Stable, great for collaboration, and very reliable
Pros and Cons
  • "I never have had any problems with any kind of situation where I couldn't get my documents. It is very, very reliable and very consistent."
  • "It should be a bit more user-friendly. It should be less click to get to what you need. this would help people use it more efficiently."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product for all kinds of stuff. We use it for Excel, for Outlook, for team collaboration, for sharing documents, et cetera. We take advantage of it in order to do a lot of collaboration with colleagues.

What is most valuable?

The solution so far has been excellent. I've been very happy with its capabilities. 

The solution makes it easy to handle collaboration tasks. 

The product has proven to be very stable, and therefore, it is very reliable. I never have had any problems with any kind of situation where I couldn't get my documents. It is very, very reliable and very consistent.

The product scales very well.

What needs improvement?

The solution needs to make sure it does have the scalability potential in place for large-scale organizations. As a smaller organization, I can't speak to how scalable it would be for very big companies.

It should be a bit more user-friendly. It should be less click to get to what you need. this would help people use it more efficiently.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for a very long time. It's been mostly five to six years at this point. I have a lot of experience with it.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is very reliable and very stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is there if you need to expand. 

That said, we are a small organization of 500 people and therefore haven't tested the limits of scaling. I'm unsure as to how big it can go.

How are customer service and technical support?

I've never had any technical issues with the product and therefore have not had to reach out to support. I can't speak to how helpful or responsive they are. However, the fact that I haven't spoken with them reflects highly on the quality of the product itself. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We've always used Microsoft. I cannot recall using any other product.

How was the initial setup?

I don't have any experience with the installation aspect of the solution. It's not something that I've handled before. I'm not sure what the deployment is like or how easy it is to implement.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't handle payments and licensing. I can't speak to how much the company pays or if we're set up on a monthly or yearly payment schedule. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

It's my understanding that we did not look at other options before choosing this product.

What other advice do I have?

We're customers and end-users. 

Due to the fact that we are on the cloud deployment model, we are always using the latest version of the solution. Microsoft automatically keeps everything up to date. 

I'd rate the solution at an eight out of ten. So far, we've been happy with how it works and what we can do with it.

I'd recommend the solution to other users and companies. 

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.
PeerSpot user
Managing Partner at a consultancy with 1-10 employees
Real User
Working offline is as easy as working online
Pros and Cons
  • "The features that I like best with Microsoft 365 Business are that the files are available offline."
  • "In terms of what could be improved, they are continuously developing it, but sometimes not necessarily in a good direction. There are changes happening every three months so you actually have to learn some tools again. I'll give you an example. Teams used to be really good and now, I have a feeling that they hired developers from Skype Business because it's actually not very good."

What is most valuable?

The features that I like best with Microsoft 365 Business are that the files are available offline. When I start Confluence, when I'm on the go, let's say on the plane, I can still modify my files and then when I get to coverage they are synchronized with the cloud. That makes it really strong. Then of course there is the Office support. You need to buy Office products anyway these days and it's actually coming in a bundle.

What needs improvement?

In terms of what could be improved, they are continuously developing it, but sometimes not necessarily in a good direction. There are changes happening every three months so you actually have to learn some tools again. I'll give you an example. Teams used to be really good and now, I have a feeling that they hired developers from Skype Business because it's actually not very good.

The same with some other tools which are actually being developed, then all of a sudden they are not as good. For example, OneNote. OneNote is a really good tool or used to be a good tool, but now nowadays, it is a bit like Confluence and other corporate tools. I cannot tag anybody. If I make a note in OneNote, I have to send them an email with the link otherwise nobody will actually check it.

There is room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft 365 Business for about six years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is license-based. You can buy one license and you can buy 10 licenses and it still works very well, even if there is a new colleague coming on.

It literally takes 10 minutes to get a new license.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is really easy.

The whole architecture is really simple. Since 365 offers these AD login, the globalized login, setting up Windows and Office 365 takes about half an hour. 

