Microsoft Officially Changes the Office 365 Name to Microsoft 365
I have been saying for almost a decade that Microsoft will change the name Office 365 to something else, because the name makes no sense. Microsoft has announced that the name Office 365 will change to Microsoft 365. The change will happen on April 21, 2020. Microsoft will also add a lot of cool changes to Microsoft 365. CNET has posted a good summary of the changes coming to Microsoft 365. Check out their article Microsoft’s Office 365 is now Microsoft 365, a ‘subscription for your life’.
Why the Name Office 365 Didn’t Make Sense
The word Office has been associated with the desktop apps Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc. for a very long time. Calling a service “Office” 365 when it’s primarily a combination of collaboration services like SharePoint, Exchange, Skype, etc. was rather strange. Microsoft Office isn’t the primary part of the service. The “Office” part of the Office 365 is limited to some apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) that people use within SharePoint Online and the Outlook Online app, which is the Exchange client app, that’s used for messaging. In my opinion, the name Office 365 was in some way analogous to calling Microsoft Outlook app Tasks, when Tasks are not the main component of Outlook, mail and calendar are the main components. Similarly, Office has never been the main component of Office 365. Perhaps Office 365 should have been called something like Collaboration 365. Anyway, the name Office 365 is now history and I think the name Microsoft 365 makes much more sense. There were a lot of indications of this change in 2019, so this has not been a surprise. I won’t be surprised if Microsoft gets rid of the name SharePoint altogether in the future. Check out my article Skype for Business Online is Retiring. Will SharePoint Online Be Next?
Microsoft is changing the names of its current subscriptions as follows:
New Subscription Names
| Old Name | New Name |
| Office 365 Business Essentials | Microsoft 365 Business Basic |
| Office 365 Business Premium | Microsoft 365 Business Standard |
| Microsoft 365 Business | Microsoft 365 Business Premium |
| Office 365 Business | Microsoft 365 Apps for business |
| Office 365 ProPlus | Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise |
When Microsoft used both the terms, Office 365 and Microsoft 365, things were very confusing for a lot of consumers. The new names are more straight forward because now it’s all about Microsoft 365.
Names That are Not Changing
The names for the following Office 365 plans are not changing.
- Office 365 for Enterprise
- Office 365 E1
- Office 365 E3
- Office 365 E5
- Office 365 for Firstline Workers
- Office 365 F1
- Office 365 for Education
- Office 365 A1
- Office 365 A3
- Office 365 A5
- Office 365 for Government
- Office 365 G1
- Office 365 G3
- Office 365 G5
It’s important to note that none of the Office 365 plans are going away. Microsoft is simply changing the names of the plans, except for Office 365 Enterprise whose name will remain the same.
Microsoft’s Success Over the Years
Kudos to Microsoft for doing a tremendous job with its Microsoft 365 line of products and services. Microsoft 365 has matured over the years, become more reliable, and gained universal acceptance. In addition, Microsoft 365 support is second to none. It’s not an easy job to offer a cloud-based service to the entire planet, keep it running 24x7x365, provide ongoing support to the customers, continue to enhance the products and services, keep the customers informed of the changes, provide the necessary documentation to the world, and compete with its competitors. Although I often criticize Microsoft for constantly changing its product names, logos, certification names, and service names, you can tell that I am a big fan of Microsoft 365.
As parts of various groups, I have been providing feedback to Microsoft to enhance its services for about 25 years in various capacities. I’ve always found Microsoft to be very open to feedback at every level. I’ve provided direct feedback to marketing groups, tech support, program managers, directors, vice presidents, and Microsoft CEO. Every single person at Microsoft has been incredibly open to feedback and positive criticism. While it may not seem to the general public that Microsoft is listening to their voice, Microsoft actually pays attention to the public’s and experts’ feedback. I believe that’s one of the big reasons for Microsoft’s success and why Microsoft is one of only three companies to ever hit the $1 trillion valuation mark in the United States.
Additional Resources
For more information visit the following pages:
- Introducing the new Microsoft 365 Personal and Family Subscriptions
- New Microsoft 365 offering for small and medium-sized businesses
| Thanks for reading my article. If you are interested in IT training & consulting services, please reach out to me. Visit ZubairAlexander.com for information on my professional background. |
Copyright © 2020 SeattlePro Enterprises, LLC. All rights reserved.
