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When FHI 360 wanted to move to cloud-based business productivity services, the organization decided to implement a Microsoft cloud-based solution. We recently spoke to Douglas Wilkins, Director of IT Infrastructure at FHI 360, to learn how the company is benefiting: FHI360 logoQ: Please tell us about FHI 360. Douglas Wilkins: FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender equality, youth, research, technology, communication, and social marketing-creating a unique mix of capabilities to address today's interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 60 countries and all US states and territories. Q: Why did you want to move to cloud-based services for messaging and collaboration? Wilkins: We had a diverse IT infrastructure. Employees in the US had different IT toolsets and Internet access than staff in countries like Mozambique. Subscribing employees to a single, cloud-based solution was the most expedient way to ensure that everyone had the same IT tools, to work efficiently regardless of location. Migrating our communication and collaboration technologies to the cloud reduced much of the time required by our IT staff to manage divergent IT infrastructures and connectivity options found around the world. Q: What criteria did you use to select Microsoft as your vendor for cloud-based business productivity services? Wilkins: We wanted a vendor that demonstrated a real interest in our mission and goals, and that offered online business productivity tools tailored for the enterprise space. The capabilities of the Microsoft Services Consulting team, and the work of Intellinet, the partner Microsoft introduced us to, provided us with that. We migrated our 4,300 staff members around the world from diverse platforms to a Microsoft Offi

The concept of a 'physical office' as a small business hub of productivity is quickly being replaced by the connected 'mobile office,' which connects employees wherever they happen to be. Today's business landscape favors those who are nimble and able to adapt rapidly by collaborating on the go, sharing ideas quickly and anticipating customer needs. Luckily, small businesses today can achieve this dynamic work environment through the use of Web-based software available for both desktop and mobile platforms. Web-based software is known as 'cloud services' or as 'the cloud' for short. Today, small businesses have access to IT solutions that were previously only available to enterprises - allowing them to punch above their weight class and better compete in their industry. By taking advantage of these Web-based and mobile solutions, small businesses can effectively run their company from anywhere - even from a mobile device or tablet. Here are just a few of the ways technology can help small businesses overcome everyday business challenges: ELIMINATE THE NEED FOR A PHYSICAL OFFICE Starting a business is difficult. Many small businesses owners may not have the capital to lease office space, or they may be hiring friends and staff who aren't based in the same city. Modern cloud technology can unify small business teams, removing the need for a physical office space. WORK WHEREVER IT'S CONVENIENT Cloud services let employees set up a shared folder from a mobile device while taking the bus; create a new spreadsheet on a tablet at lunch; get a presentation from the company's shared drive and make edits from a friend's computer; or schedule a team meeting from a home computer. Office 365 can be installed on up to 5 devices, giving small businesses the ability to do more than just read documents from a mobile device, a tablet, a laptop or even a desktop* by extending the office experience to employees wherever and whenever they need to cond

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: While there are four types of database objects in Access, tables are arguably the most important. Even when you're using forms, queries, and reports, you're still working with tables because that's where all of your data is stored. Tables are at the heart of any database, so it's important to understand how to use them. In this lesson, you will learn how to open tables, create and edit records, and modify the appearance of your table to make it easier to view and work with. Throughout this tutorial, we will be using a sample database. If you would like to follow along, you'll need to download our Access 2016 sample database. You will need to have Access 2016 installed on your computer in order to open the example. Watch the video below to learn more about working with tables in Access. TABLE BASICS TO OPEN AN EXISTING TABLE: Open your database, and locate the Navigation pane. In the Navigation pane, locate the table you want to open. Double-click the desired table. Opening a table - www.office.com/setup The table will open and appear as a tab in the Document Tabs bar. The open table - www.office.com/setup UNDERSTANDING TABLES All tables are composed of horizontal rows and vertical columns, with small rectangles called cells in the places where rows and columns intersect. In Access, rows and columns are referred to as records and fields. A field is a way of organizing information by type. Think of the field name as a question and every cell within that field as a response to that question. In our example, the Last Name field is selected, which contains all the last names in the table. Fields and field names - www.office.com/setup A record is one unit of information. Every cell on a given row is part of that row's record. In our example, Quinton Boyd's record is selected, which contains all of the information related to him in the table. Records and record ID numbers - www.office.com/setu

