Microsoft has updated their compatibility with Office requirements within Microsoft 365, and in late 2020 it was announced that Office 2013 within Microsoft 365 will be end of life (EOL), as of Nov 2021.
As of October 13, 2020, only these versions of Office are supported for connecting to Office 365 (and Microsoft 365) services:
• Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise (previously named Office 365 ProPlus)
• Microsoft 365 Apps for business (previously named Office 365 Business)
• Office 2019, such as Office Professional Plus 2019
• Office 2016, such as Office Standard 2016
Examples of Office 365 services include Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business. Also, Outlook 2016 for windows version 16.0.4599.9999 and older will also not be supported. (Source: Office versions and connectivity to Office 365 services - Deploy Office | Microsoft Docs)
So, if you have your email/exchange in M365 and you are running Office 2013 locally, you should consider upgrading your plan to Microsoft 365 Standard (formerly Office 365 Premium), which includes the download rights for Office.
There are many benefits to running Office as a subscription, vs pre-installed versions or open license versions of Office:
5 installs of Office on your personal devices. You can have Office on your work PC, and a travelling laptop and a few machines you have at home, for example. (Outlook and Teams, are free downloads on your phones too BTW).
Always up to date. When you have a subscription to Office you qualify for the new versions as soon as they are released. This allows you to take advantage of all the newest features of Office as they are released. Teams, for example, is changing every month and adding many new features, which you get automatically without doing manual upgrade or reinstalls.
Ease of tracking licenses. Have you ever tried to do a licensing audit with various “Open license” agreements involved, and some OEM licenses thrown into the mix, and after many PC swaps and upgrades … it’s a nightmare! With M365 subscriptions all your licensing can be tracked with ease, in real time.
No need to buy Office with new PC or laptop purchases, saving you ~$300 with each purchase. Put your money towards a better performing machine and do not buy PCs bundled with local versions of Office.
If you happen to run Office 2013 locally and you are not using Microsoft 365 yet, it will be supported until 2023 (Source: Search Product and Services Lifecycle Information - Microsoft Lifecycle | Microsoft Docs) but you should probably think about upgrading anyways.
Office and Teams have come a long way since 2013. We can help you migrate to Exchange online and upgrade your Office packages for your staff. If you are running Microsoft 365 already and would like to learn more about your Office upgrade options, we can help there too.
