Owner at GGZ Oost Brabant
Real User
Scalable and stable, but it's challenging to migrate over from a legacy system
Pros and Cons
  • "The scalability is very good."
  • "If you're looking at Microsoft 365, Intune is a part of that as well and Intune is kind of a nightmare."

What is most valuable?

In my case, I have a lot of different email domains and they're all hosted in the same environment. With the older exchange on-premise, that gave a lot of conflict with the user IDs, as the client runs on the same workstation. That usually started a lot of headaches for me and my IT supplier. With Office 365, that's no longer a problem.

The solution is stable.

The scalability is very good.

What needs improvement?

When you're looking at the management of the endpoints, for example, Intune leaves a lot to be desired.

If you're looking at Microsoft 365, Intune is part of that as well and Intune is kind of a nightmare.

The Office platform hasn't changed too much, apart from the fact that the server backend has moved to the cloud. In the cloud, some things work a little better and then some things work a little worse than before.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about one and a half years at this point.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

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

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft 365 Business
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft 365 Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution can scale well. If a company needs to expand it, it can.

How are customer service and support?

I don't have experience with technical support. We got it outsourced, so I don't need to contact Microsoft myself, apart from when I put my IT architect hat on. For my employer, I need to deal with Microsoft in terms of license procurements and so on, however, for the rest, for the technical stuff, we don't need to contact Microsoft.

What other advice do I have?

I'm a customer and an end-user.

I'm looking at it from two perspectives, one from my employer and one from my own company. And yeah, within my own company, I don't have problems with managing endpoints or whatever. The only thing I had was, with the multiple user IDs on the same backend, which now is no problem anymore. That used to be a big problem. They've fixed it now.

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten.

I would recommend, if you have an extensive older environment, and you're migrating towards Microsoft 365, to get a partner who has a lot of experience in doing these kinds of migrations. I would take very much into consideration that, if you have a company that has extensive contact with the outside world using email, and then generic mailboxes, and all that stuff, group mailboxes, the world actually changes when you move to Microsoft 365. That takes a lot of adjustment and it takes a lot of work during the transition. The quality of the IT partner that advises you, assists you, manages this for you, can to a large part be graded upon how this piece of the entire puzzle is managed. The problem we had was that there were a lot of changes from the older setup compared to the new setup in 365, and that cost us months of trouble.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Surface Data Manager / Product Owner at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Stable, scalable, and feature-rich
Pros and Cons
  • "The features such as meetings connected with Microsoft Teams and the integration is fabulous."
  • "The dashboard is an area of improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use Microsoft 365 Business for emails in Outlook.

How has it helped my organization?

Having everything in one platform, that is integrated, helps us to save time. We have better Communication and Collaboration.

What is most valuable?

Managing the complete mailbox, the email thread. The features such as meetings connected with Microsoft Teams and the integration is fabulous.

It works perfectly.

What needs improvement?

The dashboard is an area of improvement. It is needed for the summary of the device. Telling how many emails you have, and what needs to be responded to. 

AI-based intelligence should be more intuitive. For example, in Google, you can schedule a meeting and Google will ask you if it should schedule a meeting based on your email. It will tell you the times that are available. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft 365 Business for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft 365 Business is a stable product. We have not experienced any issues with bugs or glitches.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's a scalable product. My organization has 20,000 people who are using it.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have not contacted technical support.

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

Previously, we used G-Suite, Google, and Gmail but we find that Microsoft is better.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quite easy for me, but it was done through my team.

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

I am not aware of the pricing.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are currently evaluating MDM software for implementation in our company.

We are looking for a new product. We are doing comparisons and analyzing different products.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft 365 Business an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private 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
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft 365 Business. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
767,847 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Cyber Security Consultant at Ukroboronprom
Real User
Scales well with a good set of applications included but needs better training
Pros and Cons
  • "We've found the stability to be very good."
  • "It would be ideal if they could improve the cybersecurity of the endpoints, and to provide pictures of new zero-days cybersecurity threats as soon as possible."

What is our primary use case?

The product has multiple use cases. We have solutions for installing endpoint remote work. We have solutions for ERM, ADF systems, and we have systems for cybersecurity.

What is most valuable?

It's a good solution for enterprise-level organizations.

Microsoft is a very trusted brand.

It's very good that it's an all-in-one solution with many Microsoft applications bundled within it.  

