Understanding The Difference Between Microsoft 365 And Office 365

For businesses of all shapes and sizes, maximizing productivity is a key focus and ongoing process. When it comes to IT, this can be achieved with the help of a variety of tools and services, but perhaps the most common is Microsoft 365.

While some might not have heard of Microsoft 365, most will be familiar with Office 365 – Microsoft has done a great job of creating no end of confusion between them. So what is the difference between the two, we hear you ask.

Office 365 is a cloud-based suite of productivity apps including Word, Outlook, PowerPoint and Excel, as well as OneDrive, Yammer, Planner, SharePoint, Teams and Skype for Business.

In comparison, Microsoft 365 is a package of services which includes Office 365 as well as Windows 10 Enterprise, Enterprise Mobility + Security and machine learning.

These lesser known features of both Microsoft 365 and Office 365 offer tremendous upsides for organisations when it comes to boosting efficiency and facilitating growth. Below, we discuss four of the main reasons why you should migrate to Microsoft 365 today.

1. Accessibility

Microsoft 365 offers a combined set of products to deliver secure business productivity. This includes application such as Office. In today’s increasingly flexible, mobile workflow, Office 365 allows tasks to be undertaken and completed at the point of need as opposed to confining them to the office building.

Supporting cross-platform usage, employees can access their work documents from PCs and Macs, as well as smartphone and tablet devices and regardless of whether they are running on iOS or Android platforms.

In addition, with the full Office 365 productivity suite accessible online, colleagues can open, comment and edit documents in real time, and are no longer required to download documents beforehand.

Because changes made to documents can be tracked by users across the whole business without numerous versions being created, everyone can rest assure they are working on the same page.

 2. Easy Maintenance

Office 365 provides simplified maintenance through its standardized Windows client device configuration. In short, means businesses no longer have to regularly upgrade or purchase new hardware and software. This helps to lower IT costs, and also to cut the time spent installing new systems and hardware.

In addition, Office 365 downloads and installs patches, updates, and maintenance automatically and in the background, ensuring the software is always performing as it should with limited disruption to users.

3. Added security

Security is one of the key concerns for businesses adopting cloud-based solutions such as Microsoft 365. With the introduction of the new GDPR legislation across the EU, this has only deepened.

Designed with security at the forefront, Microsoft 365 comes with a range of data controls and cyberthreat protections. This allows organisations to maintain the security and control of data no matter where the data is accessed from.

For example, applications can only be reached via a 128-bit SSL/TSL encryption so that if an unauthorized person tries to access data or information they will be blocked from doing so.

What’s more, Microsoft applies its Security Development Lifecycle (SDL) policy to the development and maintenance of its online services. This means it monitors Office 365 continuously for any suspicious practices and activities, with an incident response protocol in place in the event of any security issues.

4. Your own personal assistant

Cortana is Microsoft’s in-house personal assistant. Connected to Windows 10 and Office 365, she helps users to be more productive and to get things done on time.

She does this by answering questions and performing basic tasks like reminding users when their next meeting or appointment is, providing live updates for travel times, and setting alarms to ensure users are never late.

As a leading UK Microsoft Partner, we are well-placed to advise you on this. For more information, please contact us.