On April 21, Microsoft will re-brand many of its Office 365 products over to the "Microsoft 365" brand-name. Most of its enterprise-focused Office 365 offerings will retain the old branding, though that will likely change over time.
According to Jared Spataro, Coproate Vice President for , “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.”
What’s changing?
The current changes are in name only with no changes to pricing or features.
Office 365 Business Essentials will become Microsoft 365 Business Basic
Office 365 Business Premium will become Microsoft 365 Business Standard
Microsoft 365 Business will become Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Office 365 Business will become Microsoft 365 Apps for Business
Office 365 ProPlus will become Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise
What does this mean for customers?
If you currently have Office 365 Business Essentials, Business Premium or Microsoft 365 Business, the only change will be your subscription updated to the new name. There is no action needed on your end aside from familiarizing yourself with the new name.
Why the change?
Microsoft wants their 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. And for small and medium-sized businesses, that includes new capabilities in Microsoft Teams to help host rich meetings and events online; cloud file storage and sharing capabilities to collaborate from anywhere; and security and identity solutions to safeguard businesses. As well, this new renaming of the Office 365 products is designed to help simplify the process of finding the right plan for your business.
If you have any questions around Office 365 or Microsoft 365, please feel free to .
