Office 2013 Versus Office 365: Which One Is Better for Your Business? (Part 1)

By the DynaSis Team

When Microsoft debuted Office 365, the technology world was buzzing. For the first time, Microsoft was offering Office in a SaaS (software as a service) model, which meant that companies (and consumers) could lease the product for a monthly fee. Today, businesses looking to upgrade their versions of Office have two choices: Office 2013 or Office 365. Both have benefits―which one a company chooses depends upon its needs and finances. This week, we’ll talk about Office 2013. Next week, we’ll discuss Office 365.

Office 2013
As with previous releases, Office 2013 comes in several editions. Office 2013 Professional ($399.99 per PC) targets businesses, including such perks as Microsoft Publisher (desktop publishing) and Access (relational databases). However, business owners can purchase a less-expensive alternative, Office 2013 Home and Business ($219.99 per PC). It includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook (which also come with Professional). If your business uses an email client other than Outlook, you can save even more money with Home and Student ($139.99 per PC), and get just Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

Unfortunately, Microsoft no longer lets users install Office on more than one PC. Office 2003 supported two PCs per user; e.g. a desktop and a laptop. Office 2007 and Office 2010 sometimes supported more than one installation per user, depending on the version of Office you purchased (check your user license agreement to see what your installation parameters are.) With the release of Office 2013, users (and their companies) can install it on a different PC every 90 days, provided they stop using it on the previous machine. So, if a PC is stolen or breaks down and you purchase a new one, you do not have to buy it again. Nevertheless, the current usage policy is pretty strict.

With a DynaSis Technology Assessment, we will determine which versions of Office you currently have installed, and where, so you can decide whether or not an upgrade makes sense. We can then upgrade the designated PCs to Microsoft Office 2013 as part of your Windows XP upgrade. (If you haven’t planned for that yet, read this article and call us, now.) Either way, we’ll be happy to help you make the move to the latest, greatest version of Microsoft Office, yet. Or, if Office in the cloud intrigues you, stay tuned for next week’s article!