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: While you can always enter data directly into database tables, you might find it easier to use forms. Forms ensure you're entering the right data in the right location and format. This can help keep your database accurate and consistent. This lesson will address the benefits of using forms in a database. You will review examples of different forms and form components. Finally, you will learn how to use forms to enter new records and view and edit existing ones. Throughout this tutorial, we will be using a sample database. If you would like to follow along, you'll need to download our Access 2016 sample database. You will need to have Access 2016 installed on your computer in order to open the example. Watch the video below to learn more about working with forms in Access. WHY USE FORMS? Many of us fill out forms so often that we hardly notice when we're asked to use them. Forms are so popular because they're useful to the person asking for the information and to the person providing it. They are a way of requiring information in a specific format, which means the person filling out the form knows exactly which information to include and where to put it. Illustration of a paper form - www.office.com/setup This is just as true of forms in Access. When you enter information into a form in Access, the data goes exactly where it's supposed to go: into one or more related tables. While entering data into simple tables is fairly straightforward, data entry becomes more complicated as you start populating tables with records from elsewhere in the database. For instance, the orders table in a bakery's database might link to information on customers, products, and prices drawn from related tables. For example, in the Orders Table below the Customer ID field is linked to the Customers table. The Customer ID field links to the Customers table - www.office.com/setup In fact, in order to see the entire

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: Even though PowerPoint presentations are designed to be viewed on a computer, there may be times when you want to print them. You can even print custom versions of a presentation, which can be especially helpful when presenting your slide show. The Print pane makes it easy to preview and print your presentation. Optional: Download our practice presentation. Watch the video below to learn more about printing in PowerPoint. PRINT LAYOUTS PowerPoint offers several layouts to choose from when printing a presentation. The layout you choose will mostly depend on why you're printing the slide show. There are four types of print layouts. Full Page Slides: This prints a full page for each slide in your presentation. This layout is most useful if you need to review or edit a printed copy of your presentation. preview of a full page slide printout - www.office.com/setup Notes Pages: This prints each slide, along with any speaker notes for the slide. If you've included a lot of notes for each slide, you could keep a printed copy of the notes with you while presenting. previewing the notes pages layout - www.office.com/setup Outline: This prints an overall outline of the slide show. You could use this to review the organization of your slide show and prepare to deliver your presentation. preview of an outline printout Handouts: This prints thumbnail versions of each slide, with optional space for notes. This layout is especially useful if you want to give your audience a physical copy of the presentation. The optional space allows them to take notes on each slide. preview of a handouts printout - www.office.com/setup TO ACCESS THE PRINT PANE: Select the File tab. Backstage view will appear. selecting the File tab - www.office.com/setup Select Print. The Print pane will appear. clicking Print in the Backstage view - www.office.com/setup Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn more about using

www.office.com/setup Blogs: We're moving deeper into the modern "walled garden" of digital life. Generally speaking, you choose the garden you like best - be it Apple, Google or Microsoft - and the more time and money you invest, the more painful it is to leave that ecosystem. Similarly, many people pick Evernote or Microsoft OneNote as their repository of choice for digital scraps, doodlings and scanned documents. Then they usually stick with that choice, because it's not easy to toggle between them or switch. About a year ago, I chose Evernote over OneNote, and I started amassing my own digital archive. At the time, Evernote's Mac software was far superior to OneNote's Mac app. However, Microsoft has continually upgraded OneNote for Mac and iOS, and today it's a legitimate Evernote rival; if I were facing the Mac Evernote versus Mac OneNote decision today, it would be a different situation. If you're a Windows user, the choice is even more challenging, because the OneNote 2013 Windows desktop app has valuable features that aren't available in Evernote or OneNote for Mac. To help you decide between these two notebook tools, I've come up with seven things OneNote does that Evernote can't. Of course, this is only one side of the story. For the flip side, read "6 things Evernote does that OneNote can't." 1) ONENOTE IS A DESIGN-FRIENDLY, FREEFORM CANVAS Each OneNote note is a blank canvas, every element its own movable container. If you have a stylus, you can draw anywhere within the note, and you can insert handwriting, blocks of text, images or any other element wherever you want. onenote freeform canvas - www.office.com/setup OneNote 2013 for Windows also lets you customize your notes. For example, you can change the "paper" color, add rule or grid lines, change the dimensions of notes, create new page templates or apply existing ones, and apply text styles. Other versions of OneNote, including the iPad and Mac apps, offer some but not all, of these capab

