Well, this is awkward.

I worked for the Microsoft 365 Brand Studio Team for 2-1/2 years, primarily for Office products, and I really enjoyed it. So it feels funny to be critical of anything Office is doing with their marketing. But.

I have an Office 365 Personal subscription; it’s all I need. Mostly all I use is Word, and a little Excel to keep my timesheets in. But occasionally I have need of other apps. Today, I got a meeting request from a potential client: “I’ll send a Skype invitation.”

It wasn’t the first time a client or potential client has wanted to meet via Skype (they mean Skype for Business, which is not the same as the Skype you use to call your friends or your grandma). So I thought I’d just go see what the price difference would be to upgrade to a small business option. I logged in. The home page is pretty simple:

I didn’t really expect an upgrade CTA there, so I went to the My Account page.

There is is, everything I can do with my Office 365 subscription. Except upgrade it (which, psssst, is kind of what Microsoft would like you to do).

Okay, maybe they don’t want to be pushy. So I click into “All subscriptions” and I get this page. Here, at last, is an opportunity to upgrade…

…but only to Office 365 Home.

Now, I know the marketing folks at Office are aware that some very small businesses, like mine, are using the Personal and Home subscriptions; I’ve written campaigns aimed at getting those people to upgrade. So why not give them the opportunity? 

Guess I’ll live without Skype for Business (no skin off my back, really!). SMH, Microsoft.