CIOs need to take the lead on creating enterprise digital transformations that leverage the power of cloud-first solutions, such as Microsoft Office 365.

Office 365 is one of the largest things to happen to business enterprises since the launch of Salesforce. With over 85 million users, Office 365 is a global force that is helping companies boost productivity, while simultaneously reducing the burdens felt by IT departments. As Microsoft seeks to continue its digital transformation, CIOs need to be prepared to rethink how they can use the platform to their advantage, while simultaneously rethinking the architecture necessary to get the most out of Office 365.

Why Do CIOs Need To Pay Attention To Office 365?
As a CIO, it is your job to lead your company’s digital transformation. This means that you must take into account your current and future needs by asking “is your network ready?” The use of Office 365 can transform your IT infrastructure by moving users away from desktop solutions, while also migrating the LAN to the cloud. The latter migrations can result in an increase of Internet-bound traffic by as much as 40 percent. To effectively leverage the benefits of this transformation, you must determine if your network is ready for a cloud-centric approach.

Preparing your network is made easier when you take into account the following factors:

Your network must be ready to move from a LAN based network to a WAN based network.

Firewalls, Internet gateways, and proxies must be prepared for the migration.

You must do more than simply upgrade central gateways and increase bandwidth.

Through an agile approach you can redesign and restructure your network to support Office 365. However, to do this, you must look for information beyond your network. As CIO, it is your job to design, strategize, analyze, and implement your company’s digital transformation strategy. This means that you must recognize that your internal network will not typically be equipped to provide the optimal user experience when using Office 365 to its full potential. As such, you must accept that the open Internet can provide the network solution that you need to create a new, secure corporate network that is beneficial to your users.

Keep in mind that the decision to become a cloud-based or cloud-first architecture is not one that should be made from the top down. In other words, as CIO it is your job to coordinate your teams to discuss the networking, security, application support, risk, compliance factors that must be considered before a migration can be completed. Don’t let your teams fall back on traditional solutions that will slow down and complicate your digital transformation. Instead, grasp innovation by the horns to ensure that you have the technologies, controls, support, and digital practices needed to deliver benefits to your entire enterprise.

Speaking of benefits, before you balk at the thought of redesigning your network’s architecture, take a moment to explore the benefits of Office 365.

By restructuring your network to support Office 365, you can move away from the legacy architectures and promote digital transformational growth.

You can more easily scale your enterprise IT infrastructure to more readily meet evolving business needs.

Office 365 is designed to bring about positive digital transformations that will benefit the entire business.

Security is no longer dependent solely on internal network solutions; instead, a wider source can be deployed to strengthen cloud-based security applications.

Improved collaboration amongst employees is made easier (especially when employees are dispersed across locations or working remotely).

Increased productivity for users who need to work on multiple devices.

Enhanced opportunities for mobile usage, as well as easier setup, maintenance, and security.

Through the cloud-based solution, resources are freed-up so that they can be strategically allocated.

The Bottom Line: Office 365 Can Help CIOs Complete Digital Transformations
It is clear that Office 365 provides countless benefits to any enterprise looking to continue their digital transformations. However, the issue that many companies encounter is the cost benefit. To ensure that the cost of equipment upgrades and network infrastructure enhancements do not surpass budget allocations, enterprises need to account for cost efficiency measures. In this vein, a transition to a cloud-first strategy is made easier when you work with a team of experts who have successfully deployed Office 365 enterprise solutions.

By working with the right individuals, you can ensure that you avoid the challenges of other enterprises, who have chosen to rely solely on internal networks during their digital transformation. Instead, you can leverage the power of Office 365 as a catalyst to increase user collaboration, improve productivity levels, streamline communications, and create the infrastructure needed for continued business growth. To discover how Office 365 can be successfully implemented within your enterprise contact Fuelled Networks located in Ottawa via info@fuellednetworks.com or (613) 828-1384.