If you have been using Microsoft’s productivity services for several years, you’re probably very familiar with the name Office 365.
In 2020, however, Microsoft is placing greater emphasis on a different name:
Microsoft 365.
This has understandably created some confusion.
Is Office disappearing?
Are Word and Excel being replaced?
Is Microsoft 365 something completely different?
Let’s take a closer look.
What Changed in April 2020?
Microsoft announced an expansion of the Microsoft 365 branding during 2020.
For Microsoft’s consumer offerings, Microsoft announced new Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions as an evolution of the corresponding Office 365 subscriptions, with the refresh rolling out by April 21, 2020.
The important point is that Microsoft 365 is designed to communicate something broader than the traditional concept of Microsoft Office.
Office Is More Than Desktop Applications Now
Ask most computer users what Microsoft Office means and they will probably mention Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook.
That made perfect sense in an era when Office primarily meant applications installed on a PC.
Cloud computing has changed the experience.
Modern Microsoft productivity includes cloud storage, collaboration, online services and applications that can be accessed across multiple device types.
Microsoft’s current description of Microsoft 365 calls it a productivity cloud spanning work and life, with Office continuing as part of the wider Microsoft 365 experience.
Why Change the Name?
The change makes more sense when we look at Microsoft’s wider strategy.
Microsoft 365 is increasingly about connecting pieces of a user’s working environment.
A modern employee may use Windows, Outlook, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint, Word, Excel and a range of cloud services during a normal working day.
Calling the entire experience “Office” could make it sound like everything still revolves around traditional desktop productivity applications.
Microsoft 365 gives Microsoft a much broader identity for its cloud productivity ecosystem.
Does Office 365 Completely Disappear?
No.
This is one of the details hidden behind some of the headlines about the change.
Certain Office 365 product names continue to exist, particularly in enterprise licensing.
For example, a Microsoft Q&A response published at the time specifically noted that the April 2020 consumer branding changes did not change the Office 365 E3 subscription into Microsoft 365 E3.
Microsoft 365 E3 and Office 365 E3 should therefore not simply be treated as two names for exactly the same enterprise subscription.
That distinction matters when organizations evaluate licensing.
A Broader Microsoft Ecosystem
For administrators, perhaps the more interesting development is how many Microsoft technologies are now interacting.
Identity can affect application access.
Device management can affect corporate-security decisions.
OneDrive and SharePoint can influence how employees store information.
Teams changes how employees communicate.
Microsoft’s environment increasingly functions as an ecosystem rather than a collection of isolated products.
What Does This Mean for IT Professionals?
The name may be changing, but the more important change is in the skills administrators need.
Traditional Office support knowledge remains useful.
Exchange administration remains useful.
Windows administration remains useful.
However, Microsoft cloud administrators increasingly need to understand how these technologies connect.
An issue that appears to be an Office problem could actually involve identity, licensing, endpoint configuration or cloud storage.
Final Thoughts
The transition from Office 365 toward Microsoft 365 is an appropriate symbol for Microsoft’s wider transformation.
Microsoft Office was historically a productivity software suite.
Microsoft 365 represents a much larger collection of cloud-connected productivity experiences and services.
For users, many familiar applications remain.
For administrators, however, the message is clear.
Managing modern Microsoft environments increasingly means understanding the entire ecosystem rather than one product at a time.