Microsoft Office 365 is a subscription-based service that allows users to access the entire Microsoft Office suite, including Word, OneNote, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, along with additional features such as 60 minutes of free Skype calls and one terabyte of OneDrive storage. Included is access to Microsoft's team collaboration program, Teams, which allows small to large businesses to house all their colleagues under one unified platform to get work done with a heavy chat-like interface. Microsoft Office 365 is a cloud-first application with desktop versions integrated with certain plans, making it an excellent choice for collaborators who need access to the same document. No software installation is needed.

There are a few alternatives to Microsoft Office 365. Arguably the most popular alternative is Google Workplace. Formerly known as G Suite, it is Google's answer to productivity services complete with Docs, Sheets, Form, Slides, and others - all of which are also merged with the Google ecosystem, including Gmail and Calendar. Like Microsoft Office 365, it is also cloud-based with no software install required or hardware to maintain. Another popular alternative to Microsoft Office 365 is LibreOffice, which is an open-source system that uses the ODF (OpenDocument) format. Its top three services include a spreadsheet software (Calc), Draw for organizational charts, and a word processor (Writer), which is compatible with Microsoft Word and Google Docs.

Learning Microsoft Office 365 has varying levels of difficulty, depending on the level of proficiency you wish to achieve. One of the best things about learning Microsoft Office 365 is the ability to break learning down by program (e.g. Word and Excel). For example, beginner Excel topics can include simple formulas and graphing functions. More advanced Excel topics could cover VLOOKUP and advanced graphing functions, which can take several hours to master. Udemy offers a full suite of training courses, covering everything from introductory-level material such as setting up email and Outlook Online to storing, saving, and collaborating with OneDrive and SharePoint.