Some IT professionals persist in saying cloud-based services are inferior to on-premises services. They might say that an on-premises datacenter is more secure and reliable, provides greater equipment access, or suffers less downtime.
While one cannot say that the cloud is always a preferable solution, these arguments mostly date from a time when the cloud was a new and immature technology. They have now largely been debunked by years of proven performance.
There are still reasons why businesses can and should maintain on-premises datacenters. For example, they might have special security requirements, or they might have already made a large investment in facilities and equipment.
However, each year sees a greater percentage of servers deployed in the cloud and clients accessing cloud-based services. Microsoft 365 is the next step in bringing the cloud to the desktop productivity environment.
Describe the concept of hybrid work and flexible work
One of the primary focuses of Microsoft 365 products is to provide users with a variety of tools that facilitate collaboration. Microsoft Outlook, Teams, and Yammer are all applications that enable users to communicate from different locations and access common information.
This capability has become particularly useful in recent years as more employees have been compelled to work from home and other remote locations.
Many organizations have discovered the usefulness of remote networking and collaboration tools—both for employees and employers—and are incorporating them into their standard policies.
Two primary models for incorporating offsite work into a job description are hybrid work and flexible work.
Hybrid work
Hybrid work is typically defined as a position that splits employees’ work time between the office and their home. In a hybrid work model, the employer establishes the employees’ hours and locations using a rotating schedule.
For example, one group of employees might be in the office on Mondays and Wednesdays, while another group is there on Tuesdays and Thursdays. All the employees work from home when they are not in the office.
One advantage of this model for the employer is that the demand for office space can be halved. By sharing work areas between the two groups in the office at different times, the employer can save on square footage, furniture, and HVAC costs.
A potential disadvantage of this model is the added difficulty in communicating and sharing documents with colleagues at different locations. The Microsoft 365 collaboration tools are designed to make this communication possible, regardless of the users’ locations.
The nature of hybrid work is that the employer creates the schedule, and the employees have to abide by it. Working from home might be unsuitable for some employees and impractical for some positions; a hybrid schedule is not likely to please everyone.
However, many employees have discovered the advantages of working from home and welcome the continuation of the practice, even when outside circumstances do not require it.