In March 2020, Microsoft announced its Office 365 consumer plans rebranding to Microsoft 365, which provided a much-enhanced version of its existing Office 365 products and benefits. In its entirety, Microsoft 365 is a subscription-based collection of Microsoft’s applications and cloud services, which can be used across various devices.

The one-year Microsoft 365 subscription plans are based on the usage type and business size. They are available as a desktop installation which means that users do not necessarily need to be connected all the time. There are four plans which cater for anything from one home user to Business Plans for 300 employees and Enterprise Plans for larger companies. All the plans include Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

One of the great benefits of Microsoft 365 is the 1TB of storage space on OneDrive, which users on the home package can also access. Furthermore, each user is entitled to a free Microsoft email address.

While the new plans may seem confusing, their functionality has a logical structure. Each plan comes with a set of different products and services and is priced according to what is included. While some of the plans will only have the basics plus access to email, others will include the complete product offering.

Microsoft 365 Subscription Sizes

Microsoft for the Home

This plan is aimed at mainstream users for home or non-commercial use on one to 5 computers, phones, or tablets. It includes Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access, plus 1TB of One Drive storage.

• Microsoft 365 Personal – for one user.
• Microsoft 365 Family – accommodates up to 6 users.

Microsoft for Business

This plan accommodates up to 300 employees.

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic – suitable for small and medium-sized businesses. It includes the Office 365 web apps; Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, Exchange, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive with 1 TB of storage.
• Microsoft 365 Apps for Business – offers Office applications for Windows, Mac, and mobile platforms for up to five computers, tablets, and smartphones per user.
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard – includes Microsoft 365 Business Basic and Microsoft 365 Apps for Business.
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium – the best choice for businesses with up to 300 employees. It includes Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Windows 10 Business, Azure Virtual Desktop, Azure AD P1, Microsoft Intune, and Defender for Office 365. The advanced threat protection on the plan provides a cloud-based email filtering service to protect companies against malware, viruses, and harmful links in real-time.

Microsoft Enterprise

for over 300 users is intended for use in corporate environments. It provides access to all Office applications, hosted services, business-specific features, and regulatory compliance support.

• Microsoft 365 E3 – productivity apps with core security and compliance capabilities
• Microsoft 365 E5 – productivity apps with advanced security compliance, voice, and analytical capabilities
• Microsoft 365 F3 – productivity apps and cloud services

Microsoft 365 is sold via Microsoft and its reseller network, of which Westech is a partner.

Westech has provided companies of all sizes across South Africa with professional and reliable IT support and maintenance services since 1994. Contact Westech or call them on 011 519 4900 to book an IT appointment or for further information.