From the course: Microsoft 365 Business Essential Training for SMBs

Introduction to Microsoft 365

From the course: Microsoft 365 Business Essential Training for SMBs

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Introduction to Microsoft 365

- [Instructor] Often people are not sure what is Microsoft 365. Well, possibly they assume that Microsoft 365 is the same as Office 365. Microsoft 365 is not just a renaming of Office 365. It's so much more. So, before we get started let's answer the question why have Microsoft bundled together many services and applications and called it Microsoft 365? Microsoft realized that cloud computing and cloud technologies are already here, and many cloud technologies such as email, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business are widely used. They also saw that businesses are very keen to move to the cloud and take advantage of the many benefits such as cost, agility, and scalability. For many organizations, it will be difficult to migrate to the cloud, particularly for small and mid-sized businesses who may not have a dedicated IT department. So, Microsoft 365 was created. It's been designed to provide small and medium sized organizations with an all in one solution for a mobile, cloud enabled world. Microsoft 365 is available in three versions, Microsoft 365 Business, which is an integrated solution of cloud services and applications for smaller businesses, up to 300 users, Microsoft 365 Enterprise, which offers a complete and intelligent solution of cloud services and applications for larger organizations, and Microsoft 365 Education, which offers a single affordable solution for education providers. Businesses of any size can purchase the Microsoft 365 Enterprise version if they prefer, either when they grow beyond 300 users or at any time. If you have 300 users or less, you can also have a mixture of Business and Enterprise licenses for your users. In this course, we'll be concentrating on the Microsoft 365 Business license, which has been specifically designed for the small and mid-sized business. Microsoft 365 Business is a collection of Microsoft services and applications aimed at providing an integrated system for productivity, collaboration, security, and management. With Microsoft 365 you're provided with the following functionality. You get Office applications with Office 365 ProPlus, file and document viewing and editing with OneDrive for Business, collaboration services with email, Skype for Business, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint Online, business applications and built in security for email, data, and mobile devices using Enterprise Mobility and Security functionality. You also have the ability to manage Windows 10 and all your mobile devices with Microsoft Intune. The individual services offered with Microsoft 365 include Exchange Online, which is a mail and calendar server, including anti-malware and anti-spam protection, OneDrive for Business, which offers cloud based storage, including one terabyte of storage space per user, SharePoint Online, which is a web based collaboration platform, where users can share documents and collaborate on work tasks, Skype for Business, which offers online conferencing and calls, and Microsoft Teams, which is a collaborative platform encompassing chat, meetings, notes, and attachments. There are several bespoke business applications included with the Microsoft 365 Business subscription. These include the Office 365 ProPlus suite of applications including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, PowerApps, which is an application development tool for creating custom applications, Flow, which is designed to improve business processes through automation, Microsoft Connections, which is an email marketing tool, and the Listing app, which allows small businesses to manage their online listings from one central portal including listings with Google, Facebook, Bing, and Yelp. Other applications included are Invoicing, which is a tool designed for invoice creation, creating estimates, and tracking pending payments, StaffHub for managing staff schedules, time tables, shifts, and rotors, MileIQ, which is mileage tracking software to log and calculate employee mileage on mobile devices, and the Bookings app, which is an appointment and scheduling app including a web interface, so that your customers can find available times and book appointments. Microsoft 365 can be purchased either directly from Microsoft using the sales support channel or through a Microsoft partner such as a Microsoft cloud solutions provider. If you're already purchasing your Microsoft products directly from Microsoft you can also purchase Microsoft 365 in this way too, using the Microsoft sales team. A Microsoft partner is useful as they will provide an organization with advice and support during the purchasing decision, and also they'll assess the business needs and identify the best solution, whilst helping with advice and support during the purchasing process. For businesses deploying 150 users or more, Microsoft offer free deployment support for Microsoft 365 Business using their FastTrack service. You can find more information about FastTrack using the link on screen.

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