Throughout April 2020, Microsoft Office 365 Business subscriptions are changing to Microsoft 365 for Business subscriptions, including Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business Premium, and Microsoft 365 Business. The consolidation clarifies the cloud services, desktop applications, and advanced security features included with each M365 bundle.
It’s worth noting that the well-known Office suite of products is not changing. Word, Power Point, Excel, and Outlook continue to be the core of the Microsoft 365 subscriptions. In fact, this is a direct evolution of Office growing to include other applications, capabilities, and connections to Microsoft 365 cloud. For those using standalone commercial desktop client subscriptions, those will become part of the Microsoft 365 Apps subscriptions.
Microsoft provides this helpful chart of the new Microsoft 365 Business bundles:
A Change In Name Only
Beginning late this month, Office 365 Business customers will notice a name change on invoices. That’s it. Pricing remains the same. As do features and offers.
This name change is significant as it represents the modernization and connectivity Microsoft brings to businesses of all sizes. From the SMB to the enterprise, the Microsoft 365 offerings provide a full stack of tools that connect people, information and content, so everyone is more productive no matter where they are.