Guest article provided by nexusitc.net
The widely used Office 365 products that many small businesses rely on are being rebranded as Microsoft 365. This rebranding effort shouldn’t cause any unease among business owners, however, for there are only minimal changes, and businesses will continue to have access to the Office 365 products that they need.
Office 365 Is Now Microsoft 365
Many of the Office 365 products are now Microsoft 365 products. This doesn’t necessarily include specialized programs, like those that schools, first responders, and governments use, but it does include most of the Office 365 products that are geared toward small businesses.
The affected Office 365 products are:
- Office 365 Business Essentials, which has become Microsoft 365 Business Basic
- Office 365 Business Premium, which has become Microsoft 365 Business Standard
- Office 365 Business, which has become Microsoft 365 Apps
Additionally, Office 365 ProPlus has become Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise, and Office 365 Business has become Microsoft 365 Apps.
The Suites’ Core Programs Have Remained Unchanged
Importantly, the core programs included with each suite have not substantially changed. The following is a breakdown of what’s included with the new suites:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic includes Exchange, Teams, Sharepoint, OneDrive, and online versions of Word, Powerpoint, and Excel
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard adds Outlook, Publisher, Access, and free-standing versions of Word, Powerpoint, and Excel
- Microsoft 365 Apps includes OneDrive, Outlook, Publisher, Access, and free-standing versions of Word, Powerpoint, and Excel
In addition to keeping the lineups of core programs that small businesses need the same, Microsoft has improved the suites somewhat by enhancing cloud storage, security, and sharing capabilities.
Because of all these changes, Microsoft 365 Business has also been renamed and is Microsoft 365 Business Premium under the new randing. It includes all of the aforementioned programs and also has Advanced Threat Protection, Intune, Information Protection, Defender, Conditional Access, and Windows Virtual Desktop.
The Rebranding Has Been Seamlessly Enacted
This rebranding effort has already been put into place, and the transition from Office 365 to Microsoft 365 occurred without issue. Small businesses enjoyed uninterrupted service during the rebranding, which was automatically executed in April. Businesses may have noticed a name change at the end of April, and they’ll now see the Office 365 nomenclature has been replaced if they haven’t previously noticed the change.
The Price of Each Suite Has Remained the Same
Additionally, there have been no changes in the price made during this rebranding. Although the suites of products might have new names, pricing remains consistent at every level with what the pricing was before the rebranding.
The biggest change with regard to price that customers will see on their invoices is a new name for the suite of Microsoft products that they use. The prices on invoices won’t differ, but the names used to describe the products will be updated to reflect Microsoft’s shift in branding.
Get the Assistance with Microsoft 365 That Your Business Needs
As mentioned, the rebranding of Office 365 to Microsoft 365 has already taken place and went through without issue. Should your business have a question about the transition or need help with any aspect of Microsoft 365, however, we’re always available. Contact your Microsoft partner for whatever assistance you might need with the new Microsoft 365 products.