Abonnementssoftware er et relativt nyt koncept. Selvom licensaftaler altid har gjort det helt klart, at du faktisk ikke ejer den software, du tror, ​​du har købt, har folk altid haft en tendens til at ignorere det (hvis de overhovedet læser EULA'en ). ^(EULA)Så forestillingen om software, som du ikke har nogen fysisk kopi af, og som du skal betale et gebyr for at bruge hver måned, rejste nogle hackles, da det først blev introduceret. Microsoft kom ind i abonnementssoftware i stor stil med Office 365 , og det har været stigende i popularitet, især til erhvervsbrug. Office 365 for Dummies, anden udgave^{(Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition)}, sigter mod at vise, hvorfor abonnementsmodellen er et glimrende valg for erhvervslivet. Lykkes det med sin mission? Læs denne anmeldelse for at finde svaret:

At overbevise skeptikerne

Bogen begynder med en lang og meget grundig forklaring af cloud computing og abonnementssoftware. Forfatterne gør et stort stykke arbejde med at genkende de mulige indvendinger og behandle dem på en klar og saglig måde. Jeg må indrømme, at jeg begyndte at læse denne bog som en skeptiker, hvilket jeg synes er naturligt for en, hvis første computer var en IBM - mainframe tilbage i 60'erne. 🙂 Men da jeg læste videre, fandt jeg ud af, at Office 365 For Dummies, Second Edition hurtigt begyndte at ændre mening.

Selvom titlen ikke siger det (den er med småt på forsiden), er denne bog henvendt til erhvervsbrugere, og det blev også hurtigt klart, hvorfor abonnementssoftware og cloud computing har store fordele for virksomheder. Min egen erfaring som den eneste computerkyndige person i en stor afdeling understøttede ideen om, at det er meget nemmere at lade de professionelle hos Microsoft tage sig af softwareopgraderinger, patches og vedligeholdelse problemfrit i baggrunden.

Indrømmet, Microsoft har ikke en pletfri rekord, når det kommer til at rode i tingene (jeg vil ikke gå af vejen her ved at tale om min mors computer med Windows ME , selvom den spillede en stor rolle i min oprindeligt skeptisk tilgang til Office 365 ), men denne bog gør et meget godt stykke arbejde med at forklare, hvorfor uanset hvor meget de har pillet efter i fortiden, er det stadig bedre at lade Microsoft vedligeholde din kritiske forretningssoftware end at overdrage den til nogle overanstrengt it-person, som måske eller måske ikke har det samme niveau af færdigheder. Plus, med Office 365 - abonnementer er ingen i virksomheden nødt til at sætte sig ned og genskabe alt, når virksomheden vedtager en nyere version afKontor^(Office) . Bare^(Just) log ind og der er den klar til at gå.

Der er en god beskrivelse af de forskellige Office 365 - planer, der er tilgængelige, så potentielle abonnenter kan se, hvad de får for pengene.

Seriøst, hvis du stadig ikke er overbevist om, at cloud computing og abonnementssoftware er værd at overveje, vil en omhyggelig læsning af den første del af denne bog gå langt i retning af at overbevise dig. Det overbeviste mig bestemt.

Ind i skyen

Efter ekspertsalget for konceptet, Office 365 for Dummies, forklarer Second Edition^{(Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition)} omhyggeligt, hvordan en virksomhed kan flytte ind i Office 365 og cloud computing uden for meget stress og kvaler. Igen^(Again) lægges vægten på at overtale læseren om fordelene ved et sådant træk, og igen gør forfatterne et omhyggeligt og grundigt stykke arbejde. De gennemgår fordelene og funktionerne ved Office 365 og forklarer, hvorfor flytningen giver mening.

Det er ikke kun cloud computing og abonnementssoftware, som virksomheder bliver nødt til at ændre mening om. Da nogle versioner af Office 365 indeholder sådanne nye tilgange som en in-house chatapplikation, en Pinterest-lignende app kaldet Delve og muligheden for at oprette Facebook-lignende sider på hele virksomheden (blandt andet), har forfatterne af Office 365 for Dummies, anden udgave^{(Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition)}gå meget langt for at forklare, hvorfor den slags apps til sociale medier kan have en meget gavnlig effekt for virksomheder. Det kan være svært for ledere, der er vant til at fortælle folk, at de ikke kan rode rundt på sociale mediesider på virksomhedens tid, at forstå, hvorfor virksomhedsspecifikke private sociale medier faktisk kan øge produktiviteten og virksomhedens samarbejde, men jeg tror på, at forfatterne gør en godt stykke arbejde med at lægge sagen for opsætning af disse ting op på virksomhedens Office 365 - konto. Indrømmet, Microsofts^(Microsoft) ekstremt uheldige beslutning om at navngive deres chat-app Yammer kan forårsage et par problemer for folk, der ved, hvad yammering handler om. 🙂

