At the present time, M365 is predominantly being used by both businesses and even the Federal Government. But, there are many different flavors of it that exist, especially between the private and the public sectors. In this article, we take a closer look at two of them: The Commercial M365 and the M365 for the GCC.
The Commercial M365
This is the version of M365 that most people know about. With this kind of subscription, long gone are the days when you had to get the standalone versions of Microsoft Office anytime that you purchased a new device. With the M365, everything is now available in the Cloud, and you can download whatever apps that you think may need, either for personal or business usage. In fact, the most popular apps are as follows:
- Word
- PowerPoint
- Excel
- Access
- Publisher
With a typical M365 Commercial Subscription, you or your business can also get access to other advanced apps as well, which include the following:
- Azure
- The Dynamics CRM
- All kind of “Power” based development tools, such as Power BI
- CoPilot, the latest tool from Microsoft that is 100% driven by Generative AI
By getting the M365 Commercial Subscription, there are a number of key advantages that come with it as well, such as:
- Cost Savings:
Getting the apps that you need with a direct subscription or through a Cloud Services Provider (such as KAMIND IT), you and your business can realize significant cost savins, as opposed to getting them at the retail level.
- Scalability:
By getting the M365 Commercial Subscription, you can easily “scale up or scale down” as you need, and especially as your business grows. For example, if you have launched a new marketing campaign, and you are getting many new leads, with just a few clicks of the mouse, you can easily download and install Dynamics 365 in order to keep track of all of them. You can even create a sales pipeline, and get a visual as to how far each prospect is moving along closer to making a purchase decision.
- Security:
Microsoft takes very seriously the level of security in all of the M365 Commercial Subscriptions that it offers, and because of that, many tools are thus offered to help you meet your security requirements.
- Instant Collaboration:
With the remote workforce of today, the M365 Commercial Subscription lets you communicate with your co-workers, prospects, customers, contractors, etc. on a real-time basis, within just a matter of a few seconds. This is all made because of Microsoft Teams and CoPilot.
The M365 For The GCC High
GCC is an acronym that stands for “Government Cloud Computing”. In this realm, M365 is also offered as well, but as it is implied by the acronym, this version is meant only for the Federal Government and its related agencies. What the primary difference between this and the M365 Commercial Subscription is that it is used by those entities in the Defense Industrial Base to come into compliance with the many data privacy laws that have now been enacted by the Federal Government. These include:
- The FedRAMP High
- The Defense Federal Acquisition Regulations Supplement (also known as the “DFARS)
- The DISA Cloud Computing Security Requirements Guide (also known as the “CC SRG”)
- The NIST 800-53/171
- The CMMC Level 1
Another key difference between this and the M365 Commercial Subscription is that there are dedicated data centers that have been built to serve the following purposes:
- The Awarding of Contracts:
If a Defense Contractor is awarded a contract, for example by the Department of Defense (“DoD”), then this particular entity will need a secure place in order to house and process the confidential datasets that have been entrusted to them. Also, they will need a secure means in which to communicate with the staff at the DoD, and the GCC High Subscription can take care of all of this and more. This is especially true for the CMMC, when it comes to the FCI and CUI datasets.
- The Mitigation Of Risk:
When a Defense Contractor is awarded an actual contract, they will need to take all of the steps that are necessary in order to mitigate the risk of them becoming a victim of a Cyberattack. In this regard, the GCC High Subscription comes with many specialized tools that the Defense Contractor can implement quickly and efficiently.
A third key difference of the GCC High Subscription is that is only meant to be purchased by those individuals and entities that have direct dealings with the DoD, or another affiliated agency. It is by no means available to the public at large. Examples of people that can purchase this include:
- Defense Contractors (and even their Subcontractors) that have a contract with the DoD that needs to be fulfilled.
- Any employee of the Department of Homeland Security (“DHS”)
- Federal Law Enforcement, such as the FBI.
Further, anybody who wishes to purchase a GCC High Subscription must first pass a stringent background check by both Microsoft and the DoD. More details of what is involved in this process can be seen at this link:
Conclusions
Some of the other key differences between the M365 Commercial Subscription and the GCC High Subscription can be seen in this illustration:
SOURCE: 1).
If you have any questions on this, or need help in deciding what is best for your business, contact us today.
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