It has great tools built in that offer protection of our information.

The product scales well.

We've found the stability to be very good.

What needs improvement?

It would be good, for example, if the solution offered some programs within the solution that could provide training the personnel to use the product. 

It would be ideal if they could improve the cybersecurity of the endpoints, and provide pictures of new zero-days cybersecurity threats as soon as possible.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've been using the solution for two years or so. It's been a while. We got it with our official licenses from Microsoft Business Solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of the solution is very good. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. It doesn't give us any trouble. Its performance is reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability is very good. It's great for enterprises and a company can expand it to meet its needs.

We currently have 300 users on the solution right now.

We do have a plan to increase the usage. We want to, in fact, digitalize and transform our corporation, and improve our IT infrastructure, and therefore we have a plan for future growth.

How are customer service and technical support?

We've been very pleased with technical support overall. They are quite helpful and responsive. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation of the solution takes between two and four hours. It's pretty straightforward and doesn't take too long.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten. There are some improvements that could still make it a better product.

That said, I'd recommend the product. Microsoft in Ukraine has a very good CLA, and second-line support is also very good. I'd recommend it to our counterparts and our partners.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Director of business development at SIA BELAM Riga
Real User
Great apps with good functionality and an easy initial setup
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup is very easy."
  • "Teams is, in some respects, lagging behind Skype for Business in some telephone-related features"

What is our primary use case?

We use all aspects of the solution, including SharePoint, Outlook, and Office - whole nine yards.

We're using SharePoint as cloud storage. We are usually using Microsoft Office. We're using Microsoft Project. We are using Microsoft Teams. We're using Skype for business. We're using Excel and Word. We tend to use everything more than average users are using its capabilities.

What is most valuable?

The integration between all of the apps is helpful. 

We're using Excel quite a bit, including Visual Basic, including macros, including all kinds of features there, to do reporting and to generate various reports. This is being used, it is good, and its functionality is great.

Microsoft Project is also used quite a bit and we like how easy it is.

However, some things and applications are still not up to speed. For example, I'm talking to you through a Jabra earpiece. If I speak via Skype for Business, and I want to end the conversation, I can press a button on my earpiece and it drops the call. Skype on Teams doesn't work this way.

I find Microsoft Office 365 initial setup is very easy.

The stability is pretty good.

What needs improvement?

Microsoft has different tweaks on various interfaces. If you look, for example, at where the button to update Microsoft Office software is in Word, Excel, and Outlook, they're in three different places. They need to standardize the design in a lot of ways.

Once you update Office, there's a button which takes you to the Microsoft website that is supposed to show what is new in the latest release of Office. It hasn't been updated for at least half a year. Right now, what's listed there is from February.

Teams is, in some respects, lagging behind Skype for Business in some telephone-related features. For example, if I'm talking to you through our Jabra earpiece and if I speak on Skype for Business, and I want to end the conversation, I can press a button on my earpiece and it drops the call. However, Skype on Teams doesn't work this way. This is the telephony side and integration with voice devices could be better.

In Excel, Microsoft is creating better programming functionality, which would allow you to programme without actually programming, which is easier than Visual Basic. They call it Labmda functionality in a beta release, but they have not released it yet. I wish that it would have been available already.

The Office solution has collaborative capabilities, however, it's not as advanced as, for example, Google Docs. 

If Word colaborative work on a document works in most cases. However, in Excel, two people can work on the same document, however, it's not truly in real-time. 

The product can get expensive. You do need to pay for features and add-ons.

For how long have I used the solution?

I would not be able to pin down exactly when we started using 365 Business as we have been using Microsoft projects for 25 years. However, when it switched to 365 Business, we started using it. That was a couple of years ago.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is fairly stable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't really have the best real-time collaborative aspects, however, that's more functionality as opposed to stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have about 100 users on the solution so far. We haven't come across any issues with scalability so far.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have connections to a person who worked at Microsoft, and often, when we have questions, we direct our queries to him instead of Microsoft directly.

How was the initial setup?

We found the initial setup to be quite simple and straightforward. It's not overly complex.

I cannot recall the exact amount of time it took to deploy the solution.

The solution basically maintains itself. It's on the click-to-run version. It does its own updates. I'm trying to be on the biweekly schedule, so that, as soon as they released something new, I'm grabbing it. Sometimes, however, for example, this feature with lambda programming, which was to be released in March, has not come yet.

