Invaluable insights: Making the most of Microsoft 365 with Pack of 7

^Highlights

• Meet Ryan Wilson and Peter Potrafky from Pack of 7, our valued ACS Regional Roadshow Sponsors. In this article, Ryan and Peter take a deep-dive into how you can best maximise the potential of the Microsoft 365 Suite. Don’t miss their free ACS Regional Roadshow Series travelling around the State starting tomorrow in Townsville!

Q: So guys, what do we mean when we talk about organisations exploiting the potential of their Microsoft 365 environment? What does that relate to or translate to in real-world impact?

Peter:

Most of the organisations we work for are asking us how they can use the potential that comes with Microsoft 365. They know very well that there are a lot of features that they don’t even know about and features they know but don’t know how to use. And they know very well that they are paying for those features. The directive from higher management is mostly the same: “We've made the investment; now, we need to maximize its benefits – your job is to find ways to leverage it.”

In this situation you need a methodical concept to produce measurable value in a step-by-step approach. A platform and business analysis and assessment are the first step to take. As a result, quick wins and necessary security modifications are implemented immediately. Another result of this assessment is a roadmap for achieving higher levels of maturity short, middle, and long term. We at Pack of 7 have built this methodology together with a maturity level concept that we use as a tool to systematically build the roadmap of actions and implementations which gives the client the necessary project management tools to report to higher management. I should mention that in our experience, the most important part of the maturity roadmap is building a solid governance system for the M365 platform. Processes and Data must be properly governed from the beginning. Integral to the roadmap, the evolution of the governance system actively contributes to enhancing the maturity of the entire platform.

Q: Any success stories you can share?

Ryan: Yes of course. One of our larger customer groups is Local Government. With its extensive structures and very diverse use of Microsoft 365, the need for a methodical process is clearly necessary. As an example, we have worked together with Councils starting with a clean-up process, followed by the assessment, quick wins implementation to then systematically maturing their environment. Important to mention is that especially in Local Government organisations, using Power Automate to digitise heavily legacy system driven processes is a huge source of potential cost savings.

Another example of a rather small organisation is a Queensland based solar solution provider. Since tailoring is an important step in our maturity concept, both small, medium-sized and large organizations are suitable candidates.

Q: Power Automate sounds intriguing! Could you give us a real-world example of how it has transformed a business process? And for those who might be new to this, what’s the ‘magic’ behind Power Automate?

Ryan: When it comes to process automation HR is often the first department to automate their On- and Offboarding processes. Usually, those processes have a high proportion of legacy system use. Employees must manually search for, delete and/or change entries in various systems. A perfect prerequisite for using Power Automate and Power Automate Desktop. Asking for the “magic” behind Power Automate I would say that it’s the huge number of connectors to all kinds of IT systems and obviously the ability to automate any type of process complexity out of the box with a no to low code approach. If necessary, in extreme cases, Power Automate is open for extending it via AZURE to make special automation cases in your organisation possible to solve. And with Power Automate Desktop we can basically automate any legacy-system.

Q: For those feeling a bit overwhelmed by any technical jargon, what advice would you give them? Will they be able to embrace these concepts and tools at their own level?

Peter: Like with any complex subject that comes with its own vocabulary my advice is to approach it at a comfortable pace and focus on understanding the concepts gradually. The model we are using to mature our clients Microsoft 365 environments is informed by but not driven by the technical features. It’s led by business needs rather than technology features. In this way, our clients can learn the technical details step-by-step as the platform grows in maturity.

Q: Considering the diverse audience attending this event, what is the key takeaway you hope attendees will walk away with?

Ryan: Maturing your Microsoft 365 environment is a complex task but there is hope. There is a methodical and measurable way to regain control and governance of Microsoft 365. And there are a few very useful tools to help you on your way. In this event we want to give you an overview of how we mature our client’s platforms, how we automate their business processes and what tools are available to support this goal.