The bank gave us Office 365 to work with. I used Google for personal use, but in the bank, I exclusively used Office 365.

Office LTSC Professional Plus 2021
Amazon Web Services | MS Windows Server 2025 25.05.06Windows, Windows Server 2025 Windows Server 2025 - 64-bit Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
External reviews
External reviews are not included in the AWS star rating for the product.
Needs technical support refinement while offering familiar and accessible facilities
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
Office 365 has excellent facilities, it's familiar, and it's easy to comprehend when sending messages.
I recommend it for the facilities as it's familiar to users when they see it and makes it easy to find items and features that we can use.
The scalability of Office 365 is good.
What needs improvement?
I would rate Microsoft technical support as 3 or 4 out of 10. This rating is mainly because I didn't need much support since it works efficiently, though sometimes internet connectivity affects the experience.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have approximately 4 years of experience with Office 365.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
The setup process for Office 365 is easy.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
For stability, I would rate it 10 out of 10.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of Office 365 is good.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate Microsoft technical support as 3 or 4 out of 10. This rating is mainly because I didn't need much support since it works efficiently, though sometimes internet connectivity affects the experience.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
The setup process for Office 365 is easy.
What other advice do I have?
For stability, I would rate it 10 out of 10.
I would recommend Office 365 to others.
On a scale of 1 to 10, I rate Office 365 as 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Enabling seamless work on the go and easy access to files with strong productivity features
What is our primary use case?
My use case for Office 365 is because it is most suited to our environment. Most companies in Singapore use Office 365 because it is easier to use, and most people have grown with Microsoft solutions from the start. The solution has evolved to Office 365 because it is easier to use and seamless. Especially now with Office 365, you can access your files always on the go. You do not have to use your laptop or connect to the company network. As long as you have a device, even a mobile device, you can actually use it and access your emails.
What is most valuable?
I am currently focusing on productivity and have started using Microsoft Planner. I have had issues with time management because we are dealing with end user support, meetings, projects, and ad hoc activities. Sometimes, it is difficult to track via email and using tasks. I researched online for the easiest way to manage this without paying, which led me to discover Microsoft Planner.
Teams is quite effective because it has tremendously improved in terms of video conferencing and integration. You can use it to call an outside number, making it easier to interact within your company and call mobile phones via Teams. With the implementation of online federation, you can contact or add contacts that are not within the same tenant, making communication easier.
What needs improvement?
What I would suggest Microsoft improve is creating a one-stop shop where you can see everything in a single pane of glass. For example, in Microsoft Intune, you have to access the Entra ID separately, and you have to access Microsoft Intune separately. Although these features are available on one website, if they could create a seamless integration to see everything in a single pane of glass, it would be more efficient. I believe they are working on this already or have plans to implement it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of Office 365 as nine. I have been working in IT for about 15 years and we have experienced crashes on the solution, especially with Outlook and the Office 365 suite. Overall, it is quite stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of this solution as eight out of ten. Now many applications are using SaaS, and when Microsoft developed Office 365, it was a huge step for SaaS solutions, especially during COVID. If we were using on-premise solutions, it would have been difficult for users to work from home, as they would need to install desktop applications to access Outlook and other Office applications. With the integration of Office 365, when you access your files, you do not need to log into your laptop. If you are outside, you can simply access your phone, open your email, and open PowerPoint easily.
How are customer service and support?
I seldom contact Microsoft regarding technical issues, but when I have, they have been quite helpful. Sometimes you have to wait for a while. If they could improve their response time, it would be better. Normally in IT infrastructure, you can have 24/7 ticket prioritization. Perhaps to them our issue may not be P1. However, as a customer, they need to understand it is very important for us to resolve issues, especially if it involves our VIP users. I would rate their technical support as seven, based on my experience.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Neutral
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used another solution before Office 365 a very long time ago. We used Lotus Notes in our previous company.
What other advice do I have?
Based on my experience, I would recommend Office 365 to other people, even to my family. During the COVID period, my sisters and their children had to do schooling at home because they could not go out. At that time, I purchased the family Office 365 so I could share with them, which made things easier. I give Office 365 a rating of 10 out of 10.
Collaboration tools and AI integration support workflow efficiency
What is our primary use case?
Having the Copilot implemented recently in Office 365, Microsoft has some edge on that.
What is most valuable?
Having the Copilot implemented recently in Office 365, Microsoft has some edge on that.