Beyond that, if any maintenance is needed, we have an IT department that can handle any tasks related to that.

What about the implementation team?

I was able to handle the setup myself. It didn't require us to find an integrator or consultant to help us. It was pretty easy to handle in-house.

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

The solution can get quite expensive once you add everything that you need as an organization. You do need to pay for product features and add-ons.

What other advice do I have?

We are using the latest version of the solution.

We are currently migrating to the cloud. Most of it's SharePoint, however, it's still a mix of on-prem and cloud. We have to do a complete migration to the cloud eventually.

While there may be some open-source tools on the market, we find that you do get what you pay for and Microsoft does offer quite a bit. In general, I'm mainly used to Microsoft and have been happy with it. I'd recommend it to others.

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
President at Farstar SAC Consulting Inc
Real User
Good uptime, easy to onboard new people, and easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "As a small business, the big thing for us is the ability to onboard new people easily. So, it's a matter of minutes to add new users, buy a new license pack for them, assign the licenses to them, and get them logged on. It takes 10 to 15 minutes."
  • "In Teams, it is a little tricky to set up a guest or to become a guest on someone's domain, but if people do that, then you have an improvement in the shared access. The real pain, which is not a big thing, in Teams is if you're a small business user, it is really hard to get somebody on a different domain into your list of contacts. You can't just chat with them or start an instant meeting. That is easier to do with Zoom, which I also use. The real issue in Teams is that if you're not on the same domain, a lot of the good functionality falls apart. You have to actually be a guest in the other person's domain. I have a large customer, and they created a guest account for me in their domain so that I can chat with people inside their organization as though I was inside their organization, but not everybody is willing to do that. Some of my customers are Aerospace and Defense, and nobody gets on their domain."

What is our primary use case?

I'm using all the fundamental stuff such as Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint, and Word. I use Excel an awful lot for data analysis.

What is most valuable?

As a small business, the big thing for us is the ability to onboard new people easily. We have people come on board for both short and long term projects. Getting them a corporate identity through email is important and it needs to be painless.

Through the admin portal, it's a matter of minutes to add new users, assign a license or buy a new license, and get them logged on. It takes 10 to 15 minutes. 

What needs improvement?

A lot of the administration is done through the web interface, and that can be a little clunky sometimes. It is changing. They have a legacy interface and the new interface. So, it takes a little while to get used to one over the other, but it is not a huge thing. In the end, it usually works out.

In Teams, it is a little tricky to set up a guest or to become a guest on someone's domain, but if people do that, then you have an improvement in the shared access. The real pain, which is not a big thing, in Teams is if you're a small business user, it is really hard to get somebody on a different domain into your list of contacts. You can't just chat with them or start an instant meeting. That is easier to do with Zoom, which I also use. The real issue in Teams is that if you're not on the same domain, a lot of the good functionality falls apart. You have to actually be a guest in the other person's domain. I have a large customer, and they created a guest account for me in their domain so that I can chat with people inside their organization as though I was inside their organization, but not everybody is willing to do that. Some of my customers are Aerospace and Defense, and nobody gets on their domain. So, if you're in two different domains, the communication sucks, and you're better off picking up your phone, which is bad. If you go back to the old model of Skype, you could add people, and then you could chat with them whether they were in your domain or not.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for about five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is quite stable. I had no issues, and uptime is good.

How are customer service and technical support?

I haven't really dealt with tech support. It has been more around admin and billing, but it has been good. I probably needed some help from tech support a long time ago. They have multiple ways to connect. They can connect with you by email, or they can do a Remote Desktop or RDP. You can basically send them your cell phone number and tell them when you're ready for a call, and they'll call you. So, it has been really good.

How was the initial setup?

Setting everything up initially was pretty straightforward. I didn't get the domain name through Microsoft, but I was able to link everything to a domain that I had purchased from a totally different organization. 

Essentially, I got the exchange servers connected to a domain that I had purchased from somewhere else. It was pretty easy. The most complex part was where you have to go and set up some of the detailed information relating to the domain name. You have to change some mappings and settings in the MX record when you link it to the domain. You have to go back to where your domain is being hosted and modify the MX records based on the information that Microsoft gives you. It validates that you've got it right and tells you what is working or what is not working. It tells you which settings are or are not correct. So, even though creating MX record entries is a little bit complex, they walk you through it really well

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

I have one of the higher level business licenses, and then I have a number of very basic, lower-cost cost subscriptions for our short term team members. We're a small organization of a dozen people.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We considered Google but almost all of our customers are Microsoft shops.

