Microsoft Office 365—now generally sold under the Microsoft 365 brand—is a subscription licensing model that bundles the familiar Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint Microsoft Office 365 License, Outlook) with cloud services like Exchange Online (email), OneDrive (storage), SharePoint (intranet/collaboration) and Teams (chat/meetings). Licenses are sold per user on a monthly or annual subscription basis Microsoft Office 365 License, giving organizations always-up-to-date apps and cloud features instead of one-time purchases.
License families and common plans
Licenses fall into broad families aimed at different audiences: Business plans for small/medium organizations Microsoft Office 365 License, Enterprise plans (E1/E3/E5) for larger companies, Education/nonprofit variants, and Frontline/Firstline worker plans. Business tiers (e.g., Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium) focus on small-business needs, while E3 and E5 add enterprise security, compliance, and analytics capabilities Microsoft Office 365 License. Choosing a family depends on scale, security needs, and whether full desktop apps are required.
What each license typically includes
At a minimum, most Office 365/Microsoft 365 licenses provide cloud email, file storage and sharing, Teams, and web/mobile Office apps Microsoft Office 365 License. Higher tiers add full desktop Office installations, advanced identity management (Azure AD Premium), threat protection (Microsoft Defender), information protection, and compliance tools. E5 is the most feature-rich for security, telephony, and analytics Microsoft Office 365 License; E3 covers core productivity plus baseline security and compliance. Add-ons (like Power BI Pro or advanced compliance suites) can be layered as needed.
Licensing model and administration
Licenses are assigned and managed in the Microsoft 365 admin center; administrators assign subscriptions to users, enable service-specific features Microsoft Office 365 License, and monitor usage. Activation of Microsoft 365 Apps requires assignment of a license to a user and sign-in to validate the subscription on devices. Licenses can be changed, upgraded, or reassigned as organizational needs evolve.
How to choose the right license
Start with needs: do users need full desktop Office or only web/mobile apps? Are advanced security, eDiscovery, or telephony required? For small teams Microsoft Office 365 License, Business Standard or Business Premium often suffices; for regulated industries or organizations needing advanced security/compliance, consider E3 or E5. Mix-and-match licensing per user is common—give high-privilege or high-risk users premium licenses Microsoft Office 365 License, and assign basic plans to occasional users. Use Microsoft’s plan comparison pages and feature matrices to map capabilities to roles before buying.
Cost and purchasing
Pricing varies by plan, region, and commitment term; Microsoft and cloud resellers both sell subscriptions. Volume licensing Microsoft Office 365 License, CSP (Cloud Solution Provider) partners, and enterprise agreements affect cost and management options. Always check Microsoft’s official pricing pages or trusted resellers for current rates and promotional terms.
Conclusion
An Office 365 (Microsoft 365) license is a flexible Microsoft Office 365 License, per-user subscription that combines desktop apps, cloud services, and security/compliance tools. The best choice balances productivity needs, security requirements, and budget—many organizations use multiple plan types concurrently Microsoft Office 365 License. For authoritative, up-to-date details on plans, features, and licensing rules, consult Microsoft’s licensing documentation and plan comparison pages.