MICROSOFT 365 VS. OFFICE 365: ATTACK OF THE CLONES?

Hope you could still remember our first tip to you which is don’t be confused with the terms! We briefly discussed the difference between Microsoft 365 vs. Office 365 in our first adventure saga right? Meanwhile, in Star Wars II Obi-Wan's investigation leads him to the mysterious ocean planet of Kamino, where he discovered an army of clones. On the other hand in Geonosis, he discovered a Separatist gathering led by Count Dooku, who Obi-Wan learns authorized Padmé's assassination and is developing a droid army with Trade Federation... so the clone war began!  

Now let us back to our subject matter but let us use our Jedi Master’s investigative abilities to know the difference between Microsoft 365 and Office 365; also for you to discover if they are clones that work against each other! Shall we? 

The easiest way to explain the difference is that Office 365 is part of the Microsoft 365 bundle; to further elaborate, the former is largely focused on the applications that you use on a daily basis like MS Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel and depending on the plan you get, subscriptions also include apps and services like: Skype for Business, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams, Yammer, Planner and many more, along with excellent productivity, collaboration, and security features whereas the latter is a bundle of services, it is much more than applications, it is a complete solution that includes: all Office 365 applications plus the Windows operating system itself as well as a variety of security and machine learning tools (Enterprise Mobility + Security) which they termed as EMS. 

Microsoft 365 could be a key element to simplifying common IT tasks. 

By using the Microsoft 365 admin center, you can create users, manage groups, and get access to other services, such as Intune, Azure Active Directory, and more. 

Like for example: you can create an iOS devices group in Microsoft 365, 

then, use Intune to push policies to the iOS devices cluster that target iOS options; such as access to the app store, using AirDrop, backing up to iCloud, 

using Apple’s web filter, and more. 

Both are paid for by a monthly subscription fee depends on the number of users and the package level purchased. Both can have fully installed Office applications on tablets, phones and PCs, as well as the web browser versions. However there are also differences in terms of device management. 

Do you have clearer understanding now? So don’t be confused, they are different platform and not the same but it’s important to realize that both are constantly improving, Microsoft is constantly adding new features and apps that make their cloud-based ecosystem even more beneficial for all. This means additional advantage because while you are paying either annually or monthly for access to these apps, you’re constantly gaining new features and free upgrades at the same time. Moreover, you’ll always have access to the latest Office 365 and Windows applications to ensure 

that your team members remain secure at all times in the face of growing cyber threats. Also if you are already using Office 365 then switching to Microsoft 365 is easy, will be more cost effective, less time consuming and less expensive to manage. This will promote more collaboration with each of your team. They can work on a variety of devices and they can be anywhere when working.