Healthcare Firm Praises Microsoft Office 365

Microsoft recently stirred up a hornet's nest by introducing and then retracting rules that prevented a buyer of Office 2013 from transferring the software to a new computer.

Many experts have suggested that the policy change was designed to push people towards Office 365, the cloud-based version of the popular software suite. Unlike Office 2013, Office 365 can be accessed from up to five different computers. (Source: engadget.com)

Now, one company's chief information office (CIO) says that making the switch to Office 365 saved his firm time and money.

Saving Time and Money in the Cloud

Rance Clouser, CIO at Illinois-based Advocate Health Care, says that Office 365's portability and cloud connectivity has boosted his firms productivity.

How so? By allowing an employee to seamlessly move from one computer to another without losing their work.

Clouser says that's a huge relief because, in the past, "every time we added a site or had an influx of a large number of new users, we would have to requisition additional servers and licenses, as well as people to support all that."

Now, Clouser says, "all we do is pay for the subscription cost." Clouser indicated that Office 365 has saved his firm from having to acquire new staff and equipment, both of which can be very costly.

Clouser estimates that switching to Office 365 has saved his firm about $1 million each year.

Office 365 Customer Service Improving

Advocate Health Care's CIO also praised the customer service Microsoft offers Office 365 consumers.

After acknowledging that Microsoft went through some customer service "growing pains" when Office 365 debuted in 2010, Clouser says that such support has "dramatically improved." (Source: informationweek.com)

Clouser added that Microsoft is getting "much better at listening to the voice of the customer."

Of course, not every company is going to have the same experience using Office 365.

"The cloud model is being promoted as this great cost saver," noted Sara Radicati, chief executive officer at research firm The Radicati Group. "But you have to look at pricing and multiply it out for your own organization."