Microsoft has been listening to its customers and partners to make it easier for small businesses to choose the right solution. They’ve removed all of the convoluted alternatives, which, to be honest, perplexed us all and replaced them with a more straightforward Office 365 plan structure.
In this post, we will be looking at the best office365 business package for businesses and everything you need to know about them.
Make sure you read through this post to the end as it promises to be very helpful.
Table of contents
About Microsoft
Since introducing Microsoft Works in 1986, Microsoft applications have been crucial tools for small business owners. Microsoft Office was first published in 1989, and it swiftly surpassed WordPerfect and Lotus in popularity.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint are all part of that productivity package, which is now widely used. Microsoft continues to improve and expand its business operations, adding security features, mobile device management, contacts management, and a slew of other useful features. The number of alternatives available to businesses might be overwhelming.
Microsoft has made it a little more difficult to understand the differences between the products it offers today. There are a few comparison tables on the company’s website, but sorting through the plethora of services in various packages – all with the same name – may be a laborious effort.
What is Office 365?
Microsoft 365, formerly known as Office 365, is a subscription service from Microsoft that complements and expands on the Microsoft Office product range.
On July 10, 2017, the brand was established for a combination of Office 365 and Windows 10 Enterprise licenses and other cloud-based security and device management products.
The consumer and small business Office 365 plans were renamed Microsoft 365 on April 21, 2020, to reflect their present inclusion of goods and services outside of the core Microsoft Office software family (including cloud-based productivity tools and artificial intelligence features). On the same day, most Office 365 products were renamed Microsoft 365.
Microsoft 365 includes subscription plans that provide you access to the Microsoft Office software suite for the duration of your subscription, as well as cloud-based software-as-a-service solutions for businesses such as hosted Exchange Server, Skype for Business Server, and SharePoint.
In contrast to traditional licenses for these products, which require the purchase of a new license for each new version, all Microsoft 365 subscriptions feature free automatic upgrades to their respective software. For subscription services aimed at some enterprise markets, the Office 365 branding is still used.
Small Business Packages
All of Microsoft’s business software products can accommodate up to 300 people, making them perfect for small organizations. There are four primary packages to consider:
- 365 Business
- Office 365 Business
- Office 365 Business Essentials
- Office 365 Business Premium
Microsoft Business Essentials
This is the cheapest plan, and it largely comprises web-based features. You won’t get any of the desktop Office applications – PowerPoint, Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, or OneNote – if you sign up for Essentials, but you will get web versions of all of them except OneNote and Access. Web apps and cloud-based services are the primary focus of Essentials.
Exchange for email, OneDrive, and Skype for Business are all included in the bundle. Microsoft Essentials members have access to SharePoint for team file sharing, Microsoft Teams for intra-office discussions, and Yammer, a company-wide social media network, besides these three collaboration tools.
Essentials is a terrific tool for a company that wants to move rapidly and efficiently using solely online apps and has a high-speed internet connection.
It’s also ideal for tiny businesses with only a few employees wanting to keep everything online. This service is like Google’s G Suite, which includes similar web-based tools and email clients for collaboration but lacks Teams and Yammer.
Further reading: I’m Proficient In Microsoft Office. Should I Add It To My Resume?
What’s The Price Of Microsoft 365 Business Essentials?
There are two alternatives for the Office 365 Business Essentials plan:
- $5.02 per month per user (if paid annually)
- $5.94 per month per user (if paid monthly)
Note that these prices do not include VAT.
You would save $11.09 per user per year if you paid the annual fee rather than the monthly fee. A corporation with 50 users would result in a $554.75 in annual savings. Microsoft 365 Business Basic costs $3,011.52 per year, minus VAT, for a company with 50 employees.
Office 365 Business
Office 365 Business is the polar opposite of Essentials; all of Essentials’ web-based functions are absent from Office 365 Business. Instead, customers can use Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, and Access on their computers.
While Office 365 Business includes Outlook, it does not include access to Exchange’s business-class email hosting. This means you can use Outlook to manage your current email, but you won’t be able to create a business-specific email.
Teams is not directly covered in this concept with Microsoft’s other communication programs. The corporation did, however, recently release a free version of Teams.
So, if the Office 365 Business plan suits your needs, but you want to use Teams for communication, you may still join up. Because it is a free edition, it will likely have fewer features than the paid version.
The online storage system OneDrive is included in this plan. However, SharePoint is not. Both tools can accomplish the same goal: storing documents in the cloud and sharing them with coworkers.
SharePoint has more capabilities than OneDrive, including Dashboards for displaying business news and announcements, Sites for centralizing a team’s documents, and Workflows for setting up notifications for document editing.
Because of Office 365 Business, it’s ideal for small organizations wishing to take advantage of Microsoft’s core apps. Office 365 Business is a basic app-based subscription option that does not include collaboration tools like Teams and SharePoint or business-class email hosting.
