Is the Office 365 (Microsoft 365) suite ideal for working from home?

Yes. Microsoft 365, which is what the Office 365 plans for small and medium-sized businesses have been called since April 2020, brings email, calendar, files, video meetings and the Office apps together in one place, just as accessible from home as from the office. On one condition: it has to be set up correctly and protected with two-step verification and backup.

Working from home stopped being a whim a long time ago. It became a necessity during the pandemic, and many companies then kept a hybrid schedule, with employees working both from home and from the office.

In this article, we present some of the core Microsoft 365 apps that make remote work easier. The star of the suite is, without a doubt, Microsoft Teams.

Which Microsoft 365 apps help with working from home?

Microsoft Teams

This app makes collaborative work easier. It lets you start video or audio calls with one or more people. What’s more, you can create teams and channels (ideal for keeping departments separate), and you can share your screen with the other participants.

Very simply, members of a department can communicate easily with each other, exchange information and work on the same files, as if they were all in the same office. You’ll find more about the app in our article on Microsoft Teams.

Since October 2023, in the European Union, Teams is no longer automatically included in new Microsoft 365 plans and is also sold separately. When you choose a plan, check whether it includes Teams.

Exchange Online: email and calendar

Exchange email is ideal for teamwork. Besides the usual email features, Exchange lets you create calendar events and share them with several colleagues. This way, you can set notifications for individual users or for the whole team.

In Microsoft 365, the email server is managed by Microsoft, in the cloud. Companies that still have an Exchange 2016 or 2019 server in the office should move it to Exchange Online or switch to Exchange Server Subscription Edition: support for both versions ended on October 14, 2025.

OneNote

The note-taking app included in Microsoft 365 also makes collaborative work easier. It’s usually used for sharing notes or procedures. Anyone with the necessary rights can access the notes from anywhere, which is a big advantage.

OneDrive and SharePoint

OneDrive keeps each employee’s files in the cloud, and SharePoint is the team’s file server in the cloud. It lets you create folder structures and work with Word, Excel and PowerPoint directly in the cloud, from anywhere. Files can be edited both in the browser and in the apps, even by several people at the same time.

What advantages does the cloud have over servers in the office?

In terms of use and cost, cloud technologies offer very solid advantages over on-premises infrastructure:

• if they’re set up correctly, cloud apps run reliably, and Microsoft takes care of the updates;
• the apps don’t depend on the internet connection or the power supply at the office;
• accessing the apps doesn’t require a VPN connection;
• you no longer have to buy and maintain an email or file server in the office.

We also explain how to choose between the two options in our article on local server or cloud server.

Which Microsoft 365 plan should a company choose?

For companies with up to 300 users, Microsoft has three Business plans:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic: email, Teams (where included), OneDrive, SharePoint and the Office apps in the browser and on phones;
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard: everything in Basic, plus the Office apps installed on the computer;
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium: everything in Standard, plus advanced protection, with centralized management of laptops and phones (Intune) and protection against attacks (Defender for Business).

For working from home, Business Premium is usually the safest choice, because employees’ laptops can be managed and protected even when they aren’t on the company network. Larger companies use the Enterprise plans. We explain how to bring the suite into your company in our article Microsoft 365: how to integrate it into your business.

What else needs to be in place besides Microsoft 365?

Even with all your apps in the cloud, your company still needs a few basic measures:

• two-step verification on all accounts, so that a stolen password isn’t enough to get into someone’s account;
• a solid backup policy, including for your Microsoft 365 data: Microsoft keeps deleted files and emails only for a limited period, and a separate backup protects you from accidental deletions and ransomware (details in our article on SaaS backup and on the Backup as a Service page);
• a capable UTM-type router for the office network, and a premium anti-malware solution on every computer;
• laptops with Windows 11 and an encrypted disk for employees who work from home.

RezolvIT is an IT outsourcing company experienced in implementing cloud technologies and making it easier for companies to let their employees work from home. If we’ve convinced you, request a free IT audit or write to us from our contact page.