Enterprise mobility-Describe Microsoft 365 apps and services
As noted earlier in this chapter, the modern workplace is no longer restricted to a single office, building, or even city, and even if it was, typical workers have multiple devices that they have come to expect they can use to access enterprise resources. Mobility has become a critical element of modern management, and Microsoft 365 includes the tools needed to enable users with smartphones, tablets, laptops, and home computers to access the enterprise files, applications, and services they need.
The first obstacle to mobility is access to data, but fortunately, Microsoft 365 enables users, applications, and services to store their data in the cloud, thus making it available to any device with an Internet connection. For this reason, all Microsoft 365 users receive OneDrive cloud storage, and SharePoint also uses cloud storage.
The second issue is access to the various Microsoft 365 applications and services. The traditional Office product required users to install the productivity applications, such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, on a desktop computer or laptop. The back-end services, such as Exchange and SharePoint, had to be installed on local servers. On-site users could access their email and SharePoint sites, but special arrangements were needed for users traveling or working from home, such as remote access or virtual private network connections.
With Microsoft 365, users still can install the Office applications on their computers, but the product also includes the Office on the Web applications, which enable users to work with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents online, using any device with a web browser and Internet access. The Microsoft 365 back-end services are all installed in the cloud, providing users access to their email and other services without a special connection to the company datacenter. Here again, only an Internet connection is needed.
In addition to the traditional Office productivity applications, new clients such as those for Microsoft Teams and Yammer are available as Web-based apps also, requiring no special preparation. Microsoft 365 also includes downloadable desktop clients for many of its applications, available in versions for all the major mobile platforms, including Android, iOS, MacOS, and Windows.
The third and arguably most critical mobility issue concerns the mobile devices themselves. In the early days of cellular connectivity, organizations provided their users with mobile devices. The devices were relatively limited in their capabilities, and administrators retained full control over them.
However, today’s mobile culture is radically different, with smartphones having become ubiquitous and functioning as a personal status symbol as much as a work tool. Some organizations provide mobile devices, but administrators now often accommodate workers who want to use their personal devices to access enterprise resources, which raises complex security and support issues.
Microsoft’s task was to develop clients that mobile workers could use to access their enterprise data, applications, and services. However, providing mobile devices with client access is only half the picture. The other half ensures that sensitive enterprise resources are protected against loss, theft, and attack. Microsoft provides tools that make this possible, but it is up to the enterprise administrators to implement them in a manner that is suitable both for the worker’s usability needs and the sensitivity of the data.