Microsoft has repeatedly overhauled its office suite and business applications in recent years. In Office 365, the company has moved almost all users to a subscription model.

But with multiple tiers of service, not all business users receive the same feature sets. This led to confusion among customers.

Microsoft then changed the name again from Office 365 to simply Microsoft 365. In doing so, they again added new features and functionality.

All this brings us to today. Microsoft 365 is a truly impressive and powerful business suite. But too many people don't understand what exactly is included in each package or price point.

At Fanetech, we help businesses of all sizes with their IT needs. Our mission is to empower companies in the changing business IT landscape. With that goal in mind, here's our in-depth guide to Microsoft 365, which focuses on what makes Microsoft 365 Business Premium an attractive choice for most businesses.

What is Microsoft 365 for business?

Microsoft describes the Microsoft 365 offering as “your productivity cloud for work and life.” It's a unique combination of the Office apps you know and love, plus trusted, powerful cloud and security services. Depending on the tier or package you choose, Microsoft 365 may also include device management and other IT and access controls across your company.

Microsoft 365 is the successor to Microsoft Office 365, which itself offered much more than just the Office suite that Microsoft is famous for. Over the years, Microsoft has continued to add more and more features to its Office 365 platform. Productivity and collaboration tools like Teams have joined other cloud tools like OneDrive and SharePoint to expand the platform.

Microsoft continued to add more and more features, including security and deployment tools. Office 365 had grown to such an extent that calling it an office suite no longer made sense. Yes, the office suite was and remains the central component, but now the product contains much more - hence the name change. Microsoft 365 is now a comprehensive solution for an incredibly wide range of IT needs and business functions.

Unfortunately, many people still think of Microsoft 365 (or Office 365) as a collection of Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and Outlook. We want to help business leaders discover what Microsoft 365 has to offer in 2022.

Four tiers of Microsoft 365 for business

 Not every company needs the same features or levels of support. And if you're only using half the functionality, you probably won't want to pay full price.

In an effort to meet the needs of most businesses, the company offers four levels of business services within Microsoft 365. Here's a look at the basics of each of these service levels. Then we'll focus on some of the most important benefits of Microsoft 365 Business Premium and show how these features can improve your IT operations.

Microsoft 365 Business Basic

As the name suggests, Microsoft 365 Business Basic is the most basic offering available. We can't recommend it for most businesses because the package only contains web and mobile versions of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

The Business Basic plan includes cloud services such as Teams, Exchange, OneDrive, and SharePoint. It also has the same security and compliance tools as other packages. But most companies will need access to desktop versions of Office programs.

This package does not offer PC and mobile device management or advanced threat protection.

If your business is highly mobile and your users don't need Office desktop applications on their computers, the Business Basic plan can save you money.

Microsoft 365 Apps

Microsoft's other budget plan is called Microsoft 365 Apps. This plan provides a full suite of premium desktop applications, including the following:

• Outlook
• Word
• Excel
• PowerPoint
• Publisher (PC)
• Access (PC)

However, there is a lot missing here. You don't get TeaMS, corporate email, Exchange support, or many other advanced features.

Essentially, this is a package for companies that lack digital transformation. If all you need is the Office suite and a little more, Microsoft 365 Apps may be the package for you.

Microsoft 365 Business Standard

Businesses looking for a more robust plan should start with Microsoft 365 Business Standard. Of the two full-featured business plans, Business Standard does not include some advanced features in exchange for a lower cost.

Business Standard customers get access to web, mobile and desktop Office applications, as well as a standard set of cloud services (Teams, Exchange, OneDrive and SharePoint). They get enterprise email and calendar powered by Exchange, robust collaboration tools including guest links and cross-device syncing, and the latest Microsoft security and compliance offerings.

The Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan is a potential choice for many businesses. However, the few things that are left out of the plan can be truly transformative. Below we outline the features and functionality available to Business Premium customers. You can then determine if these powerful add-ons are right for your business.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the most expensive and robust of the four plans. It gives businesses impressive opportunities that other plans do not offer.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium includes everything included in Business Standard, plus the following revolutionary features and functionality.

In terms of cloud services, Business Premium users have access to Intune and Azure Information Protection (AIP). Intune is a cloud-based tool for both mobile device management and mobile app management, and AIP allows you to discover, classify, and protect documents.

Another major addition to Business Premium is the Microsoft Advanced Threat Protection Suite, which includes access control tools, remote device wipe capability, Microsoft Defender, and more.

Most importantly, Business Premium gives you tools to manage both your PC and mobile devices. As your business grows, it becomes critical to monitor your employees' devices, both for employee convenience and security purposes.

For businesses that need advanced features like MDM, advanced threat protection, conditional access, and the ability to remotely configure, update, or even wipe computers, Microsoft 365 Business Premium is the best solution.

The same goes for companies that partner with IT outsourcing companies to meet their IT needs. Managed services firms will almost always offer implementation and support for device and application management, so IT firms will operate most effectively when this advanced framework is available to them.

Eat questions O Microsoft 365 Business Premium? Fanetech can help!

The powerful tools of Microsoft 365 Business Premium can make your employees' work exponentially more efficient. However, they can be difficult to set up and implement if you don't have experience.

Fanetech serves the IT needs of businesses across a wide range of industries. We're well versed in the tools included with Microsoft 365 Business Premium.

If you have questions about Microsoft 365 or aren't sure how to deploy certain Microsoft 365 Business Premium components, our team is happy to help.

Still have questions? Contact us Here.