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🌀 Office 365 Gets a New Name

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Sometimes it starts with a name. And sometimes… a name change unleashes confusion, support tickets, and endless “Wait—what exactly do I have now?” questions. April 21st, 2020 marks such a moment in Microsoft Cloud history. All Office 365 Business plans officially become Microsoft 365.

Now, before you rush to your admin portal or update your license comparison slide deck—breathe. The world didn’t end. But it did get a little more complex.

Let’s break it down. 🤓

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🧭 Why the Name Change?

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According to Microsoft, this move is all about clarity and alignment. (Yes, really.)

“The new naming reflects the range of features and benefits in the subscription, to meet the unique needs of businesses.”
— Microsoft Product Marketing

Translation? Microsoft 365 isn’t just about Office apps anymore. It’s Teams, OneDrive, cloud security, identity management, and more. All bundled to support a modern workplace.

So instead of “Office 365 Business,” we now call it “Microsoft 365 Business”. Even if nothing (yet) changed under the hood. It’s like sticking a new label on the same trusty toolkit, while subtly signaling what’s ahead.

That being said… I feel you, fellow licensing folks. This change adds complexity, not simplicity, at least in the short term.

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📦 Microsoft 365 ≠ Microsoft 365

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One of the trickiest bits? Microsoft now has three major Microsoft 365 “flavors”:

• Microsoft 365 for Home → formerly Office 365 Home / Personal
• Microsoft 365 for Business → for smal and midsize businesses!
• Microsoft 365 for Enterprise → hello, E3/E5 lovers, this is for the big ones

And each tier behaves a little differently. For example:
The Home plans include Word, Excel, and OneDrive—but not Teams for business, or enterprise-grade security. Which makes perfect sense as this is for private use only.
The Business plans now include Teams and optional security tools, but until now no Windows or EMS. The new premium tier now includes Windows and EMS. These plans are still limited to 300 licenses each.
The Enterprise plans may include everything, including security, device management, and licensing for Windows 10.

This makes conversations with clients fun… and by fun, I mean “deep breath, open Visio, let’s make a diagram.”

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🔄 What’s Changing for Small and Midsize Businesses?

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Here’s the practical part: only the names are changing. The features, prices, and services stay the same—for now.

Here’s the translation chart:

Old Name	New Name	What It Includes
Office 365 Business Essentials	Microsoft 365 Business Basic	Email, OneDrive, Teams, Web apps only
Office 365 Business	Microsoft 365 Apps for Business	Office desktop apps, OneDrive—but no Teams or Exchange
Office 365 Business Premium	Microsoft 365 Business Standard	Full Office suite + Teams + Exchange + SharePoint
Microsoft 365 Business	Microsoft 365 Business Premium	Same as Standard + EMS + Windows 10

🧠 Nerd Note: Only Microsoft 365 Business Premium (the new one) includes Windows 10 + EMS licensing. All others are just “Office + cloud goodies.”

See the full featurelist here: Pläne und Preise für Microsoft 365 Business vergleichen

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🏢 What About the Enterprise (E) Plans?

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Good news: almost everything stays the same.

Only Office 365 ProPlus changes name—to Microsoft 365 Apps for Enterprise. Everything else remains for now:

• Office 365 E1, E3, E5 → no change
• Microsoft 365 E3, E5 → no change
• Office 365 F1 → still F1 (not the race car, sadly)

So if you’re working in large enterprise environments—breathe easy. Your naming headaches are postponed… for now.

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🎓 What About Education & Government?

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Nothing changes here. Schools, universities, and government entities continue using the same plans:

Education:

• Office 365 A1 / A3 / A5
• Microsoft 365 A3 / A5

Government:

• Office 365 G1 / G3 / G5
• Microsoft 365 G3 / G5

Why? Possibly to avoid disrupting public sector procurement. Or maybe they just didn’t want to risk confusing teachers more than absolutely necessary. 😅

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💬 So… Why Should You Care?

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If you’re:

• An IT admin managing Microsoft 365 subscriptions
• A licensing consultant supporting SMB clients
• A project manager rolling out Microsoft Teams
• Or just someone who wants to sound smart in a client meeting…

…then knowing the new naming scheme is essential. Even if the features didn’t change, the conversation did.

Because when your client says “We have Microsoft 365 Business,” your first question now has to be:

“Old one or new one?”
Followed by:
“What exactly do you want to do?”

Yes, it’s a bit of a maze. But hey—that’s why you have me. 😉

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📌 Summary – What You Need to Know

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• April 21, 2020: Office 365 Business plans officially renamed to Microsoft 365 Business
• No feature changes (yet), but the new names hint at broader value beyond just “Office”
• Small Business Plans got new names but mostly kept their content
• Enterprise Plans unchanged except Office ProPlus → M365 Apps for Enterprise
• Education & Government Plans remain untouched

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🧠 Final Thoughts from Mr. Microsoft

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Naming changes in the Microsoft ecosystem are like weather in April:
Mostly expected, slightly confusing, occasionally disruptive.

But with a bit of clarity (and the right diagrams), you’ll be guiding your clients through the licensing jungle like a true Microsoft Cloud Pathfinder.

As always: if you need help figuring out which plan fits best, whether your license includes Windows 10, or how to migrate from O365 Business to M365 Premium—you know where to find me.

Stay clever. Stay curious.
Your Mr. Microsoft,
Uwe Zabel

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👓 Want more insights on Microsoft 365 licensing, Teams, or cloud strategy? Dive into zabu.cloud and explore the full knowledge vault.
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