Farewell, Microsoft Office…Hello Microsoft 365!

Microsoft’s initiative to rebrand Microsoft Office is reaching the final stage of its journey—a plan that has been years in the making. What will this assimilation into the Microsoft 365 brand mean for users of Microsoft’s services and products?

The Rebrand Has Been Planned and Worked Toward for Some Time

Over the past several years, Microsoft has made clear and deliberate attempts to showcase Microsoft 365 as their go-to solution for businesses. Now, it seems like the time has come for the Office branding to disappear entirely as it’s absorbed into Microsoft 365.

But what does this mean for businesses like yours?

Microsoft Says Minimal Impacts for Business and New Features

The webpage dedicated to these new adjustments makes a point to address business concerns that it would impact operations by saying that its impacts will be minimal. It also highlights new features and options that businesses might find helpful, as well as some cosmetic changes to reflect the change in brand. Here are some of the options:

• New templates to make content creation easier and faster
• Tagging capabilities to help organize content
• A new Apps module to help you prioritize your most-used tools
• A new feed to deliver relevant content to you based on what you work on, and with whom.

What Should You Do to Prepare?

Here’s the exciting thing; you don’t have to lift a finger in response to this change. Microsoft is pushing an automatic update to the application for the icon and name later this month, and your existing account, profile, subscription, and files will not be affected in any way. Really, we just want to draw attention to it so that you don’t think it’s odd or out of place when the change occurs, seeing how odd and out-of-place things can often mean problems for technology. Of course, we’ll ALL probably keep calling it Microsoft Office for the next 30-some years.

You can bet that Horne & Benik will still be here to help you make the transition as painless as possible. To learn more about how we can support you throughout any and all changes to your technology, reach out to us today at (603) 499-4400.