Indian firms fast embracing Microsoft 365 to build modern workplaces

Microsoft 365 is a complete, intelligent solution, which brings together Office 365, Windows 10 and enterprise mobility and security

With the Indian enterprises, along with over 50 million small and medium businesses (SMB), aiming to embrace digital workplaces, the cloud-powered productivity solution Microsoft 365 is fast helping the CIOs and CTOs meet their IT goals in a secure way, a top company executive said here on Thursday.

Microsoft India on Thursday showcased Microsoft 365 -- a complete, intelligent solution, which brings together Office 365, Windows 10 and enterprise mobility and security.

"With a rapid adoption of Cloud-enabled intelligent solutions at workplaces in India, Microsoft 365 is offering built-in, intelligent security and helps streamline IT by unifying management across users, devices, apps and services," Alok Lall, Partner Technology Lead, Microsoft India, told IANS.

Owing to a diverse and increasingly mobile workforce, Indian organisations are faced with the challenge of safeguarding customer data, company data and intellectual property.

"With Office 365, sectors across the spectrum, especially the SMBs, in India can leverage their true potential and create a modern, secure workplace," Lall added.

Microsoft 365 is available in India starting at Rs 661 per user per month. The company offers Microsoft 365 Enterprise, Microsoft 365 Business and Microsoft 365 Firstline solutions.

"The adoption of Microsoft 365 has helped us become well-equipped to the rapidly evolving industry needs. The solution has helped us simplify processes, enable productivity, creativity and teamwork amongst the employees," said Ramana SV, Senior Vice President and Head Global IT, HCL Technologies.

According to Subramanyam Putrevu, Chief Information Officer, Mindtree Consulting, using Microsoft 365, they are finding ways to empower everyone in the organisation to be more creative, to be more collaborative and to be more engaged to do their best work.

The State Bank of India (SBI) has chosen Office 365, the cloud-powered productivity solution, from Microsoft to improve communication and collaboration among its workforce.

This is one of the largest deployments of Office 365 in India, spanning SBI's countrywide network of 23,423 branches, enabling 263,000 employees and servicing more than 500 million customer accounts.

According to Madu Ratnayake, Chief Information Officer and Head of Business Process Excellence at VirtusaPolaris, with Microsoft 365, they are fostering a new culture at work enabled by technology.

Microsoft 365 has also seen significant adoption with organisations around the world such as Aston Martin and Dentsu Aegis Network.

According to a latest "Workplace 2020 Study" by Microsoft, 45 per cent workers face key gaps at the workplace today, especially those at the firstline.

"Sixty-three per cent of respondents said they needed to be in office as special tools that they use are only available in office - signifying a lack of flexibility in the way they work, or innovate," the findings showed.

While 41 per cent can only have full access to important information when they are in the office - restricting on-the-go productivity and innovation, 68 per cent workers are checking personal emails on company-issued devices - thus exposing their work devices to potential security risks, the study emphasised.

"For a mobile-first country like India which has second highest number of smartphones users, Office 365 can help organisations address these key challenges with modern tools and solutions that make employees more productive, creative and secure," Lall noted.

Microsoft 365 Firstline is designed to maximize the impact of the Firstline worker. The product will help foster culture and community, train employees, digitize processes and deliver real-time expertise while minimizing risk and cost for enterprises.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise is built on the foundation of a secure productive enterprise, giving people flexibility and choice in how they connect, share and communicate.