Migrating Microsoft Office templates to the cloud
What is the migration of Office templates to the cloud?
Microsoft Office 365 is a cloud version of Microsoft that enables organizations to create, collaborate, communicate and share documents from an easily accessible online location. As part of ongoing digital transformation, organizations are increasingly moving their workplaces from on-premise solutions to online environments. Cloud migration includes the movement of many aspects of a business to the cloud, including business document templates and assets used in document creation. For example, templates formerly used in Microsoft Office can be migrated to Office 365 so that they are accessible from the cloud. In migrating Office templates to the Office 365, the following must be considered:
- Which templates to move.
- Access and rights to the templates.
- How to ensure brand and legal compliance.
- Updating and version control.
Document templates are a highly effective tool for organizations
Document templates are an important tool for organizations, as they simplify the task of document creation. A template holds the base elements of each document, including the corporate identity elements, such as logos and fonts, and office or department specific content, such as addresses or frequently used text elements. Employees save time through using Microsoft Office templates, as they do not have to manually input these elements every time they create a document. Templates provide the basis of document creation and save time for both employees and the organization.
Using templates also enables governance over the documents which employees are creating. By including brand elements in templates, employees can be sure they are using the correct logos and fonts in the correct places. Similarly, legal compliance can be easily controlled through templates which include legal disclaimers. Through templates, employees can trust the documents they are creating are on-brand and compliant.
The difficulties of using templates
Although templates make it easier for employees to create documents, there are some difficulties related to their use. As templates contain elements that are subject to change, such as brand images or legal disclaimers, they need to be regularly updated and the updated versions must be distributed across the entire organization. Templates are normally stored on a file share, downloaded to desktops, or deployed to users’ workstations by IT, meaning deploying these updates can be difficult. Updating templates can be a burden on busy IT departments, or be prone to individual error when employees are required to download and keep track of templates on their desktop.
Cloud storage offers a solution to these problems
Templates stored in the cloud do not need to be downloaded to a user’s desktop, or deployed by IT departments. Instead, one central location is where templates can be found by all users, on any device or from any office location. Cloud storage also simplifies the deployment of template updates, as these are accessible company-wide almost instantly from the cloud. Employees can work securely in the knowledge that they will always be using the most up to date templates, which are compliant with the latest brand standards and legal requirements. This reduces the risk of incompliance and allows a stronger level of governance over the documents that employees are creating.
Elements that need consideration when migrating Office templates to the cloud
Although cloud solutions offer a better form of template management, the migration itself can cause difficulties. Before undertaking the move of documents templates to the cloud, it’s important to consider the following questions:
- Which templates are used by my organization?
- Which new templates could my organization benefit from having?
- Who should be able to access each template?
- How will these templates be maintained?
- Who will be responsible for maintaining them?
- How user-friendly are the templates?
Through considering these questions, and planning to store and manage templates in accordance with the answers, the move to the cloud will be one which is of optimum benefit to your entire organization.
Templafy is the perfect platform for moving templates to the cloud
One key question when discussing the migration of Office templates to the cloud regards the best location for storing document templates. Templafy is the ideal platform for storing document templates and assets.
Templafy is a cloud-based template management solution, which provides a central storage location for all your organization’s templates. Templafy is located centrally, through a WebApp which can be accessed from any device or location, meaning employees will always be able to access document templates. Templates can also be accessed from within Microsoft Office applications, making it intuitive for employees to use the correct templates.
Through admin access and user controls, Templafy ensures that employees will only be able to access the templates that are relevant for them. Admins are also able to easily make updates to templates and deploy them to the entire organization within minutes, meaning that the latest compliant templates will always be accessible, for all employees. As well as document templates, Templafy also stores other document assets, such as logos, images, pdfs and text elements, combining everything that is needed for document creation. Templafy makes the migration to the cloud and Office 365 simple, and ensures this ease continues through storing templates in an intuitive manner, where they are easy to use and update.
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Extra resources
Take a look at our blog for more information about cloud migration, and how to make this successful in your organization.
