What is Microsoft 365?
As a product line, Microsoft Office dates back nearly three decades, with early versions essentially combining Word, Excel, and PowerPoint into a discounted bundle. Microsoft office 365 (Previously Known as Office 365), which has been available since 2011, differs from that old-fashioned bundle in two respects: First, it's licensed as a monthly or annual subscription rather than as a perpetual license. Second, it combines a suite of online services, including business-class email, cloud file storage, and secure communication tools along with the traditional desktop apps.
Because it's a subscription offering, those desktop programs are updated automatically when a new version is available. If your subscription is current, you get the latest versions, which are typically updated every six months, on the same calendar as Windows 10.
Microsoft 365 is available in Family and Personal editions (previously known as Office 365 Home and Personal, respectively) that are intended for use by families, students, and individuals for personal, non-commercial use.
n this guide, we cover the multitude of Microsoft 365 Business and Enterprise editions, which offer a more advanced feature set than the Family and Personal editions, with collaborative applications and management tools that are designed for meeting enterprise security and compliance challenges.
Which online services are in Microsoft 365?
The exact mix of apps and services available with a Microsoft 365 subscription depends on which edition you've chosen. The following five services are common to all business and enterprise plans:
EXCHANGE ONLINE
This business-class email offering gives every Microsoft 365 subscriber in your organization a 50 GB mailbox, with the ability to access email through a web browser or using the Outlook app on Windows, a Mac, or mobile devices. Malware and spam filtering are built in, as are basic features like shared mailboxes and (for some Microsoft 365 subscriptions) advanced features like e Discovery.
ONE DRIVE FOR BUSINESS
Every Microsoft 365 subscriber gets 1 TB of personal One Drive storage, with sync clients available for every desktop platform. The Windows 10 client uses the same sync client as the consumer One Drive service, keeping data in a separate location. The Files on Demand feature allows users to view and manage cloud-based storage using File Explorer. Administrators of Enterprise plans can upgrade users to unlimited storage if a terabyte is not enough.
SHARE POINT ONLINE
The SharePoint interface is now sleek where it was once clunky, allowing teams to share files and sync information in File Explorer using the same desktop client as inn One Drive. Both SharePoint and Exchange Online include administrative controls to restrict users from sharing confidential information outside the organization.
MICROSOFT TEAMS
This collaborative platform replaces the older Skype for Business service, offering unified communications, HD video conferencing, and instant messaging for Microsoft 365 subscribers in an organization, along with a team-and-channel-based architecture that covers much of the same feature set as alternatives like Slack.
ADDITIONAL SERVICES
Some Microsoft 365 plans include services targeted for specific audiences. The Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Business Premium plans, for example, include services for small and medium-sized businesses; these tools include Microsoft Bookings, which allows customers to schedule and manage appointments, and Mile IQ, a mileage-tracking service. All Enterprise plans include the Yammer social networking service and a selection of business automation tools, including Microsoft Power Apps to build custom forms, Power Automate to streamline repetitive workflows, and Power BI Pro, an advanced business analytics tool.
Which desktop apps are available in Microsoft 365?
Every Microsoft 365 Microsoft 365 plan with access to desktop apps includes the following Office 2019 applications for Windows 7 and later and for Mac OS: Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and One Note. On Windows PCs only, Access and Publisher are available. These apps are updated automatically to the latest version, with monthly security updates and twice-annual feature updates.
Microsoft 365 subscriptions provide per-user licenses, which means that the apps can be installed and used on up to five phones, five tablets, and five PCs or Macs simultaneously. From their own subscription portal, a user can manage installs without having to enter product keys or worry about activation. By contrast, perpetual-license versions of Office are typically licensed for use on one device only and cannot be transferred.
Web-based versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint offer fairly robust tools that allow editing of files stored in One Drive for Business. These tools work in any desktop browser without requiring additional software. Most business plans also offer Outlook on the web.
On mobile devices, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are available for iOS and Android; these allow viewing and editing capabilities when you sign in with an active subscription. Mobile apps are also available for Microsoft 365 services, including One Drive, Skype for Business, and Microsoft Teams.
Managing Microsoft 365 in an organization
Microsoft 365 includes a management dashboard that administrators can use to manage licenses, subscriptions, features, and security. That console can be overwhelming, and even then some features can only be managed through powerful Command.
Even in small organizations, it's crucial to have a skilled Office 365 administrator who can manage users and configure security options properly. Unless you have in-house staff with proper training, it's worth outsourcing this management task to a managed service provider.
At a minimum, every administrator should know the following entry points for Office 365 management:
Microsoft Office Portal Users can access web-based services here and also manage installations of Office desktop apps.
Microsoft 365 Admin Center For those users who have also been assigned administrator roles, this portal includes configuration options for managing users and groups, licenses, and billing. Options at the bottom of the navigation pane allow access to admin centers for specific services, such as Exchange Online and One Drive for Business.
Azure Active Directory Admin Center Every Microsoft 365 business subscription also includes a free Azure Active Directory account. Administrators can manage users and devices from this portal and can also configure relationships with outside organizations and existing local servers. Note that some features require premium Azure AD subscriptions.
Securing accounts and content
Microsoft 365 services are designed to be secure by default. You can make several changes to default settings to strike the proper balance between security and convenience.
First, enable multi-factor authentication by Signing into the Azure Active Directory portal as a global administrator. Each user needs to provide alternate means of contact, such as a phone number for receiving SMS messages. The Microsoft Authentication app is especially useful as a primary means of generating one-time codes or receiving push notifications for signing in to Office 365 services.
Next, enable the self-service password reset. You'll find a link to this option in the Security & Policy section of the Microsoft 365 Admin Portal.
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