Email is one of the primary tools for business communication, and there’s been a large increase recently in businesses switching from on-premise email to cloud-based email services. 

Many businesses have chosen to migrate to cloud email like Microsoft 365 because of the pitfalls of legacy and ISP-hosted email. That includes the fact that ISPs and web hosting companies don’t always have the expertise or the IT infrastructure to provide the most reliable and secure email hosting services. And as email is a critical aspect of any business, if you receive unreliable and non-secure service, that can put your productivity and business continuity at risk.

Furthermore, your ISP or web host may not be able to provide the advanced email features and tools that cloud email services like Microsoft 365 are able to. That includes the ability to access your email from anywhere on any device, the ability to share calendars and contacts, and the ability to integrate your email with other business applications. 

And another reason why legacy and ISP or web hosted email may no longer be right for your business, is the fact that they often don’t offer the level of support and customer service that you need for your email to get it operational quickly if you have a problem. Any downtime can have serious repercussions. 

It’s no wonder that so many businesses have chosen to move their email to cloud-based email solutions like Microsoft 365, given the many problems associated with ISP and web hosted email, which includes their lack of infrastructure, expertise, features, tools, and support that businesses need for their email.

Some other factors that are driving the migration towards cloud-based corporate email services include cost savings, security enhancements, scalability, remote access, synchronization of information across all devices, better data backups and recovery, and increased business productivity. Using a dedicated email hosting provider like Microsoft 365 can also provide the reliability, security, features, tools, and support that businesses need for their email.

Below we take a deeper look at some of the benefits of cloud-based email and at the advantages of using powerful and professional cloud email services like Microsoft 365.

What is cloud email?

Cloud-based email is different from on-premise email solutions, as it’s internet-based and  there are various different vendors that offer cloud email services. One key differentiating feature of cloud email is that it backs up your emails to the cloud, so that you can access them from anywhere, on any device. 

Cloud-based email solutions are provided by vendors that manage all the updates for you, so you’ll always have the latest security features and other user features. 

It’s a great option for businesses, as you can pay on a subscription basis per user, which allows you to scale your email needs up or down, as required. And it’s very easy and quick to deploy, which means you won’t need any dedicated internal IT staff to help you manage your email network. 

Benefits of moving your email to the cloud

Below are 10 of the top benefits of cloud email.

1. Cost savings

When you choose to get cloud-based email for your business, you’ll pay on a subscription basis. That can help you save costs and avoid large capital expenditure on buying and maintaining legacy email services. 

From a budgeting perspective, that means your staff email services are now an operational expense rather than a capital one, which can be used as a tax deductible expense. You can expect to pay on a monthly or annual basis, and depending how many email accounts you need, it may be more cost-effective than having your own on-premise email. 

In addition, moving from an ISP or web hosted email to cloud-based email like Microsoft 365 can also help you save on IT costs associated with complex licensing, redundancy, configuring integrations, and general management costs. And, if you still have an on-premise email, you can save costs on no longer having to spend time managing and updating your software and maintaining your hardware.

2. Scalability

Another core benefit of cloud-based email is that you can easily scale your email needs, depending on whether you increase or decrease staff capacity. That makes it much easier to adjust your business operations, quickly and efficiently, adding or removing email accounts and storage capacity, as needed. 

This is particularly attractive to organizations that intend to scale their operations, or who may have fluctuating numbers of staff and email requirements.

3. More uptime

Organizations that use cloud-based email will experience less downtime compared with legacy or on-premise email solutions. And because your data is stored in the cloud, you will also generally have access to better disaster recovery response times. 

More uptime means that your employees can remain productive and continue working without interruption, which can have benefits for overall performance and profits. 

Most large cloud email providers have 24-hour monitoring of their systems and redundancy sites so that they can maintain good uptime performance.

4. Easy to manage

By switching to cloud email, you won’t need to any longer take care of maintenance and managing your own on-premise email and email server. By simplifying the management of your email, your in-house IT team can focus on other more important matters. 

For small businesses, that means that you can potentially avoid the cost of having an in-house IT team, as you can outsource any issues that come up with a professional MSP.

