Today, I have a roundup of changes/improvements that were announced to the Microsoft 365 product catalog in November 2018 and in January 2019. Most of these changes took effect on February 1st, so here’s a compilation of what to look out for as you review your Microsoft licensing.
New Security and Compliance Offering Aimed at Microsoft 356 E3 Customers
The following two offerings can now be purchased along with a Microsoft 365 plan:
- Identity and Threat Protection—This offer will be available for $14 per user per month.
- Information Protection and Compliance—This new package combines Office 365 Advance Compliance and Azure Information Protection. This offer will be available for $10 per user per month (pricing for Microsoft 365 E3 customers before volume discounts).
The Microsoft 365 E5 plan already includes both, but Microsoft has added them as a la carte options for customers with the Microsoft 365 E3 plan who may want some of those security or compliance features without paying for that full suite.
Office 365 Cloud App Security Gives Way to Microsoft Cloud App Security
The Office 365 Cloud App Security standalone offering was discontinued on February 1, 2019. Any NEW customers who want the features of Office 365 Cloud App Security can purchase Microsoft Cloud App Security. Existing Office 365 Cloud App Security users will continue to have access to Office 365 Cloud App Security USL.
Office 365 Advanced Threat Protection Plan 2
On February 1, 2019, Microsoft introduced Office 365 ATP Plan 2. This bundle includes Advanced Threat Protection plus Threat Intelligence. Threat intelligence capabilities in Office 365 ATP help security analysts and administrators protect their organization’s Office 365 users in the following ways:
- Making it easy to identify, monitor, and understand attacks
- Helping to quickly address threats in Exchange Online and SharePoint Online
- Providing insights and knowledge to help prevent attacks against their organization
MyAnalytics Is Now More Broadly Available
If you are not familiar with MyAnalytics, it is what Microsoft describes as the fitness tracker for work: a work tracking application available in the Office 365 Suite. MyAnalytics summarizes how you spend your time at work, and then suggests ways to work smarter—from cutting unproductive meeting time to reducing time spent working after hours. Previously, MyAnalytics was only available with an Enterprise E5 plan or as an add-on to E1 and E3 plans. On January 2, 2019, MyAnalytics was made available to everyone using Office 365 and Microsoft 365 Enterprise and Business.
Changes Coming to PowerApps and Flow
Effective February 1, 2019, certain capabilities in PowerApps and Flow that were part of regular Office 365 plans are now only available with PowerApps and Flow Plan 1 and Plan 2. Customers with active users of these features will get an automatic extension until January 31, 2020 or the expiration of their existing Office 365 subscription term (whichever comes first).
For more information about how these changes can affect the way you purchase and license various components of Microsoft 365, contact an Account Manager or our licensing experts today.
Sreeraj Vasukuttan
Sreeraj Vasukuttan is a Technical Marketing Manager at Connection with a passion for technology and marketing. He enjoys writing about cloud, security, and end-user compute. In his free time, he loves watching films, cooking, and traveling with his family.
