M365 License vs Viva Suite License
Microsoft licensing! Having worked in the Microsoft space for a number of years now one thing that almost always confusing the heck out of people is Microsoft licensing. Things are easier in some respects with M365 and the move to the cloud and everything going towards subscription models. However, it can still be a minefield to work out what licenses you need or more importantly what is included in your existing licensing that you may not even know you had. After all, making the most of your license investment is so important in this day and age.
Firstly, a massive shout out to Aaron Dinnage as I use his M365 Maps website almost daily. He’s taken what can be a really large messy thing and made it into a really simple easy to view set of diagrams and being able to compare what features are included within different licenses is very valuable. Having it set out visually in such an easy to digest way makes things so much easier than just looking at a list.
So, I decided I’d pinch his really easy to view diagram look and feel and mock one up for Microsoft Viva to show what’s included in your standard M365 licenses vs what requires the Viva Suite license (or one of the stand alone licenses) as it’s a question I get asked on a fairly regular basis.
Viva Connections
First up is Viva connections and the good news here is it’s all included in your M365 license as long as you have SharePoint in there. So a nice simple one.
Viva Insights
Second up is Viva Insights (The artist formerly known as Workplace Analytics) You do get a few of the features thrown in with your M365 licensing mainly focussed on the personal insights, which are great, but the real value and transformaiton comes from the manager and leadership insights which you get from the additional license.
Viva Learning
Thirdly let’s take a look at Viva Learning, again you get a few things thrown in for the cost of your M365 license. Mainly around being able to access things personally from within teams but you don’t get the extra benefit of tracking learning, adding external providers, search integration etc and some really exciting features coming this year around it integrating with other Viva pillars.
Viva Topics
The fourth one is Viva Topics and it’s important to note here that essentially you don’t get any of the functionality included in the M365 license. I’ve split this one to show you what you can currently get if you buy Viva topics as a standalone license and what you get including the coming soon features if you purchase the suite license.
Viva Goals
Now this one isnt even GA yet but it’s a really exciting module so it would be rude not to include it. As far as I know this is currently only available wihtin the Viva Suite license and there is currently no news on if it will have it’s own SKU or not and what they may look like from a pricing perspective. We should find out later this year as and when it gets its official GA release.
Hopefully you find the visual representation of the licenses easier to view than just a list. With the exception of Viva Connections and Viva Goals you can purchase the other pillars individually or as part of the Viva Suite license.