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: PowerPoint files are called presentations. Whenever you start a new project in PowerPoint, you'll need to create a new presentation, which can either be blank or from a template. You'll also need to know how to open an existing presentation. Watch the video below to learn more about creating and opening presentations in PowerPoint. TO CREATE A NEW PRESENTATION: When beginning a new project in PowerPoint, you'll often want to start with a new blank presentation. Select the File tab to go to Backstage view. Clicking the File tab - www.office.com/setup Select New on the left side of the window, then click Blank Presentation. Creating a new presentation - www.office.com/setup A new presentation will appear. TO CREATE A NEW PRESENTATION FROM A TEMPLATE: A template is a predesigned presentation you can use to create a new slide show quickly. Templates often include custom formatting and designs, so they can save you a lot of time and effort when starting a new project. Click the File tab to access Backstage view, then select New. You can click a suggested search to find templates or use the search bar to find something more specific. In our example, we'll search for the keyword chalkboard. Searching for templates - www.office.com/setup Select a template to review it. Selecting a template - www.office.com/setup A preview of the template will appear, along with additional information on how the template can be used. Click Create to use the selected template. Creating a new presentation with a template - www.office.com/setup A new presentation will appear with the selected template. It's important to note that not all templates are created by Microsoft. Many are created by third-party providers and even individual users, so some templates may work better than others. TO OPEN AN EXISTING PRESENTATION: In addition to creating new presentations, you'll often need to open a presentation that was previ

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: Excel files are called workbooks. Whenever you start a new project in Excel, you'll need to create a new workbook. There are several ways to start working with a workbook in Excel. You can choose to create a new workbook-either with a blank workbook or a predesigned template-or open an existing workbook. Watch the video below to learn more about creating and opening workbooks in Excel. ABOUT ONEDRIVE Whenever you're opening or saving a workbook, you'll have the option of using your OneDrive, which is the online file storage service included with your Microsoft account. To enable this option, you'll need to sign in to Office. To learn more, visit our lesson on Understanding OneDrive. OneDrive on the Open tab - www.office.com/setup TO CREATE A NEW BLANK WORKBOOK: Select the File tab. Backstage view will appear. Click the File tab to go to the Backstage view. - www.office.com/setup Select New, then click Blank workbook. Click Blank workbook in the New tab. - www.office.com/setup A new blank workbook will appear. TO OPEN AN EXISTING WORKBOOK: In addition to creating new workbooks, you'll often need to open a workbook that was previously saved. To learn more about saving workbooks, visit our lesson on Saving and Sharing Workbooks. Navigate to Backstage view, then click Open. Open in the Backstage view - www.office.com/setup Select Computer, then click Browse. Alternatively, you can choose OneDrive to open files stored on your OneDrive. Browse - www.office.com/setup The Open dialog box will appear. Locate and select your workbook, then click Open. The Open dialog - www.office.com/setup If you've opened the desired workbook recently, you can browse your Recent Workbooks rather than search for the file. Open a recent workbook - www.office.com/setup TO PIN A WORKBOOK: If you frequently work with the same workbook, you can pin it to Backstage view for faster access. Navigate to Backstage view

