There are so many tools that come with Office 365 that sometimes it can be difficult to keep track of what they all do and how they can help your organisation to achieve more every day. Everyone knows what Word, Excel and Publisher can do for you but things are less clear on the new additions to the Office 365 family, such as Yammer, Teams and Delve. In this blog, we take a closer look at OneDrive for Business. We talk about what is, what it does and how you can use it.
What is OneDrive for Business?
OneDrive for Business is a personal storage solution, a bit like DropBox or iCloud. Everyone in your organisation gets 1TB of storage for their files. OneDrive is not there to be a storage solution for an entire company, that’s what a file server or SharePoint is for, but it’s a brilliant solution for individual storage.
What does OneDrive for Business do?
As a Cloud solution, OneDrive for Business enables access from wherever you are to your files. OneDrive can be installed on multiple devices such as your mobile, tablet and PC and then your documents are synced across them all. You can save a file to OneDrive from your PC, then open it on your tablet while on the train and make some changes and then show it to someone on your phone later that day. As soon as your device hits an Internet connection everything gets updated so that when you return to the office and open your laptop the updated file will be waiting for you. You can even access your files from the browser through the Office 365 portal if you find yourself without your device. You might end up working from home unexpectedly and need to use your personal computer. Having access to the files you need is no longer a problem.
While you can use OneDrive for Business on an individual basis you can also use it to collaborate. It can be so annoying when you attach a file to an email and it bounces back because it’s too big. With OneDrive you can easily share files with people instead of them being added as an attachment. You can also make it so that person can edit your document and then when you access it will show you their changes without having to have multiple different versions.
How can you use OneDrive for Business?
Having lots of different new tools to access is great yet it’s pointless if you have no use for them. OneDrive for Business can be utilised in multiple different ways to help you to achieve more every day.
You might have staff that take a lot of handwritten notes, for example if you are a charity and your staff work with patients. Those notes would often need to be typed up later, adding administration. If those members of staff had tablets, then they would be able to make the notes on the go and would be able to spend more time with the patients because they have less admin to do.
If you have staff that are out and about a lot, then it can be difficult to collaborate. By using the sharing function in OneDrive for Business then your staff would be able to work on their documents in Office 365 together. Your team could be having a call so that they can discuss a project together and then there is one document that can be added to by everyone to ensure that there aren’t multiple documents floating around. Everyone can always be on the same page.
OneDrive for Business is great for general mobility too. If you find yourself often working in different locations, then knowing that you can access what you need from multiple different places and devices will remove a headache. If you’re going to a conference you know that you don’t need to lug your laptop around with you because you can access your documents from your tablet. If you are out of the office in meetings all day, then you could just rely on your phone. OneDrive for Business and Office 365 essentially make your devices what they are: a device. They’re a device to get you to your work space. They aren’t your actual work space, just a way of accessing it.
Three things we love about OneDrive for Business
- Storage: At the end of the day storage is the biggest way that OneDrive helps you. If you save a file to OneDrive on your laptop it will then sync and you will be able to access the same file on your phone, your tablet and from any browser if needed. If you don’t have a portable work device, e.g. if you have a desktop in the office, and need to quickly double check something when you get home you can easily access your files from the Office 365 browser from any device.
- Sharing: It can be so annoying when you need to quickly send an email with an attachment before leaving the office and it keeps bouncing back because the file is too big. OneDrive overcomes this by allowing you to share files rather than having to send them as an attachment. You can either send someone a link to the file or give them direct access to the file in OneDrive so they can easily download it. You can even decide whether they can edit the file or not.
- Versions: OneDrive is the easiest way of accessing the different versions of a file. You may have been editing something for a week and you have realised it was better the way it was before and want to go back. All you have to do is go into version history in OneDrive and you can choose which iteration of the document you want to see.
If you’re interested in OneDrive for Business and Office 365 then we can help! Say hello today and call 01675 469020.
