This week, Microsoft released the business-facing editions of their updated Office 365 suited, following on the heels of their consumer-focused offering that hit streets in January. Like the consumer-focused version, many of the new Office 365 editions come bundled with the full Office 2013 suite or, if you’re a Mac user, Office 2011. As you may know, the Office software suite includes the following:

• Word
• Publisher
• Excel
• OneNote
• Outlook
• Access
• PowerPoint
• Lync

In all, Microsoft announced three new editions to their Office 365 lineup. Each is described below.

Office 365 ProPlus

Price: $12 per month/$144 annually

This is a software-only subscription and does not provide access to any Office 365 online services.

Users can also stream a full copy of Office to any PC with what Microsoft calls Office in Demand. With Office 365 ProPlus, users can install or use office on up to five separate devices. If you review the licensing terms for the feature-identical Office 2013 Professional suite, you will find that the traditional suite is available only through a volume license agreement and is tied to a single PC, making it much less flexible than the Office 365–based subscription offering.

I’ve seen some articles indicating that Microsoft’s Click To Run process, which is how Office 365 is installed locally, means that the computer must always be connected to the Internet in order for Office to operate. That is not the case! Once Office 365 is installed, it can be run locally just like any other application. However, if you are not installing Office 365, but are just streaming it, then a connection to the Internet is required.

Office 365 Midsize Business

Price: $15 per user per month/$180 annually

With the Midsize Business edition of Office 365, Microsoft is targeting organizations with 10 to 250 employees with a version of Office 365 that provides all of the Office application outlined perviously, but also includes an Exchange mailbox with 25 GB of capacity as well as Lync Online and SharePoint Online. In addition, this Office 365 edition provides:

• Web conferencing
• Web site
• Full read/write access to documents using the Office Web Apps
• Ability to use your own domain name
• Active Directory integration

It’s important to note that this offering tops out at 300 users. Again, it comes in both full download (Click To Run) and streaming flavors. This edition includes Active Directory integration, which enables the Office 365 mailbox and oner features to integration with your local Active Directory environment. This allows you to manage user credentials and permissions and implement single sign-on and synchronization with Active Directory.

Office 365 Small Business Premium

Price: $15 per user per month/$150 annually

For small businesses with up to 25 users, the Small Business Premium edition might be just what you’re looking for. Office 365 Small Business Premium offers:

• 25 GB email inbox

• Web conferencing
• Web site
• Full read/write access to documents using the Office Web Apps
• Ability to use your own domain name

This Office 365 edition, while it can use any domain name you choose, does not provide integration capability into an existing Active Directory environment. It’s standalone and assumes that there s no professional IT staff to handle such integration needs.

Volume license or subscription?

For some organizations that have existing licensing agreements with Microsoft, it won’t make any sense to move to an Office 365 subscription. That said, if an organization is looking for ways to move budgeted funds into operational lines and they truly want to “rent” software, that may be one case in which an Office 365 subscription makes sense. For others, there will need to be a serious cost/benefit analysis undertaken to determine whether or not the new Office 365 subscriptions make sense from a cost standpoint.

I definitely see these subscription as being of interest to organizations that wish to keep up with the latest tools available but that simply don’t want to have to worry about ongoing software deployments and upgrades.

Summary

When Microsoft released the consumer-facing Office 365 subscriptions back in January, it was noted that the end user licensing agreement for those edition specifically excluded using the software for business or revenue generation purposes. With the release of the business-facing editions, Microsoft has rounded out this important subscription offering.