Seven reasons to use Microsoft 365 for project management

This is the latest article in a series discussing what’s possible to achieve using Microsoft 365 as a platform for project management in conjunction with the OnePlace Solutions suite of products. The topics include:

• How to build a project management system on Microsoft 365 SharePoint
• Using SharePoint Team sites for a Project Management System

Project management can mean the difference between success and failure for many businesses. It helps carefully guide projects through to completion while ensuring that every piece of the puzzle moves with direction, control, and purpose. Without it, teams may fail to perform or efficiently meet deadlines, ultimately resulting in projects that don’t meet expectations and having devastating flow-on effects.

Organizations require an effective project management solution to deliver projects on time and budget while achieving success through the planned project outcome. However, while some companies may instinctively look towards implementing a custom solution designed to meet their specific business needs, they often overlook a powerful, more cost-effective solution that they likely already have at their disposal.

Microsoft 365 remains a popular platform of choice for many enterprises across a myriad of industries and is an effective platform to help manage the flow of documents and information. Underpinned by intuitive, easy-to-use applications, including Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Office, Microsoft 365 delivers collaborative capabilities that make working together on projects almost seamless.

Increasingly, savvy organizations are taking the opportunity to leverage their existing investment in the Microsoft 365 platform and its supporting applications, using it as a more comprehensive project management solution.

There are seven primary reasons Microsoft 365 should be the project management platform of choice for your business needs.

1. Familiarity

Investing in the extensive Microsoft 365 platform lets your organization reap the benefits of using a platform and applications that many of your employees will already be familiar with. This reduces the need to train staff on complex, bespoke systems, which can save your business time and money in the long term.

2. Integration

The Microsoft 365 platform and its products are designed to integrate seamlessly with each other. This makes it easy for your employees to move between applications without compromising compliance and eliminates the complexities involved in deploying disparate technology systems across your stack.

3. Ongoing support

Microsoft 365 is widely used, and Microsoft continues to invest heavily in its continued development. Updates are delivered automatically across the Microsoft 365 product suite, which ensures your team will always operate from the most secure and modern experience.

4. Collaboration and automation

Microsoft 365 was developed with collaboration at its core. The extensive platform has been enhanced with applications, including Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office applications, which make it easy for project teams to work together on documents, regardless of their location. This is an essential feature in the modern, hybrid workplace.

5. Information management and security

Microsoft 365 provides a platform for advanced security, workflow, and management of information through the full information management lifecycle. Coupled with advanced collaboration capabilities, the document management and integrated records compliance capabilities of Microsoft 365 mean it’s an ideal platform to manage unstructured content where information management and security is critical.

6. Governance, records, and compliance (GRC)

The Microsoft 365 platform is an effective way for businesses to maintain greater levels of control and compliance across documents and projects. By using Microsoft 365, organizations can create and maintain a digital trail for the interaction with documents and projects as well as associated metadata. Creating comprehensive records as part of the project management process allows businesses to deliver greater levels of compliance and governance across their operations.

7. Reduce costs

Beyond saving time and money by reducing the need for extensive training on multiple platforms, your organization can also save on licensing costs by using the Microsoft 365 platform. Using the full technology stack from one vendor eliminates the additional costs incurred by working with a multitude of providers and can streamline the licensing process, helping ensure the business remains compliant with its software licensing needs.

How OnePlace Solutions works with Microsoft 365 for enhanced project management

For organizations looking to achieve more simplicity across their project management, the OnePlace Solutions product suite can enhance the Microsoft 365 platform even further, helping to deliver even more efficiencies with the support of greater personalization and automation.

OnePlace Solutions empowers businesses with applications, including OnePlaceLive, OnePlaceMail, and OnePlaceDocs to enhance the use of the Microsoft 365 platform as a project management system. This helps to deliver greater personalization that empowers employees to work how they want from where they want within the Microsoft 365 platform of their choice.

Built on a foundation of five pillars—capture, classify, access, action, and create— OnePlace Solutions delivers consistency and simplicity across the Microsoft 365 platform and its supporting applications.

OnePlace Solutions enhances Microsoft 365 as a project management system by empowering users to:

• capture true and accurate records within familiar Microsoft 365 applications
• help protect records and add context by automating metadata capture
• save and classify documents with rich metadata in a single process
• easily collaborate and share information in hybrid work environments
• achieve faster content creation and decision-making.

As a trusted Microsoft Partner, OnePlace Solutions works extensively with Microsoft to deliver and enhance solutions that meet our customers’ needs.

OnePlace Solutions brings document and project management to the user within the familiar interface of the Microsoft 365 platform. Using the Microsoft 365 platform in conjunction with OnePlace Solutions gives organizations access to an extensive project management solution that can be used to deliver seamless, secure, and controlled project management without compromising on compliance. OnePlace Solutions is committed to helping people in business do more, simply.

With the support of OnePlace Solutions, companies can personalize project delivery on an individual level and help to enhance productivity and focus. It helps to simplify and streamline the user experience by prioritizing the delivery of documents and location with consistency, regardless of application.

OnePlace Solutions helps organizations succeed in the modern, digital workplace by connecting people and processes with technology. For more information on how OnePlace Solutions can help your business enhance its operations by using Microsoft 365 as a project management system, contact the team today.