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: Word files are called documents. Whenever you start a new project in Word, you'll need to create a new document, which can either be blank or from a template. You'll also need to know how to open an existing document. Watch the video below to learn more about creating and opening documents in Word. TO CREATE A NEW BLANK DOCUMENT: When beginning a new project in Word, you'll often want to start with a new blank document. Select the File tab to access Backstage view. clicking the File tab - www.office.com/setup Select New, then click Blank document. creating a new blank document - www.office.com/setup A new blank document will appear. TO CREATE A NEW DOCUMENT FROM A TEMPLATE: A template is a predesigned document you can use to create a new document quickly. Templates often include custom formatting and designs, so they can save you a lot of time and effort when starting a new project. Click the File tab to access Backstage view, then select New. Several templates will appear below the Blank document option. You can also use the search bar to find something more specific. In our example, we'll search for a flyer template. searching for a specific template - www.office.com/setup When you find something you like, select a template to preview it. clicking a template to preview it - www.office.com/setup A preview of the template will appear. Click Create to use the selected template. creating a document from a template - www.office.com/setup A new document will appear with the selected template. You can also browse templates by category after performing a search. browsing templates by category - www.office.com/setup TO OPEN AN EXISTING DOCUMENT: In addition to creating new documents, you'll often need to open a document that was previously saved. To learn more about saving documents, visit our lesson on Saving and Sharing Documents. Navigate to Backstage view, then click Open. clicking the Open

www.office.com/setup Blogs: While you can always enter data directly into database tables, you might find it easier to use forms. Forms ensure you're entering the right data in the right location and format. This can help keep your database accurate and consistent. This lesson will address the benefits of using forms in a database. You will review examples of different forms and form components. Finally, you will learn how to use forms to enter new records and view and edit existing ones. Throughout this tutorial, we will be using a sample database. If you would like to follow along, you'll need to download our Access 2016 sample database. You will need to have Access 2016 installed on your computer in order to open the example. Watch the video below to learn more about working with forms in Access. WHY USE FORMS? Many of us fill out forms so often that we hardly notice when we're asked to use them. Forms are so popular because they're useful to the person asking for the information and to the person providing it. They are a way of requiring information in a specific format, which means the person filling out the form knows exactly which information to include and where to put it. Illustration of a paper form - www.office.com/setup This is just as true of forms in Access. When you enter information into a form in Access, the data goes exactly where it's supposed to go: into one or more related tables. While entering data into simple tables is fairly straightforward, data entry becomes more complicated as you start populating tables with records from elsewhere in the database. For instance, the orders table in a bakery's database might link to information on customers, products, and prices drawn from related tables. For example, in the Orders Table below the Customer ID field is linked to the Customers table. The Customer ID field links to the Customers table - www.office.com/setup In fact, in order to see the entire order you would also have to look at the

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: Even though PowerPoint presentations are designed to be viewed on a computer, there may be times when you want to print them. You can even print custom versions of a presentation, which can be especially helpful when presenting your slide show. The Print pane makes it easy to preview and print your presentation. Optional: Download our practice presentation. Watch the video below to learn more about printing in PowerPoint. PRINT LAYOUTS PowerPoint offers several layouts to choose from when printing a presentation. The layout you choose will mostly depend on why you're printing the slide show. There are four types of print layouts. Full Page Slides: This prints a full page for each slide in your presentation. This layout is most useful if you need to review or edit a printed copy of your presentation. preview of a full page slide printout - www.office.com/setup Notes Pages: This prints each slide, along with any speaker notes for the slide. If you've included a lot of notes for each slide, you could keep a printed copy of the notes with you while presenting. previewing the notes pages layout - www.office.com/setup Outline: This prints an overall outline of the slide show. You could use this to review the organization of your slide show and prepare to deliver your presentation. preview of an outline printout Handouts: This prints thumbnail versions of each slide, with optional space for notes. This layout is especially useful if you want to give your audience a physical copy of the presentation. The optional space allows them to take notes on each slide. preview of a handouts printout - www.office.com/setup TO ACCESS THE PRINT PANE: Select the File tab. Backstage view will appear. selecting the File tab - www.office.com/setup Select Print. The Print pane will appear. clicking Print in the Backstage view - www.office.com/setup Click the buttons in the interactive below to learn more about using