De generelle indledende salgs-pitch-kapitler efterfølges af indledende salgs-pitch-kapitler for de enkelte komponenter i Office 365 . I hvert tilfælde opstiller forfatterne omhyggeligt argumentet for overlegenheden af ​​Office 365 's tilgang i forhold til den traditionelle købslicenstilgang, og de gør et godt stykke arbejde. Hver komponent ( SharePoint , Exchange , Skype for Business , OneNote , Word , Excel og Powerpoint) får sit eget kapitel, der beskriver sine egne fordele. Og så er der en introduktion til det grundlæggende i at bruge hver enkelt komponent, som burde være nok til at få folk i gang. Men for et mere detaljeret kig på alle funktionerne i hver komponent, skal du finde en anden reference. Helt ærligt, hvis hver komponent fik en fuldstændig forklaring, ville du skulle hente denne bog med en gaffeltruck.

Igen, hvis du er skeptisk over for noget af det, vil du måske opdage, at når du har læst grundene til, hvorfor hver komponent kan være en sand produktivitetsforstærker, vil du se tingene i et andet lys.

At komme i gang

Introduktionerne, salgstallene og oversigterne fylder mere end halvdelen af ​​bogen. Så forklarer Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition præcis, hvad der skal gøres for at forberede et skift fra intern software til cloud computing. Det er ikke kun et spørgsmål om, at du den ene dag bruger virksomhedslicensen til Office og den næste dag logger på Office 365 . Der er konkrete skridt, der skal tages for at sikre den bedst mulige overgang. Disse er lagt i trin for trin rækkefølge. Og der er information til udviklere, der måske ønsker at tilpasse grænsefladen til en bestemt forretningsbrug. SharePoint, som rygraden i systemet, får et helt eget udviklingskapitel. Selvfølgelig kan folk, der ikke er interesserede i den information, bare springe dem over.

Endnu en gang forklarer forfatterne, hvorfor hvert trin er afgørende for succes, og hvorfor korrekt forberedelse er nøglen til at få Office 365 til at fungere for din virksomhed. Igen^(Again) , folk, der går ind i det og tænker "Vi kan umuligt bruge det, vi har ikke brug for det" kan komme ud og tænke " Hej^(Hey) , det ville fungere for os, lad os prøve det." Da der er forskellige versioner af Office 365 med forskellige komponenter og forskellige priser, er det vigtigt at vide på forhånd, hvad du vil have i dit abonnement (selvom du til enhver tid kan ændre din abonnementspakke, så den passer til din virksomheds behov).

Kapitlet "Opfyldelse af Office 365-krav"^{("Meeting Office 365 Requirements")} beskriver, hvad der er nødvendigt med hensyn til udstyr, internetbåndbredde og individuelle færdigheder. Og forfatterne er meget ærlige om fordele og ulemper ved at flytte til skyen. Det er ikke bare sjov og leg, og de er på forhånd med det. Dette kapitel burde virkelig være påkrævet læsning. Det næste kapitel guider læseren gennem at beslutte, hvilken plan der vil fungere bedst. Det burde også være påkrævet læsning, fordi cloud computing kan være en helt ny oplevelse for læseren, og det er et plus at have al information om alle planerne.

Der er kapitler om forberedelse til flytningen, implementering af Office 365 (som inkluderer de nødvendige trin for at gøre alle klar til det) og administration af Office 365 (inklusive Exchange , Skype for Business og SharePoint ). Igen, dette er ikke en komplet og udtømmende referencevejledning, men den skal få folk over pukkelen og til daglig brug.

Tiere og tiere

En af de bedste dele af en For Dummies -bog er det sidste kapitel eller kapitlerne kaldet " The Part of Tens" . I dette tilfælde er der tre sådanne dele. En for "ti tegn på, at det er tid for dig at flytte til Office 365 ", en for ti grunde til, hvorfor Office 365 kan være af utrolig værdi for din organisation, og en for ti tips til at øge produktiviteten. Udover at være underholdende læsning, gør disse kapitler et godt stykke arbejde med at sælge værdien af ​​produktet, hvilket er lidt ligesom glasur på kagen.