Teams and SharePoint are the best features for my team's collaboration in Office 365.
The Copilot integration in Office 365 stands out by providing various different kinds of support to daily users utilizing AI help on other products.
What needs improvement?
To make it even better in the next release, they can improve the categorization and utilize AI help to suggest mail descriptions and everything to categorize mail in different ways, depending on the priorities of a user, and so on.
They still need to improve their email categorization, and their AI capabilities have room for improvement.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have implemented Office 365, and it has been already a few months.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
We have not faced any issue with the integration of Office 365.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is already implemented and being used.
What other advice do I have?
I am generally satisfied with my current solution.
I rate Office 365 eight out of ten.
I have another call and meeting in five minutes.
Integration of additional icons has improved work efficiency, but support accessibility remains challenging
What is our primary use case?
I am just a user. It is on the cloud, so it is much better. I can use it wherever I want.
What is most valuable?
Office 365 is a pretty stable solution. It is in the cloud, so I can use all the documents that I have anywhere I want. There is one very good feature that I have. When I use SharePoint along with it, it makes life a lot easier for us, especially when I have to share documents or files with other clients.
What needs improvement?
There is really not much difference between Office 365 and standalone MS Office. However, regarding PowerPoint, while the icons are there, I wish it was as good as Apple's presentation software because it is easier to create PowerPoint presentations with Apple's equivalent software. They could have done better work if they had provided that functionality.
To be very honest, we use Cute FTP to transfer most files, and if they had FTP portals which they could guarantee were secure, that would be a great help. Then I would not have to start Cute FTP and perform all those operations. I do not know whether Office 365 has that functionality because I have not seen it, but it would have been quite beneficial if it was there.
For how long have I used the solution?
It is easy to deploy. It is not rocket science, but deploying information over the cloud is something that I am very skeptical about. I usually use Cute FTP or FTP-type solutions, as it is more secure compared to sending or sharing information. I do use cloud sharing, but only for documents that are not secretive or sensitive. I mainly use FTP to load or unload sensitive data. Other than that, insensitive data is just a matter of using a shared drive.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Regarding productivity gains, we have no issues with Microsoft. It is a very good service that they provide. The only problem I have seen is that Windows 11 gives many problems, especially when it updates your software. Everything slows down, every application slows down. I have reverted back to Windows 10 because Microsoft Windows 11 is not working for me. Let us see how things work out.
How are customer service and support?
It is very difficult to get hold of Microsoft support people or any support people, including Amazon. There are too many automated processes that you need to go through, and even then you do not know whether you will be able to speak to them.
How would you rate customer service and support?
What other advice do I have?
It is pretty good, to be very honest. In PowerPoint, if I just use it as a standalone software, the number of icons available is comparatively less in standalone Microsoft PowerPoint compared to Office 365. Additionally, it is easier to integrate other icons into Office 365 than into normal, standalone PowerPoint presentation solutions. It is not that I cannot do it. We have developed a tool through which we can integrate it completely, but it took us a while to figure things out.
There is not much difference in Excel or Word, at least I have not come across much difference. We are not doing much with AI as yet.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Extensive experience fosters seamless user management and efficient compliance backup
What is our primary use case?
The common use case for Office 365 exists because everything in today's world is on the cloud. When a user logs in anywhere, they have access to their data. In Office 365, there are different types of licenses, such as Business Basic and Business Premium. Every license has different storage capacities. In Business Basic, users get 5 GBs of storage, 50 GBs of primary mailbox, and 50 GBs of archive mailbox.
In Business Standard, users have access to web and desktop applications, with the same storage allocations. OneDrive storage is 1 TB. Business Premium is a more expensive license that covers all the features of Business Basic and Business Standard. Additional licenses include Entra P1, which is used for Entra Admin Center regarding login, MFA, and conditional access policies. Entra P2 is available for advanced settings for tenants. Other licenses include Microsoft Intune, EMS E3, and various add-on licenses.
Real-time co-authoring in Office 365 is beneficial because users with a Business Basic plan can log in on any platform through portal.office.com and access all applications. However, without a license, mail IDs are not functional.
What is most valuable?
Office 365 is the best business platform for startups or small companies. Within the M365 tenant, administrators can create users, track all user mailboxes, check licenses, and reset passwords. Administrators can create PST files if someone leaves the organization, obtaining backups from the Compliance Admin Center. Mail IDs can be converted into shared mailboxes for future use. Shared mailboxes allow multiple members to use the same ID configured in their Outlook simultaneously.