I'm actually using a Mac book now for the last two or three months, and that is not complicated either.

What other advice do I have?

On a scale of one to ten, I would rate Microsoft 365 Business somewhere between seven or eight. Let's put it at an eight.

I would recommend Microsoft 365 Business. I would tell people that when they first set it up, I mean the very initial set up, not for the laptop but for the company's set up, they should be clever when choosing the name of the company inside the ecosystem because it seems that when our IT guys chose the name they made a mistake. After the company name they put the company's address, the previous address, and now it stays there forever. So the main SharePoint or the main link to the company's website, still has the company's old address in its name. That's actually stupid, but otherwise I would recommend it.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
CEO at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
User-friendly with a straightforward setup and good scalability potential
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is extremely straightforward."
  • "It's a bit complex in itself when you get into items such as security or compliance."

What is our primary use case?

We primarily use the solution for email, collaboration, some business applications like Sharepoint, and the Exchange server.

How has it helped my organization?

For example, we have depended heavily on it for our remote work capability, we have worked 100% remotely since the Covid-19 pandemic hit.

What is most valuable?

The email on offer is very nice. It's very easy to use. We've enjoyed that aspect so far. It's very clearly laid out.

We can easily collaborate between users with. We can share and work on documents, for example. 

The solution has the capabilities to help me organize my week.

The product is very proactive. They know there are issues before we report them and they alert us to the fact that they are working to fix things.

For the most part, the solution is very user-friendly.

The initial setup is extremely straightforward.

What needs improvement?

Microsoft is having some issues now and therefore it may not be the best time to evaluate them. However, they acknowledge that they have the issues. They are working to fix things.

The stability is a real issue right now. It's something that they need to fix.

It's a bit complex in itself when you get into items such as security or compliance. That said, if you're knowledgeable it's no trouble. We are excited to see the end result after the various roll outs that MS is currently carrying on.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for years. It's been a long time. I have quite a bit of experience with the product.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability is not so good. It's an aspect of the solution we really don't like. They need to work on this. There is some stability, however, there are some issues with integrations. I am assuming that these recent stability issues stem from the various rollouts and integration activities that MS is carrying out to better improve the solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution scales easily. If you want to add people, you simply add them. However, that means you need to buy more licenses, so your cost will go up.

How are customer service and technical support?

Support can be a bit better, however, they are quite good at being proactive. Usually, they know there is a problem before we do, and by the time we reach out they are working on a fix of some sort.

Some of their support is AI as well, which means that over time, as it learns, it will get better and more effective. Basically, it needs to be a bit more robust. It needs to be more flexible in terms of understanding what you're looking for. That will likely come /improve with time.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We did use Outlook and Exchange, however, the ease of managing a SaaS versus on-prem meant it was more scalable and it's easy to manage. We didn't have to bother with any back-end integration.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is not complex at all. It was straightforward for our team. Basically, you log in online and download the software and everything is basically automatically set up so it's easy. You don't have to worry about complexities.

The deployment just takes a few minutes. It's very fast and easy. Of course, the download time depends on the speed of your internet.

What about the implementation team?

We handled the process ourselves. We did not need the assistance of an integrator or consultant. It was all done in-house.

What was our ROI?

A bit of a tough one to calculate for MS365 but I would say that it is positive, very positive.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The licensing is flexible. You can pay yearly or monthly. It's up to you.

The overall cost is relative. There aren't a lot of other mainstream options, except for maybe Google Email.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Google Apps

What other advice do I have?

We are using the latest version of the solution at this point. I cannot recall the exact version number, however. It may be the 2019 release.

Currently, we have about 30 people on our team.

We do plan to continue to use the solution going forward. We have no plans to change to something else.

I'd recommend this solution to other organizations. I would rate it at an 8 out of 10. The collaboration capabilities we have now are amazing. We really appreciate what it empowers us to achieve.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft 365 Business Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft 365 Business Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.