When FHI 360 wanted to move to cloud-based business productivity services, the organization decided to implement a Microsoft cloud-based solution. We recently spoke to Douglas Wilkins, Director of IT Infrastructure at FHI 360, to learn how the company is benefiting: FHI360 logoQ: Please tell us about FHI 360. Douglas Wilkins: FHI 360 is a nonprofit human development organization dedicated to improving lives in lasting ways by advancing integrated, locally driven solutions. Our staff includes experts in health, education, nutrition, environment, economic development, civil society, gender equality, youth, research, technology, communication, and social marketing-creating a unique mix of capabilities to address today's interrelated development challenges. FHI 360 serves more than 60 countries and all US states and territories. Q: Why did you want to move to cloud-based services for messaging and collaboration? Wilkins: We had a diverse IT infrastructure. Employees in the US had different IT toolsets and Internet access than staff in countries like Mozambique. Subscribing employees to a single, cloud-based solution was the most expedient way to ensure that everyone had the same IT tools, to work efficiently regardless of location. Migrating our communication and collaboration technologies to the cloud reduced much of the time required by our IT staff to manage divergent IT infrastructures and connectivity options found around the world. Q: What criteria did you use to select Microsoft as your vendor for cloud-based business productivity services? Wilkins: We wanted a vendor that demonstrated a real interest in our mission and goals, and that offered online business productivity tools tailored for the enterprise space. The capabilities of the Microsoft Services Consulting team, and the work of Intellinet, the partner Microsoft introduced us to, provided us with that. We migrated our 4,300 staff members around the world from diverse platforms to a Microsoft Offi

A few weeks ago, preview versions of Microsoft Office products for 2016 were released. The release included Microsoft Office 2016 suite products, plus Project and Visio. All the products are available in desktop and office 365 formats for trials. We shared the links to download/install preview of Microsoft Office and Project 2016 in this post a while ago. Since then, I wanted to write my first hand review of Project 2016, so here it goes. INSTALLATION OF PROJECT 2016 First things first, installation challenges. Prior to installing Microsoft Project 2016 (this is the same for Office 2016) you will need to uninstall the 2013 version of the same product, as they can't both be installed at the same time. It's easy to uninstall and then reinstall a new version, right? Not really. Unfortunately, this isn't as simple as it sounds particularly if you have ever had Microsoft Project 2013 office 365 version installed on your machine along with Project 2013 desktop version. At least in my case, I have tried every possible way of removing 2013 version, but Microsoft Project 2016 kept crashing soon after it started. Here, and may be few other places, described a solution to an issue but it never worked for me and eventually I end up installing to a fresh VM that has no traces of prior version.

Stay updated on your Yammer network as new messages come into the feed. Our new integration with The Social Radio provides Yammer users a unique offering: to listen to their Yammer messages, read aloud through The Social Radio interface. The Social Radio reads new Yammer messages, polls, events and praise as they come through the feed, while you simultaneously listen to music. To use, just sign in to The Social Radio using your Yammer credentials and The Social Radio will begin reading your Yammer messages. If you hear something worth checking into - pop over to your Yammer feed to read more about it or join the conversation. www.office.com/setup The Social Radio's team participated in Yammer's Hackathon last year and built the first prototype of the integration. Since then it's been onward and upward! "We launched our first app 1 year ago, and we've been focusing on Twitter because we wanted to do only one thing to make it great. Building the integration with Yammer was really challenging for us because it's not just 140 characters. We choose Yammer to be our second social network because it's would be huge to allow employees to be updated while they can focus on what they are working on" says Roberto Gluck, CEO of The Social Radio. The main goal is to allow users to experience Yammer, and stay updated on their feed, while they are working on something else. The app is available in 6 languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian and German with male and female voices. Currently, the Yammer integration is only available on the web, but support for mobile apps is coming soon.