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Office 365 vs Skype for Business comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Office 365
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
143
Ranking in other categories
Content Collaboration Platforms (2nd)
Skype for Business
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
Virtual Meetings (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Messaging and Collaboration solutions, they serve different purposes. Office 365 is designed for Content Collaboration Platforms and holds a mindshare of 7.5%, up 6.1% compared to last year.
Skype for Business, on the other hand, focuses on Virtual Meetings, holds 11.7% mindshare, up 8.1% since last year.
Content Collaboration Platforms
Virtual Meetings
 

Featured Reviews

Gary Cook - PeerSpot reviewer
Access to advanced features boosts productivity despite pricing concerns in developing regions
I need to do maintenance for Office 365 very seldom, once a year. In the maintenance process for Office 365, we have about 12 people involved. For the maintenance side of Office 365, only one person is involved. Looking at Office 365's pricing, I would give it a 4 on a scale from 1 to 10. My overall rating for Office 365 is an 8 out of 10, but for the product itself, I would give it a 10. I would definitely recommend Office 365 to other businesses, probably a 9 out of 10 for recommendation. This is only because of its price and the fact that they do not take into account developing countries such as South Africa, where they should give us more favorable prices or local prices. We do not have a partnership with Microsoft, which is a sore point for us. We have reached out to Microsoft South Africa, and they are very hard to contact and largely uncooperative. We are a B-Level 2 and a B-Level 1, which are local affirmative action ratings that companies get. Level 1 is the highest, and Level 8 is the lowest. We hold amongst the highest BEE ratings, but we have not found Microsoft South Africa to be forthcoming or very open. We should have a partnership with them, and we run Power BI as we are a Power BI shop now. I strongly would want to see a box within Office 365 for our team to have ChatGPT through OpenAI as well. We use Excel as a data source for many tasks and find that it integrates really well with Python. We write a lot of Python code and use Excel as a data sheet many times, and we operate through SQL and other zero elements as well. From an Office 365 viewpoint, we find that with Copilot and Python and Excel's provision for Python, it is very useful.
Magdalena Teodorczuk - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers great audio and video quality for virtual meetings
I like the instant messaging feature in the product since I prefer to use the chat functionalities provided by the solution. It is easy to integrate the product with some of the other solutions in the market. I rate the integration capabilities of the product a ten out of ten. The product's user interface is user-friendly. I use the product at a personal level, so I can't speak about the support it provides for the maintenance part. I rate the overall tool a ten out of ten.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most innovative feature of Office 365 is the Power Apps, which allows us to automate literally everything that we want automated. For example, sending attachments to specific folders on SharePoint, adding people's SharePoint when certain apps are performed, or emailing certain people at certain instances, such as when you've done a follow-up with the CRM and you need a marketing email to be sent out at a particular point."
"OneNote is the feature I use the most. We also frequently use the Power Apps features."
"My primary use case is for preparing presentations to teach, often on PowerPoint."
"Adaptable solution with a good interface. It's easy to set up and easy to use."
"The cloud service and Skype are the most valuable features."
"Reliable without any glitches."
"There's a lot there in terms of apps and features."
"If you have a global solution, you can go from one product to the other very easily. And then you can share data between all the different tools of Office which is good because participation and sharing is very good. That's the most important aspect of Office 365."
"Using Skype allows us to connect with external agencies when a Skype call is set up and aids in sharing large files efficiently."
"The most valuable features of the solution are that it is quick and easy to use. It is a good tool for group calls."
"The solution is stable and scalable."
"The most valuable feature is how useful it has been for virtual meetings during the pandemic."
"The solution is easy to use and includes the ability to text message, video and voice chat, and transfer files."
"The GUI is very user-friendly."
"Making calls and having meetings is easy."
"It's a good product, we like using it."
 

