Dive Brief:
- Microsoft will rebrand Office.com, the accompanying mobile app and the Office app for Windows as Microsoft 365, a change that will begin as early as next month, according to a company FAQ.
- The change will start rolling out in November for users on Office.com. Branding on the Office app on Windows and the Office mobile app will begin updating in January 2023.
- Users will continue to have access to the same apps in the Office productivity bundle after the branding updates, the company said in a FAQ website.
Dive Insight:
The rebranding effort at Microsoft is years in the making, as some products changed in name to Microsoft 365 in April 2020. A decades-long incumbent in enterprise software, Microsoft has grasped the advantages of the "as a Service" model by leveraging a large existing user base.
"We’re all watching the transition to Software as a Service as the norm; this is just another step on that journey," said Jeremy Roberts, research director at Info-Tech Research Group, in an email. "Microsoft is already a leader in the SaaS space, with Microsoft 365 as its flagship product. I think this further solidifies their commitment to the growth of that space."
The numbers show it. Microsoft 365 subscriptions grew 15% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2022, for the period ending June 30, to 59.7 million.
"It’s no surprise that they would take their highly-successful cloud brand and make that front and center," said Roberts.
Multiple reasons are driving Microsoft to promote its cloud-based software suite over the legacy version of the product, including higher revenue, a better user experience and the ability to maintain and update the solution, said Roberts.
