Many decision-makers have learned the benefits of Office 365 for their businesses, yet with all of the options from Microsoft it can get confusing on which plan each user needs. Here we will break down what you need to know for your business’ productivity needs (Note: All prices are monthly).

Exchange Online Plans

Exchange Plans are basically for users who only need email, nothing else. These plans are great for team members who are in the field more than in the office, and do not need the Microsoft Office suite or file storage. Here is a little bit about the two Exchange Online plans available from Microsoft.

• Exchange Online Plan 1 ($4.00): This plan is perfect for employees that only need a mailbox up to 50GB in space, and access to shared calendars and contacts.
• Exchange Online Plan 2 ($8.00): If you have a user that has a larger mailbox and needs archiving capabilities, this plan is the best solution. With unlimited storage of mail and Data Loss Prevention this plan is perfect for a user who loves to save every last message in their inbox.

Business Plans

The Business plans of Office 365 take the email portion of Exchange Online and add Office Suite components to the mix. These plans are for business with less than 300 users.

• Business Essentials ($5.00): For users who need unlimited email, OneDrive storage, Skype for Business for interoffice chat, and web app versions of the Office Suite that are accessible through a browser.
• Office 365 Business ($8.25): The Business plan only provides your team-members the Microsoft Office suite. It is perfect for businesses who need to purchase Office for many machines, but do not want to pay the upfront capital (paid monthly). Another benefit is that you will always have the latest version of Office and can load on up to 5 machines (including smart phones and tablets).
• Business Premium ($12.50): This plan is perfect for the user who needs it all. On-top of email, OneDrive, Skype, web apps and SharePoint, this plan also gives an individual the latest version of Microsoft Office suite on up-to 5 devices, as well. It’s basically combining the previous two Business plans (Essentials & Business) into one.

Enterprise Plans

The Enterprise plans of Office 365 are essentially the Business plans for larger organizations (no user limitation). The one difference is that the Office Suite Plans include Microsoft Access, which are not included in the Business Plans.

• Enterprise Plan 1 ($8.00): The E1 license contains the same features as the Business Essentials plan.
• Office 365 ProPlus ($12.00): The ProPlus plan is the Enterprise equivalent to the Office 365 Business Plan, except it includes a copy (on up to 5 machines) of Microsoft Access.
• Enterprise Plan 3 ($20.00): This plan is great for an organization that needs all the benefits of the Business Premium plan, with the added features of Compliance and Information Protection (Legal Hold, Rights Management and Data Loss Prevention) and eDiscovery.

While these are a majority of the Office 365 plans available to businesses, there are still others that may fit different situations. If you have more questions about Office 365, or would like an Office 365 30-day demo, give XPERTECHS a call today at 410-884-0225.