The most widely known productivity tools today are none other than Microsoft’s Office Suite, and will remain as such for years to come. The most recent release by Microsoft, Office 2010 shows much improved development towards business productivity and accessibility. It boasts the ability to work from a variety of different devices and locations, to be accessible no matter where you are. But many ask, why upgrade to 2010 when 2007 is already an upgraded edition? While Office 2010 looks almost the same as 2007, the feel is much more amazing, with an abundance of features that are praise-worthy in terms of functionality, accessibility, and collaborative-ability.
The ribbon feature that was first introduced in Office 2007 returns, which was developed to reduce the complexity of finding and navigating the ever growing list of features. But while it was only available within a few of Microsoft’s applications such as Word and Excel, it is now available across all Office Products, including Microsoft Outlook. Improving upon its initial function, Microsoft’s new ribbon design is more dynamic and robust. Whereas the ribbons were mostly predefined within 2007, Office 2010’s ribbon offers more customization options, including the ability to create custom tabs and groups, allowing users to control their Office “environment,” especially useful if they use specific repetitive functions on a daily basis. This is exemplified with Outlook’s Quicksteps feature, where a user may customize and pre-set a string of tasks into a single command button to add to their ribbon. Microsoft soundly invested in a more user centric design, built on a platform that is geared towards the ability of the user’s needs for functionality.
Microsoft takes a step forward alongside competitors’ eagerness for access, anywhere and everywhere, by developing the Web App version of their Office product. Just as Google and other software developers have already released their online productivity tools, Microsoft now follows with a strong engine for users wanting full accessibility to their documents. It is multi-platformed, giving users more options according to their preferences, from Internet browsers to mobile devices. Whenever there is a need for quick edits arise, this Web App will prove useful for on-the-fly editing. Furthermore, as most users are familiar with MS Office products, this allows them to use the tools they normally use without the need to learn a different application.
Collaboration is becoming more on demand as users start to share work and responsibilities to finish projects. Whereas in the past a document was typically completed by one person, today’s reality require much more teamwork. With a need to pull individual resources together, Microsoft has answered by providing more collaboration and file sharing capabilities to its users. This allows for multiple users to edit a single file simultaneously, meaning documents can be efficiently completed, meeting deadlines faster as users work concurrently. A useful feature Microsoft offers for collaborators are the notifications that let other users know if the document is being edited, as well as by who, and which section. Knowing this, users can seamlessly work together to edit one document from multiple locations, thus allowing for faster and more efficient productivity.
With better, faster, more efficient functionality and accessibility between many different users, Microsoft has developed a dynamic and robust product to aid business productivity. With the upgraded tools provided within Microsoft’s Office 2010 suite, businesses can trust that their employees are able to perform their daily tasks utilizing a variety of features designed to improve employee effectiveness and curb inefficiency. Upgrade now, and keep innovation moving forward!
Tony is a Service Coordinator with San Diego-based Bravura Networks, Inc.
Contact Tony at ttran@bravuranetworks.com