5. Better security

Some of the large cloud-based email systems like Microsoft are able to devote significant resources to ensuring optimal security for their cloud email solutions. That includes the latest software and hardware to protect your email accounts, email encryption and multi-factor authentication. 

With your cloud emails stored safely and securely in a protected location that’s off-site with a reputable cloud provider, they are safer than if they were on-site. 

That means that your data is more secure too, which is critical to all industries, but particularly to ones that handle sensitive and confidential information.

6. Remote access

As remote work and a mobile workforce is fast becoming the future of work, cloud based email offers staff access to their emails from anywhere, on any device, at any time. This can help to boost productivity and enable flexible working conditions. 

And with disruptions like the global pandemic, cloud email helped many businesses remain operational and resilient while their workforces remained at home or working in a hybrid environment.

Remote access to email is one of the most significant benefits of cloud email solutions - all you need is an internet connection. Compared with legacy email where you had to be in the office to receive your emails, cloud email enables workforce mobility and allows your company to adapt to changing work conditions.

7. Synchronization across all devices

One of the biggest downsides to legacy email systems is that they often don’t synchronize across all devices. 

That means you might draft an email from your office computer, but then when you check your email at home, that draft doesn’t appear. Or perhaps you deleted several emails to clear up your inbox, but those changes don’t synchronize to your other device and you have to repeat the entire process. 

With cloud email this problem becomes redundant. Cloud email will synchronize your information across all devices. And if you’re using Office 365, you can see the latest versions of documents and any update that occurs automatically synchronized to the cloud.

8. Latest updates and versions always managed

Most reputable cloud email services like Microsoft 365 will take care of updating the software and presenting you with the latest versions so that you don’t need to manually install any updates or buy any new versions. 

That can save both money and time, helping your business remain agile and cost-efficient.

9. Increased productivity

Effective communication requires access to emails around the clock and the ability to respond to urgent matters, even while you’re not in the office. Cloud email helps to improve communication and collaboration, which in turn can boost productivity. 

And because many cloud email systems can integrate with a suite of other applications, you can share data, collaborate on files in real-time and store data, all from your cloud email account. 

10. Better data recovery

Having a disaster recovery plan and business continuity plan is becoming increasingly important, especially as businesses increasingly digitize. 

Considering the implications of a data breach or loss of data for your business, it may be apparent that being able to restore lost data quickly is critical to getting back to being operational.

Once you switch to a reputable cloud email provider, your email contacts and messages can be recovered in the event of a disaster, which means you don’t have to worry about losing stored data. 

It’s also important to backup your business emails and data to another location, which is something that NB Technology can help you to arrange. Backing up emails in another location helps you to add a layer of protection against data loss in case you get problems with your primary email account.

It can also help you comply with legal and regulatory requirements in terms of storing and retaining certain types of data like financial records; and it allows you to better recover from an accidental deletion of files, corrupted files, cyber attacks or hardware failure. 

Microsoft Office 365: the benefits of enterprise level cloud email

There are many different cloud email services to choose from. For small businesses that want to create a professional impression, while also taking advantage of additional services, you may want to opt for a cloud email solution like Microsoft Office 365. 

Microsoft 365 provides all of the benefits mentioned above when it comes to cloud-based email, and it also offers a range of other features that help businesses operate more effectively and efficiently. That includes being able to use its Office apps, cloud services and security features. 

Not only does Microsoft 365 have one of the best spam filters and malware protection to guard against cybercriminals, but you also get other features like eDiscovery, encryption, mobile device management, large storage, and custom script creation etc. 

Microsoft 365 also offers the ability to green your IT, since the company aims to be carbon negative by 2030. It also has various ambitious sustainability targets, which can help you green your procurement. 

Want to discuss the process of migrating your email?

At NB Technology, we pride ourselves in providing IT advice and solutions for small businesses, to help them better manage and operate their businesses. That includes helping you transition from outdated, inefficient and less secure email to Microsoft 365 - giving you a superior and enhanced email with multiple features and benefits. 

There are many considerations to take into account when switching to a new email provider, and we have the expertise to help you make a more informed decision.

Contact us at (704) 644-1220 for a no obligation consultation to discuss your cloud email needs and any inquiries you may have.