What needs improvement?
I want to improve my knowledge of Microsoft Intune.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have 1 year and 8 months of experience with Office 365.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability of Office 365 as perfect because I am familiar with it and it is the best product platform.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability of Office 365 as excellent.
How are customer service and support?
I would rate technical support from Microsoft as excellent.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
I find the initial setup of Office 365 easy because I am very familiar with it.
What other advice do I have?
The price of Office 365 is high, though improvements in pricing might occur in the future. The integration capabilities of Office 365 include co-pilot. It is very compatible with Microsoft products, though it may have limitations with third-party tools. Both AI-enhanced features, such as the editor and designer in Office 365, are useful and beneficial. I recommend Office 365 to other people. My clients are usually enterprise-size businesses. I would rate this solution overall as excellent.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Improved data security and increased productivity enable focus on core tasks
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What other advice do I have?
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Integration and collaboration improve efficiency but interface and customization need enhancements
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
SharePoint, which is my bread and butter, integrates seamlessly with Teams to enhance project management. I started with building out SharePoint sites and having them connect with Teams to offer a user-friendly experience for those less comfortable with SharePoint. SharePoint serves as the backbone for Teams, storing all their content and capitalizing on workflow pieces; I enjoy working with Teams and SharePoint.
SharePoint acts as a glorified portal with extensive integration options not only between Office 365 apps but also third-party applications. For instance, building a Power App linked to a SharePoint list is quick and easy without needing a SQL database, resulting in tremendous cost savings as well.
What needs improvement?
On the SharePoint side, allowing more customization options would greatly enhance functionality; simpler out-of-the-box versions are fine for some scenarios, but customizing SharePoint can be super challenging with newer Office 365 versions compared to previous on-prem ones.
How are customer service and support?
The overall rating would be seven and a half.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What was our ROI?
We are also shifting toward big data solutions and A.I.-generated everything, so I'm trying to redirect my focus beyond just being an Office 365 expert, considering how A.I. can improve Office 365.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
I have not yet played with Microsoft Security Copilot or Copilot for security. I am currently dealing with Copilot as I'm working on a demo today to build my own chatbot. I want to showcase the ease of building it and discuss the associated pains and struggles while also demonstrating to the group why we should use Copilot and where we should go next.
This is just the Copilot Studio accessed via office.com under Power Apps; I did not go through GitHub. I deal a lot with Gemini and use ChatGPT frequently. I consider ChatGPT my extra voice of support for inquiries, but I trust but verify what it provides, as I have encountered incorrect information from it several times.
On a scale of one to ten, I rate Office 365 an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?
Daily routines streamline with enhanced communication tools
What is our primary use case?
My most common use case involves starting my day with Office 365, specifically with Outlook and Microsoft Teams. Teams is very good, and I am trying to get used to the new user interface because it changed a bit, but I spend a lot of time in Teams and, of course, also in Outlook. I also use Microsoft Loop for structuring and organizing meetings that I have with my colleagues. It's a very handy way of keeping the information without being over-structured, and I use Loop because I prefer to note something down instead of just saying 'Oh, I will remember this' and not writing it anywhere. Rather than using a very complex, huge application that needs time to open and has a very big structure, Loop is something in between, and I find it a very useful tool that I also use on a daily basis. If I would have to pick three, they would be Outlook, Microsoft Teams, and Loop.
What is most valuable?
In terms of advanced features, those are things that we usually do with Power Platform. We try to avoid building super complex Excel templates when we can use another more suitable tool or build a Power App for that.
What I appreciate in the Office 365 world is having Copilot as an assistant that can help automate many things. For example, if you need to translate something and want to ensure the translation looks professional and has a specific tone—formal, informal, friendly—then you can use Copilot for that or get a first idea and then edit the result. It helps to summarize meetings in Microsoft Teams and points out the most important key aspects discussed in the meeting.
If you have people who were not able to join the meeting, you can copy the summary and the next steps and send it to them. I find the extension with Copilot very good. One of my favorites is Copilot in Microsoft Outlook, which helps you find a meeting with people who have very busy calendars. I have a lot of appointments, and it's difficult to find a free slot. When I need help finding a slot that works for three or four colleagues with busy calendars, Copilot in Outlook helps with that.
