Office 365 is Now Microsoft 365

Microsoft has been a driving force in personal and business productivity for over 40 years. Over that time one of their most popular offerings has been Microsoft Office. For the past several years the software giant has been bundling their Office platform with OneDrive and calling it Office 365. Millions of individuals and businesses utilize the tools in the platform, which is now being rebranded to Microsoft 365, and that has started to confuse some people. Today, we’ll clarify what this means for businesses and individuals.

Microsoft 365 comes in three different delivery models: Home, Business, and Enterprise. The confusion comes from the fact that the company launched Microsoft 365 that provided Office 365 and a hosted Windows 10 with user controls to businesses of all sizes. Let’s briefly take a look at each offering to remove any confusion you may have.

Microsoft 365 Home

The home edition of Microsoft 365 comes in two packages and includes the following software:

• Word - Microsoft’s word processing application
• Excel - Microsoft’s spreadsheet application
• PowerPoint - Microsoft’s presentation building application
• OneNote - Microsoft’s note taking application
• Outlook - Microsoft’s email application

On Windows 10 PCs users also get access to Publisher, a typesetting application. The subscription also includes OneDrive with 1 TB of cloud storage and access to Skype, Microsoft’s video conferencing application.

The home edition of Microsoft 365 is available per user or in a family plan that provides up to six separate personal accounts. 

Microsoft 365 Business

The business edition of Microsoft 365 comes in three different packages and includes the Office package as well as access to the following applications:

• Teams - Microsoft’s collaboration application
• Exchange - Microsoft’s email, scheduling, and task management application
• SharePoint - Microsoft’s project management application

The business edition of Microsoft 365 comes in Business Basic, Business Standard, and Business Premium. The basic edition only provides access to web-hosted applications, while the Premium package includes Microsoft’s Intune software and additional security features.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise

The enterprise edition of Microsoft 365 is a complete overhaul of a business’ productivity platform. It comes with everything from the Business Premium package and adds access to several other applications designed to help improve business management, productivity, and security. Some of the additional services include:

• Microsoft Bookings
• Microsoft Yammer
• Microsoft Stream
• Microsoft Sway
• Microsoft’s task management suite
• Advanced analytics
• Device management
• Identity management
• Threat protection
• Advanced compliance

...and more.

Microsoft 365 Enterprise is available in three service models: E3, E5, and F3. 

If you would like to know more about Microsoft 365, call our team of IT professionals at (978) 482-2020 today.