Microsoft 365 (M365) is a transformative suite that offers a wide range of tools designed to enhance productivity, security, and IT operations. However, many businesses struggle to fully leverage the potential of their licenses.

By aligning key M365 features with your business processes, you can retire overlapping tools, automate workflows, and modernize IT functions. Here’s how your business can unlock the full value of M365:

Overlapping Security Tools You Can Retire

M365 comes with an extensive range of security tools that can help you consolidate and simplify your security stack. You may already be paying for third-party solutions that overlap with M365’s built-in capabilities, such as:

  • Modern Identity & Passwordless Authentication: Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) supports modern identity management and passwordless authentication, helping you retire additional multi-factor authentication (MFA) solutions and identity governance tools.
  • Zero Trust Architecture: M365’s zero trust model ensures security across every device and application, reducing the need for extra network security tools. Conditional access policies and compliance checks help protect your resources without traditional VPN dependencies.
  • Data Loss Prevention & Security: Microsoft Purview provides powerful Data Loss Prevention (DLP) capabilities, allowing businesses to retire third-party DLP solutions. It secures every device, application, and data source with cloud-based protection policies and encryption standards.

By retiring redundant tools, businesses can streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve security by unifying management within M365.

Business Processes You Can Automate

M365 offers numerous opportunities for automation, which can dramatically improve productivity and reduce manual workloads. Here’s where automation can make a difference:

  • Automated Patching and Updates: Leverage Intune for automated patching and updates across devices. With cloud-managed devices and Autopilot provisioning, you can automate the deployment of security patches, system updates, and software installations.
  • Workflow Automation: With tools like Power Automate, you can automate repetitive tasks such as data entry, report generation, and email responses. Automated workflows can integrate seamlessly with M365 apps like SharePoint, Teams, and Outlook to ensure smoother business processes.
  • Identity Governance: Use Entra ID’s identity governance to automate access reviews, ensure compliance, and streamline identity lifecycle management. This not only enhances security but also minimizes human intervention in the process.

IT Functions You Can Modernize

M365 enables the modernization of critical IT functions, from device management to application deployment:

  • Cloud-Managed Devices: Intune allows IT teams to manage devices from the cloud. By integrating cloud-managed devices, businesses can modernize provisioning and management tasks with Autopilot, making remote work seamless.
  • Application Hardening and Deployment: Using Intune, IT teams can streamline application deployment and enforce security policies at scale. Applications can be easily hardened and patched, ensuring they are always compliant with your security requirements.
  • Zero Trust Framework: By implementing a zero trust architecture, IT teams can modernize their security posture, focusing on identity and device-based policies rather than relying on traditional network-based security models.

Conclusion

Microsoft 365 offers more than just a collection of productivity tools; it provides the framework for businesses to streamline operations, enhance security, and modernize IT infrastructure. By leveraging M365’s built-in security features, businesses can eliminate redundant third-party tools and create a more unified security environment. Automation capabilities within M365 can also revolutionize business processes, saving time and reducing human error.

Furthermore, with the modernization of IT functions through cloud-managed devices and application deployment, businesses can future-proof their operations and drive efficiency. Fully embracing the potential of your M365 licenses is not just about cost savings—it’s about streamlining your entire digital ecosystem for the future.

Discover How much value are your business is getting from your M365 licenses compared to your peers.

Discover:

  • Overlapping security tools can you retire

  • Business processes can you automate

  • IT functions can you modernize

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Andrew Reade

ANDREW READE

Andrew is our Digital Marketing Manager and oversees web-based marketing strategies and content creation for the organization. As a marketing veteran, Andrew has worked with organizations of all sizes in a diverse group of industries, from Risk Management to Transportation. Joining the organization in 2021, Andrew is based in Mobile Mentor’s Nashville, TN office.