What needs improvement?
In terms of improvements in Office 365, there might be things that need to be improved in many tools. I have some improvement suggestions for Copilot, but not the actual product itself, because I grew up with these tools. I did not know it differently. I had to use Outlook, and I learned how to do it, and now it's the default for me.
Sometimes there are simple bugs. For example, I create an appointment, and it disappears or is differently showcased in Microsoft Teams because Teams also has a meeting section as opposed to Outlook, but these are just temporary bugs. In general, these tools are very synchronized with each other.
What I would to be able to do is copy-paste meetings. If I want to send several blockers or potential meetings to the customer, I create the first one, and I want to be able to paste this first blocker on another day as blocker two, just paste and change the title. That's difficult to do. This is not something which works with Outlook yet.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with Office 365 for 7 years.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Regarding whether I consider Office 365 a cost-effective solution, I would say that if in the normal packaging, using AI—which will become the norm and the default in the near future—costs extra in Outlook, it would be nice to have those integrated in the licensing and not have to pay extra for Copilot or extra AI features. AI should be an intuitive thing and a daily job, and perhaps Microsoft should find a way to make the model still financially beneficial for them without raising the price just because we have new features and AI capabilities.
What other advice do I have?
The name of the company is Orbis SE now. It's just the company change; the rest remains the same. On a scale of one to ten, I rate Office 365 an eight out of ten.
Integration and cost effectiveness drive value and efficiency
What is our primary use case?
What is most valuable?
What needs improvement?
For how long have I used the solution?
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
How are customer service and support?
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
How was the initial setup?
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
What other advice do I have?
User-friendly interface and strong security enhance business collaboration
What is our primary use case?
Splunk is very popular and many enterprises are using Splunk, and even some of our customers are using Splunk. Splunk is also very good, but we only integrated with ServiceNow so we don't know the internals of ServiceNow and pros and cons of Splunk.
SolarWinds is also very powerful. I have integrated SolarWinds with the ServiceNow infrastructure.
I know what SolarWinds does, but I am not a dedicated infrastructure resource. I'm a pure ServiceNow consultant.
SolarWinds is a very powerful tool that can scan the client network or any network and get appropriate results on whether which server is down, which component is down, or which network component is not working. In the past, we integrated SolarWinds and whenever any network component went down, our integration created an incident in ServiceNow immediately.
SolarWinds is much more than a monitoring tool. They have database offerings also, but I know it as a monitoring tool and it was very powerful.
Device monitoring and server monitoring are what we work with. That's what I know about it.
What is most valuable?
Collaboration and Teams channels are the most powerful tools that help us organize our day-to-day activities and really help us improve our business and add business value.
Collaboration is the key to address any gap either in enterprise processes or technological innovation. Microsoft Teams helps us to effectively collaborate and communicate, which helps us achieve our objectives.
We can trust Microsoft for security. All our business documents are parked on the Office 365 cloud network. We can be secure and should not worry much about security because we trust Microsoft for the security of our data.
In the context of security of our data, the first point is collaboration and coordination to optimize our business, the second is security, and the third thing is that it's a wonderful user-friendly experience.
What needs improvement?
It is already a very matured product, but there is always scope for improvement. Effective use of all products can be improvised with the use of AI, machine learning, and deep learning.
Microsoft is in the AI arena, so products can be improved in the coming time, and we can expect that.
For how long have I used the solution?
I did that integration four or five years back and there have been already a lot of new features added. Currently, I can only talk about the older implementation.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rarely get any issues, but occasionally when issues occurred, they were resolved early by the Office 365 internal team. We never had to reach Microsoft, but I believe they have a very powerful support team, and I don't have any doubt or concern over that.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
Right now, I cannot comment on scalability issues.
How are customer service and support?
The cost is justified because the product is wonderful.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Positive
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Price may be a factor, but our organization is too big. I am not involved in any costing because my level is just senior architect. As our organization is big, we can afford it easily. For big organizations, cost is not an issue, but for smaller organizations or mid-size organizations, cost may be an issue. It may be costly.
What other advice do I have?
Office 365 is the main tool we are using for our day-to-day operations. Office 365 provides a very good experience.
We are using many tools and apps of Office 365, primarily Teams, Outlook, and SharePoint.
Microsoft is in the AI arena, so products can be improved in the coming time.
I rate this solution nine to nine and a half out of ten.