Mobile apps on Office 365 A2 plan

[gshaw]

This one might be best answered by @jamesbmarshall - we're evaluating Office 365 on a range of mobile devices including Android and iOS but finding it hard to understand why the native mobile apps aren't included on the A2 plan? Lots of our students have iPhones and Android devices yet they can't use the apps unless we upgrade to a higher plan? I was able to use them when on the Office 365 for Education demo (which is plan A3 iirc) but once on our real one I can't sign in anymore, which makes sense based on this link

 

Seems really odd to tie the mobile apps into the 365 ProPlus licenses when we already pay for that (effectively) via our FTEs on the EES agreement and can give the full version of Office for desktops for free under Student Advantage? Reading the link above basically says you get Office ProPlus now so is there a way to add that as an Office 365 license option?

 

Have I missed something or is this Microsoft trying to force people onto Windows Phone \ Surface?

Edited December 9, 2013 by gshaw

[jamesbmarshall]

I actually spent quite a while writing a big, diplomatic, response to this but I hope you'll understand that I can't get drawn into this here. Maybe over a beer, but not here. A lot of stuff is free, some stuff you have to pay for.

 

we're evaluating Office 365 on a range of mobile devices including Android and iOS but finding it hard to understand why the native mobile apps aren't included on the A2 plan? Lots of our students have iPhones and Android devices yet they can't use the apps unless we upgrade to a higher plan?

 

Your students can use the Office Mobile for iOS and Android apps for free as long as they are licensed for Office 365 ProPlus under Student Advantage, or any of the paid plans such as A3 or A4. The Office Mobile app is included in the 5 device activation.

 

I was able to use them when on the Office 365 for Education demo (which is plan A3 iirc) but once on our real one I can't sign in anymore, which makes sense based on this link

 

Seems really odd to tie the mobile apps into the 365 ProPlus licenses when we already pay for that (effectively) via our FTEs on the EES agreement and can give the full version of Office for desktops for free under Student Advantage? Have I missed something or is this Microsoft trying to force people onto Windows Phone \ Surface?

 

If you're already licensing your staff for Office via your EES agreement then you should speak to your re-seller about any step-up pricing to move them to A3.

[gshaw]

I actually spent quite a while writing a big, diplomatic, response to this but I hope you'll understand that I can't get drawn into this here. Maybe over a beer, but not here. A lot of stuff is free, some stuff you have to pay for.

 

Yup I get there's some things that are better discussed via other means, maybe if you're at BETT?

 

Your students can use the Office Mobile for iOS and Android apps for free as long as they are licensed for Office 365 ProPlus under Student Advantage, or any of the paid plans such as A3 or A4. The Office Mobile app is included in the 5 device activation.

 

Interesting, all ours will be eligible under student advantage, so once they activate the benefit against their college account they're licensed as a 365 ProPlus subscription as an add-on to their Plan A2 sub? If so that makes it a bit less painful as at least students will be able to access the service on their BYOD kit, staff are more likely to be on a larger device at present so there's a bit more flexibility using the web apps at least.

Edited December 9, 2013 by gshaw