What other advice do I have?

I come from an organization of 1,200 people, and around the time I was leaving, everything was being migrated to Office 365. The fact that Teams is bundled with the package now is a big thing because a lot of larger organizations are using Teams, so it lets you connect to them rather well.

I would rate this solution a nine out of 10.

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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Victor Arceo - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Operations Section Head at Toyota Motor Philippines Corporation
Real User
Allows our team to work together regardless of location
Pros and Cons
  • "I appreciate the mobility of this solution."
  • "I suppose it could be more secure; every solution could be more secure."

What is our primary use case?

We mainly use this solution for video conferencing on Microsoft Teams. We also use SharePoint quite a bit — for email. 

Within our organization, there are roughly 1,350 employees using this solution. Currently, we have a team of four technical engineers that take care of all maintenance-related issues. 

What is most valuable?

I appreciate the mobility of this solution. We started using it due to the pandemic. Once COVID-19 hit, we began working from home. 

What needs improvement?

I suppose it could be more secure; every solution could be more secure.

For how long have I used the solution?

We just migrated over to Microsoft 365 Business last year. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This solution is very scalable. 

How are customer service and technical support?

We are very satisfied with the technical support. 

How was the initial setup?

The installation was very straightforward. All that was required was a one-time installation. It took roughly one month to get everyone up and running.

What about the implementation team?

We installed this solution on our own, although, Microsoft technical support helped. 

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

The licenses could be cheaper. Right now, we're on a yearly subscription. 

What other advice do I have?

I would absolutely recommend this solution to others. Overall, on a scale from one to ten, I would give it a rating of nine. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Project Manager at a energy/utilities company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Stable, good interface, and good performance, but needs better pricing
Pros and Cons
  • "Its interface looks clean, and its performance seems quite fast. It is faster than our previous app."
  • "Its price could be better for companies that are not using it massively."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for normal office applications.

What is most valuable?

Its interface looks clean, and its performance seems quite fast. It is faster than our previous app.

What needs improvement?

Its price could be better for companies that are not using it massively.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started to use it around last year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I don't know if it is scalable or not. In terms of users, we are in the transition process to upgrade to this solution. Currently, not all users are using it. If it is given to our whole staff, we would have 30,000 users. We plan to keep using this solution and expand its usage.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have our own technical team, and we contact them for any issues. If they need further help with a specific issue, they contact Microsoft support.

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

We have been using only Microsoft products. We were earlier using the other version of Office.

What about the implementation team?

It was done by our technical team. We don't need a team to manage this. We just need to manage the license and contract. We have a small team that does the license and contract management.

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

We have an enterprise license, and we get some price off for that. Its price could be better for companies that are not using it massively.

What other advice do I have?

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

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Dawit Getachew - PeerSpot reviewer
Web Master & DevOps Engineer at MMCY Tech
Real User
Top 10
A user-friendly interface, robust security features, and scalability for small to medium-sized companies, but potential downsides include additional costs for specialized tools
Pros and Cons
  • "I am highly satisfied with the security features and user-friendly interface."
  • "There is potential for it to offer even more features such as compliance reporting and device management."

What is our primary use case?

There is a focus on major products like SharePoint and Active Directory for tasks like managing databases and accessing user accounts.

What is most valuable?

I am highly satisfied with the security features and user-friendly interface.

What needs improvement?

There is potential for it to offer even more features such as compliance reporting and device management. Given the rapid growth of other companies, especially in product management, I believe that Microsoft 365, being widely used by organizations, could incorporate additional features to compete effectively with these fast-growing companies in the market. It could enhance its functionality, possibly through the inclusion of an Apex Gateway.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using it for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It provides excellent stability capabilities. I would rate it nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is quite scalable for medium or small-sized companies. There are eight hundred individuals in our company that actively use it.

How are customer service and support?

My colleagues often discuss this, since they are usually engaging with the support team. They express positivity about it, although there have been some minor complaints, particularly about speed. I would rate it seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

It is user-friendly and straightforward, making it accessible even for those less experienced in system administration. I would rate it eight out of ten.

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

The base price is reasonable, but when it comes to the specialized tools for servers, the cost can become quite high.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, I would rate it seven 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
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft 365 Business Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft 365 Business Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.