Fordele og ulemper og mere

Her er, hvad jeg føler er de gode og dårlige punkter ved Office 365 for Dummies, anden udgave:^{(Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition:)}

Fordele:^(Pros:)

• Som med de fleste For Dummies- bøger, godt skrevet af folk, der ved, hvad de taler om
• Fremragende "salgspitch" for produktet, som jeg med sikkerhed kan sige er godt til at overbevise skeptikerne
• Logisk progression fra et emne til et andet, hver bygger på de foregående emner, hvorfor denne bog bør læses fra start til slut frem for stykke for stykke
• Nok^(Enough) grundlæggende information til at få dig i gang med hver komponent
• Masser af nyttige links til tilføjelser og yderligere information (jeg gennemgik Kindle - udgaven)

Ulemper:^(Cons:)

• Bogtitlen skal gøre det klart, at dette primært er for erhvervskunder
• En af de ting, jeg lever af, er kopiredigering, og jeg må sige, at jeg var irriteret over grammatiske fejl i bogen. Måske er jeg mere kræsen end andre mennesker på grund af det, jeg gør, men ting som " Kan^(Can) jeg gøre mit job lettere eller ej" var irriterende (for ordens skyld burde det være nemmere^{(more easily)} ). Og åh, kan vi slette ordet "funktionalitet" fra det engelske^(English) sprog, tak^(please) ? Det er technobabble og kan i næsten hvert eneste tilfælde erstattes af noget bedre.

AT HUSK:^{(TO KEEP IN MIND:)} Hvis det, du ønsker, er detaljerede oplysninger om brug af alle komponenterne i Office 365 , er dette ikke bogen. Enhver god opslagsbog til Office vil dog gå i detaljer, hvis du har brug for mere end denne bog giver.

Dom

Office 365 for Dummies, anden udgave^{(Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition)} gjorde et godt stykke arbejde med at bevise over for mig, at min partiskhed mod abonnementssoftware var ubegrundet. Jeg kan nu se, at abonnementsmodellen har klare fordele for erhvervsbrugere. Bogen gik virkelig ikke ind på fordelene for hjemmebrugere, og derfor mener jeg, at titlen burde have gjort det klart, hvad dens fokus er.

Det viste mig også, at der er fordele ved at bruge sociale medier-komponenter i en virksomhed. Ærgerligt^(Pity) , at mine tidligere arbejdsgivere aldrig læste denne bog. 🙂

Det var god læsning, og hvis du er en del af en virksomhed, der er afhængig af Office , bør du bestemt være opmærksom på indholdet.

Book Review: Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition

Subscription softwаre is a relatively new concept. Εven though licensing agreements have alwаys made it quite clear that you don't аctually own the software that yоu believe уou haνe bought, pеople have always tendеd to ignore that (if they read the EULA at аll). So the nоtion of software that you have no physical copy of, and that уou have to рay a fee to use every month, raisеd somе hackles when it was first introduced. Miсrosoft got intо subscription software in a big way with Office 365, and it has been increasing in popularity, еspecіаlly for business uѕе. Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition , sets out to show why the subscription model is an excellent choice for business. Does it succeed in its mission? Read this review to find the answer:

Convincing the skeptics

The book begins with a lengthy and very thorough explanation of cloud computing and subscription software. The authors do a great job of recognizing the possible objections and dealing with them in a clear and factual way. I must admit that I began reading this book as a skeptic, which I think is natural for someone whose first computer was an IBM mainframe back in the 60s. 🙂 But as I read on, I found Office 365 For Dummies, Second Edition quickly began to change my mind.

Although the title does not say so (it is in small print on the cover) this book is aimed squarely at business users, and it also quickly became clear why subscription software and cloud computing have huge advantages for businesses. My own experience as the only computer literate person in a large department backed up the idea that it's a lot easier to let the professionals at Microsoft take care of software upgrades, patches and maintenance seamlessly in the background.

Now, granted, Microsoft doesn't have a spotless record when it comes to messing things up (I'm not going to stray off the path here by talking about my mother's computer with Windows ME, although it did play a large part in my initially skeptical approach to Office 365) but this book does a very good job of explaining why no matter how much they've flubbed the dub in the past, it's still better to have Microsoft maintaining your critical business software than to turn it over to some overworked IT person who may or may not have the same level of skill. Plus, with Office 365 subscriptions nobody in the company is going to have to sit down and re-image everything when the company adopts a newer version of Office. Just sign in and there it is, ready to go.

There's a good description of the various Office 365 plans available, so potential subscribers can see what they'll get for their money.

Seriously, if you remain unconvinced that cloud computing and subscription software are worth considering, a careful read of the first part of this book will go a long way toward convincing you. It certainly convinced me.

Entering the cloud

After the expert sales pitch for the concept, Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition carefully explains how a business can move into Office 365 and cloud computing without too much stress and anguish. Again, the emphasis is on persuading the reader of the benefits of such a move, and again, the authors do a careful and thorough job. They review the benefits and features of Office 365 and explain why making the move makes sense.

