10 Tools You’re Paying For But Could Already Have In Your Microsoft Licence

#1 Zoom vs. Microsoft Teams

Potential Savings: £10-£15 per user / month

Zoom has become a household name for video calls and webinars – especially in the consumer space. For businesses though, Microsoft Teams offers robust web conferencing, online meetings, and webinar capabilities. Users can easily call externally, internally, to groups and one to one, and the ability to schedule and manage meetings within the same platform enhances productivity and reduces the need for multiple tools. Teams supports high-quality video calls and includes features like live captions, meeting recordings, and breakout rooms. These functionalities make Teams a versatile choice suited to a variety of business needs.

#2 Google Workspace vs Exchange Online

Potential Savings: £3-£5 per user / month

Email hosting is a critical component of any business, and some businesses are still using Google Workspace. Exchange Online, included in your Microsoft license, provides advanced security features, ad-free email, and seamless integration with other Microsoft 365 apps. Whilst Google Workspace offers security features, they’re predominantly through third party integrations that cost extra. With Exchange Online, the security features are native. Exchange Online offers robust spam filtering and data loss prevention, enhancing your email security. Its built-in features ensure reliable and secure email hosting without the need for additional subscriptions.

#3 McAfee vs Microsoft Defender for Business

Potential Savings: £3-£6 per user / month

Security is paramount for all businesses. Microsoft Defender for Business is built into your Microsoft license, offering protection against threats such as malware and phishing. Defender includes features like endpoint detection and response, threat analytics, and automated remediation, ensuring your data remains secure without the need for additional security software. It’s native in Microsoft and its integration with other Microsoft security tools feeds into a cohesive and comprehensive security strategy.

#4 Slack vs Microsoft Teams

Potential Savings: £5-£7 per user / month

We all know that effective communication and collaboration are the backbone of any successful business. For many organisations, Slack has become synonymous with workplace communication. However, already included in your Microsoft 365 licence, is Microsoft Teams. Microsoft Teams isn’t just video calls; it also offers similar functionality to Slack, integrating chat, video calls and collaboration all in one platform. Teams allows you to communicate easily company wide, to large groups, small groups, and one-to-one, just like Slack. Teams is easy to use with an intuitive interface, meaning finding what you’re after is easy. Additionally, the integration with Microsoft 365 means less hassle and more productivity, making Teams a great choice for your communication and collaboration needs.

#5 Google Docs, Sheets, Slides vs. Office Suite

Potential Savings: £10-£15 per user / month

The Office Suite—Word, Excel, Outlook, and more—is a staple in the business world. Whilst some organisations opt for Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, the full-featured office applications included in your Microsoft license provide comprehensive tools for document creation, data analysis, presentations, and note-taking. The Office Suite offers advanced features like real-time collaboration, extensive formatting options, and powerful data analysis tools in Excel. The offline capabilities ensure that you can work efficiently even without an internet connection, making it a reliable choice for office-based, hybrid and remote work forces.

#6 Dropbox vs. SharePoint

Potential Savings: £5-£10 per user / month

SharePoint, included in your Microsoft license, offers secure file sharing, document management, and collaboration. SharePoint provides version control, access permissions, and robust document management features, ensuring that your files are easily accessible and securely managed. It also has the ability to create and manage intranet sites, further enhancing internal communication and collaboration.

#7 Tableau vs. Power BI

Potential Savings: £20-£30 per user / month

Business intelligence tools are growing in popularity and are now considered essentials for many businesses.  Tools like Tableau and Power BI are invaluable for data visualisation and analysis. Microsoft’s Power BI offers interactive dashboards, real-time data updates, and extensive data connectivity options, making it a cost-effective choice for your business intelligence needs. The ability to create detailed reports and visualisations ensures that you can effectively analyse and present your data, and, as it integrates with the rest of your Microsoft toolset, you’ll always have a seamless and accurate flow of data and insights.

#8 MobileIron vs. Intune

Potential Savings: £4-£6 per user / month

Managing mobile devices and apps is crucial for maintaining absolute security and compliance – especially in a world of increasingly frequent cyber attacks and data breaches. Intune from Microsoft offers comprehensive mobile device management covering both corporate and personal devices ensuring that your security policies are consistent. It provides features like app protection policies, device compliance checks, and remote wipe capabilities for if a device is lost or stolen, ensuring your devices and apps are secure and compliant without the need for additional software.

#9 Trello vs. Planner

Potential Savings: £8-£10 per user / month

Microsoft’s Planner helps teams organise tasks, assign responsibilities, and track progress effectively. It offers features like task assignment, due dates, progress tracking, and collaboration within the same platform, streamlining your project management processes. Its intuitive interface and comprehensive task management capabilities make it a valuable addition to your businesses toolset.

#10 Google Drive vs. OneDrive

Potential Savings: £8-£10 per user / month

Cloud storage is a necessity, and services like OneDrive and Google Drive are common choices. OneDrive offers 1 TB of storage per user with easy file sharing and collaboration features. Its ability to sync files across devices ensures that your data is always accessible. It provides features like file versioning, access permissions, and real-time collaboration, making it a reliable choice for your cloud storage needs.

What We Find During Microsoft Reviews

One of the most common findings during Microsoft reviews is that businesses are already paying for functionality twice.

It’s not unusual to find separate subscriptions for video conferencing, cloud storage, endpoint protection, project management or device management while equivalent functionality already exists within Microsoft 365. Think about how many departments you have across a business and could you confidently say the tools that each of them have chosen to invest in?

The issue isn’t usually overspending deliberately, as that would be a strange approach but most organisations adopt tools as specific needs emerge over time. Without a periodic review, those subscriptions accumulate and nobody steps back to assess whether they’re still necessary. It is something we have seen for years as the finance department see a card payment go out for a subscription once a year and have to go checking is this tool even still used.

That’s why many businesses discover cost savings, simplification opportunities and security improvements simply by understanding what they already own.

Why Choose Microsoft?

Opting for Microsoft tools offers plenty of advantages. Firstly, the seamless integration across the Microsoft ecosystem ensures that all your tools work together, reducing the need for multiple logins and disparate systems. Using multiple different systems is clunky and slows your workforce down, whereas your integrated set of Microsoft tools enhances productivity by providing a unified platform where everything is interconnected.

Microsoft’s commitment to security is unparalleled. With built-in features like Microsoft Defender for Business and advanced security protocols in Exchange Online, you can be confident that your data is protected against threats. Plus, the ability to manage both corporate and personal devices through Intune, for example, ensures that your security policies are consistently applied. This robust security framework is crucial for maintaining compliance and safeguarding sensitive information.

Scalability of your toolset is crucial for any growing business. Microsoft’s tools are designed with scalability in mind seeing businesses through from tiny start ups to huge enterprises. It provides flexible solutions that can evolve with your needs.

Lastly, the cost savings are significant. By leveraging the tools included in your Microsoft license, you can reduce expenses on third-party services, freeing up resources for other critical areas of your business.

Looking Ahead: AI and Microsoft 365

As businesses begin adopting tools like Microsoft Copilot, understanding what already exists within Microsoft 365 becomes even more important. Many organisations are exploring AI while still underutilising collaboration, security and data management tools they already own. Getting the foundations right first often leads to a much more successful AI journey later, which if you have read any of our AI pieces you will probably be tired of hearing us say!

In conclusion…

By leveraging these built-in tools, you can consolidate your software stack, enhance productivity, and achieve significant cost savings. It’s time to unlock the hidden value in your Microsoft license and make the most of the resources you already have available to you.

We hope you found this article useful. If you’d like to lean on our expertise and understand how this might apply to your specific business, please get in touch.

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