Dual Use Right Helps Move to Per-User Office

• Some Enterprise Agreement customers licensing Office 365 ProPlus via Microsoft 365 suite purchases also get the right to deploy Office Professional Plus.
• This Office “dual use” right can mitigate various migration and compatibility barriers.
• The right has several eligibility requirements and restrictions that limit its practical value.

The Office dual use right, which allows certain Enterprise Agreement (EA) customers who license Office 365 ProPlus to use Office Professional Plus as well, will continue to be available after Aug. 2019, contrary to Microsoft’s earlier plan to cancel it. While the right can reduce or delay certain technical blockers to Office 365 ProPlus adoption, it applies only to specific types of licenses and has several other requirements and restrictions.

Office Dual Use Right: What and Why

Though almost identical from an end-user perspective, Microsoft considers Office 365 ProPlus and Office Professional Plus to be separate products, meaning that in general, a license for one does not confer rights to use the other. However, the Office dual use right is the exception to this rule. It permits a company to license a user for Office 365 ProPlus but receive rights to use both products. In addition to full use of Office 365 ProPlus, the customer is also entitled to one copy of the traditional Office Professional Plus suite for that user. Combined with downgrade rights, this right permits the customer to deploy older versions of Office Professional Plus for its users.