Yes, that’s right, they are changing the name “Office 365” to “Microsoft 365”, as of April 21, 2020.
There is nothing for you to do, and, the pricing and features will remain the same with all the packages for now. This is just a marketing play and branding change, primarily (more on this below), which we wanted our customers to have the “heads up” with. Your subscription names will update automatically in the admin center and your monthly billing statements, on or after April 21, 2020. With your new invoices, you will notice the new Microsoft 365 packages/names itemized on the bill. See here for the existing Office 365 packages/names and the new names for the same “Microsoft 365” packages: Office 365 Business Essentials is now called Microsoft 365 Business Basic Office 365 Business Premium is now called Microsoft 365 Business Standard Microsoft 365 Business is now called Microsoft 365 Business Premium Office 365 for Business is now called Microsoft 365 Apps for Business Office 365 ProPlus is now called Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise
As mentioned above, this is all about branding and marketing really but new features are being released to Microsoft 365 all the time, constantly adding more value. A few updates coming in parallel with these name changes include updates to the Microsoft Editor add on for Office. It can help make writing suggestions for you in Word and it has a “similarity checker” to help you avoid any plagiarism issues with your work. It includes some new, professionally designed templates for Power Point, and more. “An evolution of Office 365, Microsoft 365 builds on the foundation of Office infusing new artificial intelligence (AI), rich content and templates, and cloud-powered experiences to empower you to become a better writer, presenter, designer, manager of your finances, and deepen your connection to the people in your life. These experiences start rolling out today and will reach the over 38 million Office 365 subscribers over the next few months,” Tech Republic My favourite update, coming soon, is the ability to create and choose a custom background in Teams, which projects behind you during a Team’s video meetings. Currently you can opt to “blur background” in a Teams meeting but soon (in May) you will be able to create custom corporate images to insert into your background, or chose from some pre-stocked images of nice, clean home office backgrounds. 😊 To track all the new feature planned for Microsoft 365 you can visit the Microsoft 365 roadmap site anytime! Regarding the name changes, keep an eye out for the new names on your upcoming Microsoft 365 invoice and feel free to give us a call with any questions!
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