On 21 April 2020, Microsoft revealed in an online announcement that its line of Office 365 subscription plans would be renamed, substituting it with the Microsoft 365 branding instead.
Don’t hold out high expectations for an out-of-the-box name idea though (sometimes causing a little confusion, Microsoft tends to keep its product names pretty similar). Moving forward, Office 365 subscriptions will be adapting the Microsoft 365 brand.
- Office 365 Business Essentials is now called Microsoft 365 Business Basic.
- Office 365 Business Premium is now called Microsoft 365 Business Standard.
- Microsoft 365 Business is now called Microsoft 365 Business Premium.
- Office 365 Business and Office 365 ProPlus is now called Microsoft 365 Apps.
What does this mean for you? Simple answer, nothing much. Microsoft states that this change doesn’t affect pricing or features at this time and that the changes are meant for the product names only. Which means that your current Office 365 Plan or the apps and features with it will not be altered nor deleted.
As the company puts it, this change represents Microsoft’s ambition to go above and beyond the legacy of its Office brand.
“Today, we’re simply announcing name changes. But these changes represent our ambition to continue to drive innovation in Microsoft 365 that goes well beyond what customers traditionally think of as Office. The Office you know and love will still be there, but we’re excited about the new apps and services we’ve added to our subscriptions over the last few years and about the new innovations we’ll be adding in the coming months.”
– Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 (New Microsoft 365 offerings for small and medium-sized businesses)
This move seems to reflect the emphasis Microsoft has put into Office 365 plan developments through the years. Now that more integrated apps and services are being offered to small and medium-sized businesses, Microsoft thinks it would be best to include all under the Microsoft 365 umbrella. To a question about why these changes were made, Microsoft’s direct answer was:
“First, we want our products to reflect the range of features and benefits in the subscription. Microsoft 365 is an integrated set of apps and services that puts AI and other cutting-edge innovations to work for you. And for small and medium-sized businesses, that includes new capabilities in Microsoft Teams to help you host rich meetings and events online; cloud file storage and sharing capabilities so you can collaborate from anywhere; and security and identity solutions to safeguard your businesses.”
– Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 (New Microsoft 365 offerings for small and medium-sized businesses)
Microsoft also talked about their ways of “simplifying” their products:
“Second, we’re always looking for ways to simplify. This new approach to naming our products is designed to help you quickly find the plan you need and get back to your business.”
-Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365 (New Microsoft 365 offerings for small and medium-sized businesses)
Other Office 365 product plans were left entirely untouched including;
- Office 365 for Education
- Office for Government
- Office 365 Firstline Workers; and
- Office 365 for Enterprise plans
Though it may be another example of Microsoft’s somewhat puzzling method of naming products, it makes us look forward to how the company will bring to life future innovations it envisions for its products under the Microsoft 365 moniker.
