Microsoft 365

While I’m cautious about purchasing expensive licenses, for some businesses, the cheapest option, Business Basic for £4.90 per user per month, is more than enough!

Every now and then, I discover new “hidden” features that I can use with just a basic license, and this time was no different.

Setting up computers in businesses, I always default to Google Search. Frankly, Bing just hasn’t kept pace, despite the recent AI hype. For most users, Google’s familiarity boosts productivity, which is key in any business environment.

What I hate is that Microsoft, with every other Microsoft Edge update, forces Bing back as the default search engine.

Recently, at work, we have faced an issue where we want to resurrect one of the old Excel files and we found out that, when a file on its own can be opened without any problem, some options, like Workbook Structure or individual Sheets been protected with a password.

The problem was that the person, who initially create the file, was no longer with the company and nobody knew what password was used. As we were able to open the file on its own, as it wasn’t protected, knowing about how XLSX (also XLSM) files are constructed, I decided to use the brute method to remove restrictions.

Here’s how it goes…

Privacy is the key and it’s not only in our private life but also in business. If you using Gmail (Google Workplace) for your business, something called read receipt is an odd thing.

Many businesses however are using solutions from Microsoft called Microsoft 365 Business (in various plans).

Microsoft, in their subscription service, provides a lot of useful functionalities, but there are some functions, that are heading back to times when Microsoft Outlook started gaining popularity (Microsoft Office 97).

Through these functionalities there was one, requesting a receipt sent back to the sender when the recipient read an email.

When I started working for my employer, they were using an on-site server and file storage with overnight backups to external drives. Everything was limited by the broadband (internet connection) speed, which in England is quite crazy — business parks rarely have access to inexpensive fibre connections, whereas at home you can get cheap Full Fibre. When things changed (or rather, the company needed to invest in change), we moved everything into the cloud.

We chose Microsoft 365 as our provider.

Once the migration was completed and people had got used to accessing their files in the new way (which hadn’t changed much thanks to the integration of the OneDrive app with Windows, apart from the use of file links), I needed to find a method to back up all files in case of an emergency (or the accidental removal of important files by an employee).

Although Microsoft provides an option to restore files for a short period (typically 30 days), sometimes that may be too short — by the time you notice files are missing, it could be too late. It’s better to have a backup (even an old version of the file) than to have no copy at all.

Without going into costly online backup solutions, or even investing in Microsoft 365 Backup (with its pay-as-you-go billing model), I decided to build an inexpensive and relatively cheap long-term backup system — and I did.

If you are looking for a good solution for emails and file storage for your business, independently how big or how small it is, the Microsoft 365 (was Office 365) is the best solution on the market. If you are not a big company, probably you don’t want to burden to many costs, the Microsoft 365 Business Basic (formerly Office 365 Essentials) is something that you shall look forward.

Even if your business is trying to migrate from on-premises Windows Server into the cloud, in most cases, you can achieve what you need for just £4.90 per month per user. The money well spent. Let me show you why.