Microsoft Office 365 Rebranding

Microsoft Office 365 Rebranding

Microsoft is undergoing some changes, including revealing Microsoft 365 subscription plans for families, but that’s not all… On April 21, 2020, many of its Office 365-branded products will be renamed as part of what the company refers to as “natural evolution.” Let’s take a look at what’s changing, what’s staying the same, and what to expect from the rebrand.

What’s Changing?

• Office 365 Business Essentials will be known as Microsoft 365 Business Basic
• Office 365 Business Premium will be known as Microsoft 365 Business Standard
• Microsoft 365 Business will be known as Microsoft 365 Business Premium
• Office 365 Business and Office 365 ProPlus will be known as Microsoft 365 Apps.

What Are the Features Included in Each Plan?

There will be no price or feature changes as part of the rebranding, however, here’s a quick look at what’s included in each plan:

Microsoft 365 Business Basic

• Exchange
• SharePoint
• Teams
• OneDrive

Microsoft 365 Business Standard

• Exchange
• SharePoint
• Teams
• OneDrive
• Outlook
• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Publisher
• Access

Microsoft 365 Business Premium

• Exchange
• SharePoint
• Teams
• OneDrive
• Outlook
• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Publisher
• Access
• Intune
• Azure Information Protection
• Defender
• Conditional Access
• Windows Virtual Desktop

What’s Not Changing?

• Office 365 for Enterprise
• Office 365 for Firstline Workers
• Office 365 for Education
• Office 365 for Government

What Else Do You Need to Know?

• There will not be new features added yet
• There will not be updates or changes to current pricing
• There will be no changes or requirements on the part of users

What’s Planned, Aside from Rebranding, for the Future?

Microsoft has stated that there are innovations coming beyond the name changes. According to Microsoft 365 corporate vice president Jared Spataro, “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 business.”

He continued, “at a moment when businesses are facing extraordinary health and economic challenges, we are pleased to bring our consumer and small and medium-sized business customers into this growing Microsoft 365 family.”