Everyone’s heard of Microsoft 365/Office 365 at this point and how the products can help your teams collaborate and communicate seamlessly. But you might not know what M365/0365 actually is or the benefits of it. That’s why I decided to write this blog post.
What are the benefits of Microsoft 365?
- Work anywhere as long as you have an internet connection
- Easily collaborate with colleagues with real-time changes to the same files
- Access to the latest versions of programs without any downloads or any extra cost
- Subscription-based product, so there are no upfront costs
- A host of security features as standard
- Makes business continuity easier if you can’t continue to work in the office
- Easy to deploy because it’s all cloud-based
First things first, I’ll explain a little more about what Office 365/Microsoft 365 actually is, and then we’ll get into breaking down the benefits.
What is Office 365/Microsoft 365?
Before anything, it’s worth mentioning that Office 365 and Microsoft 365 is the same product with different branding. On April 21, 2020, Microsoft rebranded their productivity suite (Office 365) to Microsoft 365.
Nothing changed to the actual product, other than the branding. However, matters are complicated because the product is still branded Office 365 in some sectors! Here’s a quick breakdown.
- Office 365: The product will be known as Office 365 to you if the below is true:
- Your business uses Enterprise plans
- You operate in the Education sector
- You operate in the Healthcare sector
- You operate in the Government sector
- Microsoft 365: The product I’ll discuss below will be known as Microsoft 365 if the below is true:
- You are a consumer using the service for your household
- Your business is a small enterprise
- Your business is a medium-sized enterprise
So while Microsoft rebranded their Office 365 productivity suite in 2020, some businesses might still be using a version of the product branded Office 365. A great example of Microsoft over-complicating things!
Now we’ve covered that important point, we can take a closer look at what M365/O365 actually is.
What is Office 365/Microsoft 365? O365/M365 is the Office applications (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Publisher, and so on), hosted exchange, SharePoint, Teams, Azure Information Protection, and Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection depending on the plan you choose.
There are 8 different subscriptions available. There are two available for consumers, four available for small businesses, and one available for large enterprises.
Consumer subscriptions:
There are two consumer subscriptions that offer access to Microsoft Office applications and OneDrive storage. Here are the options available to consumers:
- Microsoft 365 Personal: One Microsoft account with the applications available for up to 5 computers, tablets, or smartphones. This subscription gives you access to the entire Office suite as well as OneDrive for storage. Furthermore, you will get a host of special offers.
- Microsoft 365 Family: Up to six Microsoft accounts with applications available for up to 6 devices per user. Again, you will also get a host of special offers and OneDrive storage.
Small business subscriptions:
- Microsoft 365 Business Basic (previously known as Office 365 Business Essentials): This subscription offers access to the Office Online versions of the Office Suite, access to hosted e-mail, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams.
- Microsoft 365 Apps for business (previously known as Office 365 Business): This subscription offers Office applications for Windows, Mac, and mobile devices for up to 5 devices per user.
- Microsoft 365 Business Standard (previously known as Office 365 Business Premium): This subscription offers Office applications for Windows, Mac, and mobile devices for up to 5 devices per user. Furthermore, the subscription gives you access to hosted email, LilelQ, Microsoft Bookings, SharePoint, and Microsoft Teams.
- Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (previously known as Office 365 Professional Plus): This subscription gives you access to the Office Professional Plus applications on up to 5 devices (Microsoft, Mac, or smartphones).
Enterprise subscriptions:
- Office 365 Enterprise: This is Microsoft’s Enterprise offering, giving access to all the Office applications as well as hosted services.
So that all covers what Office 365/Microsoft 365 is. In the next section of this blog post, I’ll explain the benefits of Microsoft 365.
What Are The Benefits Of Microsoft 365?
Here are the most notable benefits of Microsoft 365. I’m going to explain them all in a lot more detail, but here’s a brief look at each.
- Work anywhere as long as you have an internet connection
- Easily collaborate with colleagues with real-time changes to the same files
- Access to the latest versions of programs without any downloads or any extra cost
- Subscription-based product, so there are no upfront costs
- Makes business continuity easier if you can’t continue to work in the office
- Easy to deploy because it’s all cloud-based
Work anywhere as long as you have an internet connection
Providing you have an internet connection, a Microsoft 365 will allow you to work anywhere. With almost all the Microsoft 365 applications, you have access to your files and the Office applications no matter where you are working. All your files are stored in the cloud and you can use the online versions of the Office applications without having to install any software onto your computer.
You can access everything included in your Microsoft 365 subscription no matter where you are. For example, you’ll be able to access your emails, edit files in Word, and upload new files to SharePoint. Even when you’re not in the office, you and your team can collaborate in real-time without the hassle of sending documents and files back and forth.
There are particular Microsoft 365 plans that give you access to the desktop versions of the Office applications, such as Microsoft 365 Business Standard. This particular subscription lets you install the Office applications on up to 5 devices, so you can work whether you’re at your work computer or on your laptop.
Easily collaborate with colleagues with real-time changes to the same files
It’s important to ensure that teams can collaborate as seamlessly as possible with colleagues. With Microsoft 365 subscriptions, it has never been easier for a team of people to work on the same files at the same time, regardless of location.
When teams are collaborating on projects, two things in particular are very important.
- You should only have one version of a document
- You would ideally see changes in real-time rather than sending a document back and forth
With Microsoft 365, both these things are possible: you have only one version of a document/file and changes are seen in real-time. The same file will be accessible to all team members via SharePoint, editable via the online version of the Office applications or the desktop version. No matter which way you edit the document, all team members will see revisions as you make them.
Access to the latest versions of programs without any downloads or any extra cost
One big advantage of a Microsoft 365 subscription is that you’ll have access to the latest versions of Microsoft programs without any downloads of any extra cost. The online versions of Microsoft 365 are updated and available without any download to your desktop. Even better, you don’t have to pay any extra for the latest updates; they’re all included in the monthly cost of your subscription.
Subscription-based product, so there are no upfront costs
Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based product, meaning that you pay for it either monthly or annually. There are no upfront costs with Microsoft 365, which you would have if you were purchasing the Office software rather than paying for it on a subscription basis.
Upfront costs can be extremely detrimental for businesses looking to invest in new software. Especially when you consider the number of users you might have. With Microsoft 365, you pay nothing upfront.
Makes business continuity easier if you can’t continue to work in the office
Microsoft 365 makes business continuity much easier because you can access your Microsoft account and work no matter where you are. If you can’t work in the office for whatever reason, you and your team can work no matter where you are.
Easy to deploy because it’s all cloud-based
Microsoft 365 is entirely cloud-based, although you can download desktop versions of applications. With that in mind, Microsoft 365 is very easy to deploy compared to deploying software that needs to be installed locally.
Deploying software than needs to be installed locally is difficult because you are reliant upon people being available and so on. Also, you can encounter issues with certain computers. With a cloud-based solution, the computer itself doesn’t matter.