Price of Office 365 help

[megamef]

Hi All,

Is anyone using Office365 that could give me real first hand information about it? Microsoft's site is just confusing.

I'm part of a small business (five people) and we are currently using office 2003. Our main client is using office 2013 and sends us documents in docx format (this is fine at the moment but when Microsoft drops support for 2003 we still need to be able to print out the documents our client sends us in the correct formatting.)

Office 2013 Standalone is about £300 per computer so with 5 computers that's £1500 which is way too expensive.

Office 365 looks better at £8.40 per user per month (or £100 annually).
But on the Office 365 pricing options on Microsoft site it says "Subscription to Office for up to 5 PCs/Macs per user"

Does this mean we could just buy office 365 for 1 user and then install in on all 5 computers and all use our different copies at the same time or do we need to buy 5 users?

If we need to buy 5 users then it would be £500 annually which would mean in 3 years it would have cost the same as standalone office 2013 which makes it an awful deal.

Anyone with experience that could advise?

Cheers Steve

 

[gemma-the-husky]

office 365 says on the cover "non commercial use"

I think it is intended for a multiple users at home (or a single user on multiple PCs)

but anyway, it appears to be rigorously policed in limiting the number of installs, and permits 5 installs. As you install one, the count of available installs drops. You can uninstall to get one back. Not sure what happens if a PC fails.

 

[megamef]

Sorry I should have been more clear. The version of office365 I was looking at was "Office 365 Small Business Premium"

Here's the link to their pricing page:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx

On this page it says "£8.40 per user per month" (which makes me think I'd need to purchase 5 users)

But also says "Subscription to Office for up to 5 PCs/Macs per user".

So I'm confused as to what exactly I need.

All 5 people could be using office at any one time so it would need to allow multiple sessions but I wouldn't care if every person in my work needed to share the same username

 

[Mile-O]

http://office.microsoft.com/en-gb/business/compare-office-365-for-business-plans-FX102918419.aspx
Looks like 25 users who can install the software on 5 machines each.

However, rather than play guesswork on a forum, would it not be quicker just to contact their customer support/enquiries?

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support&CTT=114&ln=en-gb&CTT=114

 

[Mile-O]

All 5 people could be using office at any one time so it would need to allow multiple sessions but I wouldn't care if every person in my work needed to share the same username

But, at £8.40 a month, each person gets a desktop install too.

 

[gemma-the-husky]

yes, it occurred to me after that there are two versions.

to buy outright, PC world had £79.99 for home premium and £119.99 for business (ie for a years license)


Each install is completely separate - no need to share logins. if you need it for a desktop and a laptop you need 2 of your 5 installs.

Over time, you pay more for annual products, than you would for buying outright, but you get the latest version all the while.


----
I've looked at the links now - I didn't realise you could buy monthly like that.

 

[megamef]

Thanks everyone for your help so far. Mike-o I followed the link you posted but I'm not sure how I contact the right person? I was hoping someone that was already using Office365 on these forums could tell me from experience if I could for certain install on 5 PCs and all use office at the same time without any problems but only pay for 1 User (£8.40 per user per month).