Microsoft 365 Business was created for small and midsize customers with little to no IT resources on staff who want the best-in-class productivity and collaborative capabilities of Office 365 combined with device management and security solutions that protect business data. Microsoft 365 Business is a solution designed for small and midsize businesses, combining the productivity and collaborative capabilities of Office 365 with device management and security solutions to protect business data. Microsoft 365 Business gives your customers the ability to:
- Create and design with powerful tools like PowerPoint, Outlook, Word, Excel, OneNote and Access.
- Be productive wherever they are, with business-class email from Outlook and access to cloud files with OneDrive.
- Host online meetings and get instant messaging with Skype for Business.
- Collaborate in real time with the chat-based workspace Microsoft Teams.
- Protect their business by applying malware protection for Windows devices with Windows Defender.
- Safeguard data with App Protection for Office mobile apps and Mobile Device Management for Windows 10 PCs.
- Be secured and up-to-date with Office 365 updates and Windows 10.
- Easily manage technology costs with simple per user, per month pricing.
Microsoft has options when it comes to productivity and security management offerings that small and medium-sized clients might consider when upgrading their devices, each providing powerful features and functionality.
Office 365 Business Premium provides top-of-the-line productivity with Office 365 apps and services, but does not offer the application protection and device management capabilities of Microsoft 365 Business.
Microsoft 365 Business combines Office 365 apps and services with mobile application management and Windows 10 Pro to allow remote management and help guard devices from malware and viruses. Microsoft 365 Business best serves small to midsize businesses.
Microsoft 365 Enterprise is a set of licensing plans that have increased levels of mobility and security management over Microsoft 365 Business. These plans were created for enterprise customers that are required to keep data protected.
Customers are able to purchase up to 300 Microsoft 365 Business licenses for their organization. An organization’s IT requirements may add the need for a Microsoft 365 Enterprise license to the same environment.
When it comes to an environment composed of multiple subscription types, customers should work with their trusted IT advisors to determine how best to manage and secure the many subscription offers. This is due to the fact that Microsoft 365 Business and Microsoft 365 Enterprise utilize different capabilities to secure and manage data and applications.
Yes, clients can combine Microsoft 365 Business subscriptions with subscriptions and add- ons from Office 365, Azure and Dynamics.
No, it’s not required for everyone to have a Microsoft 356 Business subscription. That said, only users with devices managed with a Microsoft 365 Business subscription have the security and management benefits.
An IT environment that has been standardized typically experiences lower costs in maintenance and security, and is an environment that all organizations should strive to attain. But, we realize that some small and medium-sized organizations usually update their software when they update their hardware. Organizations can choose to use Microsoft Business 365 in specific parts of their organization, but it’s strongly recommended to be deployed for all users for the best protection of private business data.
Windows 10 Business is a group of cloud services and device management capabilities that go well with Windows 10 Pro and enable the concentrated management and security controls of Microsoft 365 Business. Windows 10 Business also comes with Windows Autopilot, which consolidates the deployment of new Windows 10 PCs. Microsoft 365 Business provides an upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for devices that are licensed for Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 Professional.
It’s becoming increasingly common for employees to prefer using their own mobile phone or device to access personal and work information. This practice increases cybersecurity risks, since information could more easily end up in the wrong hands.
Microsoft 365 Business provides customers an easy and effective way of enabling employees to use their own devices for work while providing the business with the capabilities to prevent specific devices from accessing, retaining or sharing business information.
App Protection for Office mobile helps apps protect Office data, like: email, calendar, contacts, and documents on iOS and Android mobile devices, by enacting policies like automatically erasing business data after a certain amount of time of not connecting to the service. It also requires that information is stored only to OneDrive for Business, and requests a PIN/fingerprint verification to access Office apps and prevents business data from being copied from an Office app to personal apps.
Yes, customers are able to switch their qualifying plans, but there may be a decrease or increase to monthly price depending on their current plan.
Public Preview of Microsoft 365
Partners, new customers and existing Office 365 subscribers in areas where Office 365 is available can gain access to the Microsoft 365 Business preview. There’s no charge for the preview from Microsoft. There may be charges for deployment services to set up Microsoft 365 Business preview, but there will be no charge for the preview license.
Microsoft 365 Business can be used with existing Office 365 Business Premium subscriptions. Office 365 Business Premium subscribers are encouraged to use their existing subscription and it’s unnecessary for them to install Office 365 with the preview. Customers will continue to be charged for any active Office 365 plan for which they are subscribed.
Each organization can have up to 300 users on Microsoft 365 Business during the preview.
Deployment of Microsoft 365
Microsoft 365 Business is equipped with a full set of mobile app management capabilities powered by Microsoft Intune. These are a subset of Intune features, that were selected to meet the needs of SMBs and organized to be easily managed with a simple administrative experience. If an organization needs all the capabilities of Intune, they can purchase a Microsoft 365 Enterprise plan.
The management and security features of Microsoft 365 Business pertain only to mobile devices and Windows PCs. Microsoft 365 Business does not currently have the capabilities to manage MacOS.
Windows AutoPilot is a service that streamlines the deployment of new Windows 10 PCs. There are centralized management controls in Microsoft 365 Business that a user can leverage to complete this process. Details can be found here.
Compatibility of Microsoft 365
If your current hardware runs Windows 7 Professional or later, it most likely meets the minimum requirements for Microsoft 365 Business. There are Windows 10 features such as Cortana, Windows Hello and multi-touch require specific hardware that’s only available on newer PCs. See the Windows 10 Pro system requirements for specifics.
While the existing desktop (Win32) application compatibility is strong in Windows 10, the majority of existing applications working without needed to be changed. You can review the Office system requirements to help make the transition to Microsoft 365 Business smooth.
Customers that use on-premises Active Directory need to switch to cloud identity and management as part of their deployment. The existing Windows 10 Pro PCs should be running Creators Update.
Yes, all the add-ons that can be added to Office 365 Business Premium can be added to Microsoft 365 Business. These add-ons are: Advanced Threat Protection, Advanced Security Management, Customer Lockbox, Advanced eDiscovery, MyAnalytics, PowerBI Pro and PSTN Conferencing.
No. Right now, these capabilities are reserved for customers with more advanced needs.
Yes, you can add on additional archiving or storage.
No, Windows 10 Enterprise E5 or Microsoft 365 Enterprise E5 is required for customers that require Windows Defender Advanced Threat Protection.
Yes, Windows Information Protection (WIP) is a feature of Windows 10 Pro and helps businesses avoid accidental leaks by limiting user and app access to business files based on policies you set. Your business data is protected regardless of where it lives in your devices, without affecting your customers’ user experience. Microsoft 365 Business is equipped with controls to ensure Windows Information Protection is accurately setup and automatically deployed to end-user devices.
To experience the whole value of Windows 10, Windows 10 PCs should be joined to Azure Active Directory. Customers can use Microsoft 365 Business with Windows 10 devices joined to on-premises Active Directory, however it is not recommended as they won’t have the ability to enforce policies from the Microsoft 365 Business Admin console.
No, customers that require this feature need to purchase Windows 10 Enterprise or a Microsoft 365 Enterprise subscription.