Not all the cloud services included in Microsoft 365 are available in on-premises versions. Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Streams, for example, only exist as cloud services. However, some of the core Microsoft 365 services have existed as standalone server software products for years, and organizations planning a Microsoft 365 deployment might want to compare the cloud services to their corresponding on-premises versions, as in the following sections, before committing to one or the other.
Office Applications
As noted earlier, the Microsoft Office suite is a collection of productivity applications available as a standalone product for many years. Office 365—and, eventually, Microsoft 365—were introduced as subscription-based products enabling users to access the same applications in several ways. In most of the Microsoft 365 plans, it is still possible to install the applications on a Windows or Macintosh computer for online or offline use, but they are also available in the cloud for access on any device using a web browser. In addition, there are also non-Windows versions of the applications available for use on Android and iOS devices.
With the standalone Office product, currently called Office 2021, you pay only once and receive the productivity applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Publisher, and Outlook, but that’s all. The Office 2021 license is limited to a single device installation, while Microsoft 365 enables you to install the applications on up to five devices.
Free security updates to the current versions of the applications are released regularly, but not as frequently as the updates for Microsoft 365, which can also include new features. In the event of a major upgrade release, such as from Office 2019 to Office 2021, there is an additional charge for the standalone product. A Microsoft 365 subscription ensures that you always have the latest software version.
Office 2021 is available in several versions for different audiences, with differing price points. Basic versions, such as Office Home & Student 2021, include some of the applications (Word, Excel, and PowerPoint only), while Office Professional 2021 includes the entire suite of productivity applications but none of the Microsoft 365 cloud services. At this point in the life of the Office product, Microsoft is targeting Office 2021 at enterprises that “are not ready for the cloud” and that purchase volume licenses for the entire organization. Because Office 2021 is feature-locked, the applications do not change, which is something that corporate licensees might prefer to avoid interrupting their users’ productivity with new feature releases.
Microsoft 365 is available in several different subscription plans that provide cloud services in addition to the productivity applications, such as Exchange-based online email and extra OneDrive storage. The version of the productivity applications included in Microsoft 365, called Microsoft 365 Apps for Business, is integrated with all the cloud services described earlier in this chapter, including Exchange Online, SharePoint, OneDrive for Business, and Microsoft Teams. Integrating the Office applications with these services provides users with advanced intelligence and collaboration features unavailable with Office 2021.