Cons

"We have had some connectivity issues."
"It needs improvements around its compatibility with non-Microsoft products."
"Data protection and email security are almost the same for all the organizations, irrespective of their segment (SMB or enterprises), with standard subscription at least basic Data loss prevention and Advance threat protection can be enabled for SMB segments, it is available in enterprise version / Premium versions."
"Integration with other platforms can be improved."
"The integration with mobile services is not so good. It's coming, but they could improve a lot."
"As a private user, I do not appreciate the cloud features, but I doubt that this is something Microsoft would consider a feature request."
"Sometimes the configurations of the error troubleshooting are pretty problematic and there are a lot of issues that happen even if you follow the step-by-step guides. They can work on fixing this issue. If there are a lot of issues in your Windows or your Office or anything, you restart your PC and it works. They need to get rid of this need."
"Security is still complex, but the admin console improving."
"The solution requires deployment on a Microsoft server and its performance is heavy because it consumes too many resources from the RAM."
"Skype for Business is good for the PCs with higher bandwidth, but an improvement is required for low bandwidth usage."
"We need a feature where you can virtually raise your hand to silently let the presenter know that you have a question."
"Whenever someone is using a messaging platform, the messages needs to be stored. In Skype for Business, the message will not be seen later on if you're not online. It isn't useful, in my opinion."
"I would like to see an updated user interface and layout even though no functionality is missing."
"I feel bored with the look and feel of the tool, so it should be changed."
"Skype for Business could improve the interface. It could be easier to use. Additionally, it's hard to find the people or add people you want to communicate with."
"Sometimes the connection crashes, which is understandable if you are traveling. But, it would be nice if this could be stabilized somehow."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Licensing fees are paid on a monthly basis, or we prepay them."
"The pricing is high and has actually caused us to limit the number of licenses we purchase due to budgeting."
"The pricing is good for all the features that we receive, e.g., Skype for Business."
"I think that we pay $9.99 USD per user, monthly."
"For the moment, we are paying on a monthly basis because we are still adapting the support and how we want to proceed. I think we will move to paying for the annual license."
"Licensing, billing, and accounting are available from the management interface."
"Good reporting and good value subscriptions for international calls."
"The pricing is not really high, but one can get the software with the license key for free."
"A license is required to use the solution."
"The licensing is billed on a yearly basis."
"We have been able to save money by moving our conferencing solution to Skype for Business Conferencing."
"I am using a corporate account for which I have not made any payments."
"It may be slightly costly, but the features are awesome."
"We had a license for every one of our users to use Skype for Business. The license we used was part of an overall Microsoft license package."
"I use the product's open-source version."
"We are using the subscription-based version of Skype for Business. There is a free version of the solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
17%
Government
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Performing Arts
7%
Manufacturing Company
17%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Performing Arts
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Office 365?
For pricing, I think it's fairly priced, I would rate it 8.
What needs improvement with Office 365?
The areas of Office 365 that have room for improvement are what should be better in this solution.
What is your primary use case for Office 365?
A typical use case for Office 365 is how I primarily use this solution.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Skype for Business?
Skype for Business is affordable and has decent pricing. The video quality is a bit lower than Teams or Zoom, but it remains a good solution overall.
What needs improvement with Skype for Business?
The video quality could be improved, possibly due to internet connection issues. However, there is no significant weakness in Skype for Business.
 

Also Known As

Microsoft Office 365, Office 365 Enterprise, Office 365 Enterprise E1, Office 365 Enterprise E3, Office 365 Enterprise E5, Office 365 ProPlus, Office 365 Business, Office 365 Business Essentials, Office 365 Business Premium, Office 365 F1
Skype for Business Plan 1, Skype for Business Plan 2, Lync Server
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Me & the Bees Lemonade
EmpireCLS Worldwide Chauffeured Services,LA Fitness, MedcoEnergi International, Tampa General Hospital, and HopewellHoldings Limited.
Find out what your peers are saying about Office 365 vs. Skype for Business and other solutions. Updated: March 2020.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.