This bundle combines Essentials’ web services with Office 365 Business’s desktop access into a single subscription option that includes the full range of both apps and services.
Business Premium customers receive access to additional apps and services for small businesses, such as Microsoft Bookings, an online appointment booking tool, besides all of the capabilities included in Essentials and 365 Business.
This plan suits slightly larger businesses that rely on customer meetings to succeed (think contractors, dentists, movers, stylists, etc.). Business Premium is an excellent choice for bigger groups wanting access to web-based and desktop collaboration capabilities.
There are two alternatives for the Office 365 Business Premium plan:
- $12.42 per month per user (if paid annually)
- $14.93 per month per user (if paid monthly)
VAT is not included in the prices; a free trial is available.
You’ll save $30.12 per user per year if you pay annually rather than monthly. Paying the annual charge would save you $1,505.95 over a year if you run a company of 50 employees. Office 365 Business Premium for a year would cost upwards of $7,450.31 for a similar-sized organization.
Microsoft 365 Business
This plan includes all the features of 365 Business Premium, new apps such as https://www.businessnewsdaily.com, and security and mobile device management tools. Microsoft intended to create a unified solution for small business owners who wanted to use all of Microsoft’s products and services while also improving their IT security.
Connections is a Microsoft 365 Business email marketing solution that integrates with the rest of the platform. Users can write newsletters, make announcements, and keep track of referrals. Invoicing is a QuickBooks-compatible program that allows you to create custom-made, professional corporate invoices.
The enhanced security features of Microsoft 365 Business are another significant enhancement. When subscribers sign up, they will be automatically upgraded to Windows 10, and Windows Defender will be turned on with automatic updates. Admins can manage employee information access by creating user groups in the admin dashboard.
Microsoft 365 Business also has built-in mobile device control capabilities, such as requiring a PIN to access business accounts and preventing work and personal email from being mixed.
Microsoft 365 Business enables small business owners to take advantage of all of Microsoft’s products while also incorporating security protections that may be required for a developing company.
Ransomware and phishing prevention and the company recently announced additional measures to avoid inadvertent data leaks within businesses. These functionalities can be used with or without a full-fledged IT department, as Microsoft designed the admin dashboard for small-business owners.
Difference between Office 365 and Office 365 Business
While a company owns the Office 365 for Business subscription, each Office 365 for Home subscription is managed by a unique user. As a result, the business can give administrator roles to multiple users in the group.
When you consider the best certifications, Microsoft takes the top spot. Consider: 30 Best IT Certifications to get in 2023
Which is the best option for your company?
Assessing your business needs is the first step in determining which of these packages is ideal for you. Consider the size of your company, the many services you require and use, and how new programs could help your company.
Because these subscription packages can scale with your company, starting with fewer features at a lower price may be better rather than a slew of applications and services. Most commitments are yearly. However, you can change plans by utilizing the Switch Plans button in the admin center.
The most crucial thing is to join a service with apps you and your coworkers will utilize. Programs like Yammer and SharePoint are useless if they aren’t used, so if you don’t need them, choosing a subscription package that doesn’t include them for a lesser price can be worth it.
It’s also worth noting that these membership options include access to the Microsoft app store. So, if you’re a Business Premium member, you may still get apps like Connections or Invoicing from the app store. On the other hand, less expensive subscription alternatives may not provide the same level of app store access as a Business Premium subscription.
Variety is one advantage of Microsoft’s small company packages. Microsoft offers a variety of powerful tools that can help your business, and they all come in different bundles, allowing you to pick the one that best suits your needs.
In subscriptions, remember that these products and services should scale with your company; you shouldn’t sign up for the most expensive plan and hope that your company grows into it. One of the best elements of Microsoft’s plan is its flexibility, so take use of it.
FAQs
Office apps can be installed on up to five PCs or Macs, five tablets, and five mobile devices for subscribers. Hybrid Windows devices, such as the Microsoft Surface Pro, can be classified as PCs or tablets.
With best-in-class Office programs, intelligent cloud services, and robust security, Microsoft 365 is the productivity cloud designed to help each of us achieve what matters in our work and lives.
Office 365 Business and Enterprise are the best choices using cloud-based business tools. There are some differences between these two applications, but they both give you access to Office Online for data management and OneDrive for file storage.
Conclusion
Microsoft 365 business packages have proven to be super helpful. Getting these packages can transform your business and your finances as they offer services that are pocket friendly.
We hope you found this post very helpful. Let us know what you think.
Cheers!
References
- businessnewsdaily.com – Which Microsoft 365 Platform Is Right for Your Business?
- wikipedia.org – Microsoft 365
- superfast-it.com – Which Microsoft 365 plan should I buy for a small business?
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