What is Microsoft 365?

In 2024, it is almost impossible to avoid Microsoft 365 in the workplace. If your organisation doesn’t use it, many of your suppliers, partners or customers almost certainly will.

For many, though, Microsoft 365 remains a vague, loosely understood term that covers the day-to-day tools we all take for granted. In this post, we will take a 360-degree tour of Microsoft 365 to help you understand the what and the why of Microsoft’s flagship tools.

Microsoft 365 is a subscription service which gives you the tools to make your business tick. A range of different plans are available, but at the Standard Business level, Microsoft 365 includes:

• Desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• Desktop version of Outlook for email and calendar management
• Bespoke email domain – yourname@yourbusiness.co.uk
• Microsoft Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive
• 1 TB of cloud-based storage per employee
• A host of additional tools including Microsoft Forms, Microsoft Planner, Microsoft Loop and Microsoft Clipchamp, unlocking a range of additional capabilities within your business.

In essence, Microsoft 365 gives your employees the ability to produce their best work, collaborate with colleagues, share the results with their team and communicate – both internally and with your wider business network.

Microsoft 365 provides the tools that everyone knows best and that many employees will expect access to – work without Word or Excel, or without Teams meetings, is, to many, unimaginable.

How do I get it?

Microsoft 365 is sold as a per user licence to cover your business, with plans also available for households and the education sector. The standard version includes everything listed above, with an advanced version offering comprehensive cyber security protections also available.

And is Microsoft 365 in the cloud? What about Azure?

M365 is a cloud-based software package – your core tools are in the Cloud and you have access to cloud storage. Azure is a cloud computing programme – an all-encompassing infrastructure package which takes your cloud integration to the next level.

Where does Office 365 come in ?

Office 365 was absorbed within the Microsoft 365 brand to simplify naming conventions. Pre-existing Office 365 subscriptions are still supported, but if you are looking to move to Microsoft tools, you will be looking for an M365 subscription.

Conclusion

The detail of the range of plans and features contained within M365 is something of a quagmire, but it is paramount that businesses can find clarity amid this. Our Microsoft experts can guide you through this process – and ensure that you never pay more than you need to.

In short, M365 is the most seamless and universally-used solution for workplace productivity, communication and file storage and is the backbone of office IT right across the world.