TCE-SC: Training and effective use of Microsoft 365 as a stepping stone to success
To handle such demand and sensitive information, it is necessary to have organization, security, and collaboration among teams, and technology is a great ally to ensure that objectives, goals, and routines are met as planned.
The State Audit Courts (TCE) play a crucial role in Brazilian territory by overseeing the expenses and revenues of states and municipalities, being a technical, specialized, and independent body.
To handle such demand and sensitive and crucial information, it is necessary to have organization, security, and collaboration among teams, and technology is a great ally to ensure that objectives, goals, and routines are met as planned.
Understanding this need, the TCE-SC took the initiative to develop its technological processes and needs and, with the help of Microsoft 365, ensured benefits in its daily operations – especially during the pandemic and the critical moment of transitioning to remote work.
Microsoft 365 as an Ally in Social Isolation
No one imagined that a pandemic would hit and that many work methods would change overnight. Clearly, due to being a new and entirely unpredictable moment, everything had to be accelerated; however, those who had advanced in their digital transformation journey were one step ahead in 2020.
This was precisely the case for TCE-SC, which has been modernizing and updating its systems for some time as a natural necessity stemming from its processes and routines.
“Microsoft Office 365 came before the pandemic and was a necessity for modernizing the Tribunal's email systems, gradually implementing other applications and tools. Our main expectation was to improve the email system, cloud storage on OneDrive, and have a subscription office package, always having the best versions,” says Daniel Antunes, Support Analyst at TCE-SC.
For this to happen, the Tribunal conducted a 6-month study for implementations, adjustments, security, and communication, in addition to seeking partners through its bidding processes, and that’s when Teltec joined the journey to boost technology.
The planned implementation of the service took place at the end of February 2020, and what no one expected was that in March the pandemic would establish itself here, and all workers would go to remote work, presenting new significant challenges for any organization.
At this moment of remote work, the president of TCE-SC institutionalized that Teams would be the main communication tool of the Tribunal, and from the transition to remote work, all plenary sessions that were held in person began to be conducted via the online application, accelerating the adoption and transformation journey.
“It was good to have a solution implemented, but we missed Teams, which was not part of that initial mapping, and there was a whole effort for adjustment and internal communication,” explains Antunes.
Having the applications and tools at home – even if they were in the initial learning phase – TCE-SC was ahead of other Courts and spent little time idle, using technology to its advantage and continuing its demands as close to normal as possible.
“Before the pandemic, we had already planned, and it made us accelerate. What was a convincing effort became a turning point, and we know that if it weren't for the tools, the Tribunal would have stopped like many others across the country did,” tells us Jairo Wensing, Strategic Governance Advisor for Information and Communication Technology.
Training and Use of Microsoft 365 Tools
When implementing Microsoft 365, TCE-SC had a training and adoption plan for teams in person, utilizing the laboratory and applying practices to facilitate the incorporation of the tool into daily routines.
However, due to the pandemic, the plans had to be modified, and tutorials and methods were created to ensure that knowledge was not lost.
“We didn't do as we would have liked in the first year, and we couldn't adapt the online training along with all the other demands. In the first year, people learned the hard way, and in the second, with Teltec, we began to structure and train people effectively on the tool, maximizing its use,” emphasizes Daniel.
At this moment, the project transitioned from merely implementing Microsoft 365 licenses to including a journey plan, training, and workshops, as well as personalized and continuous support from our Customer Success team.
There were numerous training sessions on Outlook, MS Teams, OneDrive, Microsoft Delve, OneNote, Microsoft Forms, Sway, Time Management, and Teams Meetings, with over 560 participants.
“We were forced to go to remote work, and our courses had always been in-person. At first, we didn't know how to do it, but we couldn't be without training. With this training opportunity, employees started to learn better what they use daily. Many people are not from the IT field, so having this type of content is very relevant for everyone to understand the platforms we provide,” shares Odinélia Kuhnen, academic and training coordinator.
The trainings were open to anyone interested, and according to Odinélia, they generated significant participation and positive feedback from employees.
To ensure that the training was even more tailored to user needs, our CS team maintained a close relationship with TCE-SC to address pain points and issues, thus ensuring that all training was truly directed towards what users needed in their daily activities.
“The relationship with the Customer Success team is great; they understood our audience, our needs, and translated what we needed into the training,” reiterates Daniel.
Security as a Point of Attention
Security is a crucial point in any organization, especially when we talk about agencies that handle sensitive information like the Courts, and this is another positive aspect of Microsoft Office 365, which prioritizes security and quality of information in any of its tools.
“Just the fact that we are using it in the cloud already provides a great deal of security. Before Office, we had all services on-premise and a much larger process. Today, Microsoft shares the concern with us, and we know that the best practices exist, which is a very important point in our use of the platform,” explains Wallace Pereira, Director of Information Technology.
Another point is about user security, which is becoming increasingly aware and educated about using the tool, facilitated through passwords, AntiSpam, authentication factors, and other possibilities provided by Office 365.
“People can no longer work without this tool. We had so many versions, security risks, and with one tool, we solved several problems at once,” emphasizes Jairo.
Using a single tool provides unified communication for the environment, combining communication, security, collaboration, and productivity for employees.