It's not just cloud computing and subscription software that businesses will have to change their minds about. Since some versions of Office 365 include such new approaches as an in-house chat application, a Pinterest-like app called Delve, and the ability to create company-wide Facebook-like pages (among other things), the authors of Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition go to great lengths to explain why those kinds of social-media apps can have a very beneficial effect for businesses. It may be difficult for managers who are accustomed to telling people they can't mess around on social media sites on company time to understand why company-specific private social media sites can actually boost productivity and company collaboration, but I believe the authors do a good job of laying out the case for setting these things up on the company's Office 365 account. Granted, Microsoft's extremely unfortunate decision to name their chat app Yammer might cause a few problems for people who know what yammering is all about. 🙂

The general-purpose introductory sales-pitch chapters are followed by introductory sales-pitch chapters for the individual components of Office 365. In each case, the authors carefully lay out the case for the superiority of Office 365's approach over the traditional buy-licenses approach, and they do a good job. Each component (SharePoint, Exchange, Skype for Business, OneNote, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint) gets its own chapter detailing its own advantages. And then there is an introduction to the basics of using each component, which should be enough to get people up and running. However, for a more detailed look at all the features of each component, you'll have to find a different reference. Honestly, if each component got a full explanation you'd have to pick up this book with a forklift.

Again, if you are skeptical about any of that, you may find that by the time you've read through the reasons why each component can be a true productivity booster you'll see things in a different light.

Getting down to business

The introductions, the sales pitches and the overviews take up more than half the book. Then Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition explains exactly what needs to be done to prepare for a move from in-house software to cloud computing. It's not just a matter of one day you use the company license for Office and the next day you sign into Office 365. There are definite steps that have to be taken in order to assure the smoothest possible transition. These are laid out in step by step order. And there is information for developers who may want to customize the interface for a specific business use. SharePoint, as the backbone of the system, gets a development chapter all its own. Of course, people who aren't interested in that information can just skip it.

Once again, the authors explain why each step is essential to success, and why proper preparation is the key to making Office 365 work for your business. Again, people who go into it thinking "We can't possibly use that, we have no need for it" may come out thinking "Hey, that would work for us, let's give it a try." Since there are different versions of Office 365 with different components and different prices, knowing ahead of time what you want in your subscription is key (although you can change your subscription package at any time to suit your company's needs).

The chapter "Meeting Office 365 Requirements" lays out what is necessary in terms of equipment, internet bandwidth and individual skills. And the authors are very honest about the pros and cons of moving to the cloud. It's not all fun and games, and they're upfront about that. This chapter really should be required reading. The next chapter guides the reader through deciding which plan will work best. That too should be required reading because cloud computing may be an entirely new experience for the reader, and having all the information about all the plans is a plus.

There are chapters on preparing for the move, implementing Office 365 (which includes the steps necessary to get everyone ready for it), and managing Office 365 (including Exchange, Skype for Business and SharePoint). Again, this is not a complete and exhaustive reference guide, but it should get people over the hump and into day to day use.

Tens and tens

One of the best parts of a For Dummies book is the final chapter or chapters called " The Part of Tens". In this case, there are three such parts. One for "ten signs it's time for you to move to Office 365," one for ten reasons why Office 365 can be of incredible value to your organization, and one for ten tips to increasing productivity. Besides being entertaining reading, those chapters do a good job of selling the value of the product, which is kind of like frosting on the cake.

Pros and cons and more

Here's what I feel are the good and bad points about Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition:

Pros:

• As with most For Dummies books, well written by people who know what they're talking about
• Excellent "sales pitch" for the product that I can say with assurance is good for convincing the skeptics
• Logical progression from one topic to another, each building on the previous topics, which is why this book should be read from beginning to end rather than piece by piece
• Enough basic information to get you up and running with each component
• Plenty of useful links to add-ons and additional information (I reviewed the Kindle edition)

Cons:

• The book title should make it clear that this is primarily for business clients
• One of the things I do for a living is copy editing, and I must say I was irritated by grammatical mistakes in the book. Maybe I'm pickier than other people because of what I do, but things like "Can I do my job easier or not" were annoying (for the record, it should be more easily ). And oh, can we delete the word "functionality" from the English language, please ? It's technobabble and in almost every single instance can be replaced by something better.

TO KEEP IN MIND: If what you want is detailed information about using all the components of Office 365, this is not the book. However, any good reference book for Office will go into the proper detail If you need more than this book provides.

Verdict

Office 365 for Dummies, Second Edition did a great job of proving to me that my bias against subscription software was unfounded. I can now see that the subscription model has clear advantages for business users. The book really didn't go into the advantages for home users, which is why I believe the title should have made it clear what its focus is.

It also showed me that there are advantages to using social-media components in a business setting. Pity my former employers never read this book. 🙂

It was a good read, and if you're part of a business that depends on Office, you should definitely pay attention to the content.

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