New and Updated Microsoft 365 Offerings for Business and Family

An introduction to Microsoft 365

Back in 2017 at Microsoft Inspire, Microsoft announced a new licensing bundle that was built specifically for enterprise customers. It was a combination of Windows, Office, and Enterprise Mobility and Security (EMS), and rather neatly named ‘Microsoft 365’. Since then, it’s seen rapid development with the additions of artificial intelligence (AI) and the Power Platform. enabling organisations to make technology work for their needs and automate business processes. We’ve seen and helped many organisations make the switch from the mix of licences to consolidating to the one ‘Microsoft 365’ licence. Bear in mind, this licence may not work for all organisations.

So, what’s new? - Business

Well in terms of features, nothing really. But what has changed is the names of the Office 365 subscriptions for small and medium-sized businesses. Going forward, all of these products will use the Microsoft 365 brand.

(The new product names go into effect on April 21, 2020 automatically. This is a change to the product name only, and there are no pricing or feature changes at this time).

You can view the full Microsoft announcement here along with their FAQs.

In addition - Personal and Family subscriptions

Alongside the re-naming announcements for the business plans, Microsoft have also introduced two new Microsoft 365 plans targeted at family usage: Microsoft 365 Personal and Microsoft 365 Family. Bringing together the best of Office 365, like premium desktop Office apps, 1 TB of OneDrive cloud storage per person, 60 Skype minutes for calling mobile phones and landlines, advanced security features to protect you from malware and phishing attacks, ongoing technical support and much more.

You can learn all about the Microsoft 365 Family licences, the new Microsoft Family Safety app and Microsoft Teams for personal life here: Introducing the new Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions.