I consider myself a SharePoint geek, but I play more and more in the larger Office 365 (O365) sphere these days. In doing so, I’ve noticed that O365 as a concept is difficult to explain… both to IT folks and the everyday workers who are expected to use it.So I put together a new infographic that (hopefully) provides a quick intro to O365, its apps, and how they're all related. Good for both the IT crowd and lines of business. Check out my https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/everyday-intro-office-365-matt-wade below. Update (Dec 2017): The original infographic has been upgraded to being a fully dynamic, web-based tool complete with articles on many of the apps, more translations (7 languages as of today!), and more. It's embeddable too, which is what you see below. Embed it in your intranet or website today! [http://periodictableofoffice365.azureedge.net/#/office365/en]

Deleted has found an engaging way to present The Waffle (or La Gaufre), but the analogy could even be taken a little further! With a vague recollection of high school chemistry, here goes: Sway: Helium (He). Refuses to interact with anything else, makes your voice sound funny.Flow: Phosphorus (P). Spontaneously combusts, never quite know when it's going to start working. Handle with extreme care.SharePoint: Sodium (Na). Shiny and new, until you take it our of the jar. Then quickly goes dull grey.PowerPoint: Arsenic (As). The phrase "death by PowerPoint" is already in common use. Toxic to any large audience.OneNote: Krypton (Kr). Superman, need I say more?Mail: Potassium (K). Handle with care. As a salt it seems innocuous enough, but in its pure form it actually explodes in water.Calendar: Barium (Ba). Used to tell whether you're "regular", in a gastrointestinal kinda way.Teams: Tantalum (Ta). Tantalisingly similar to an unnamed competitor product.Yammer: Tungsten (W). Lightbulb moments. Durable and hard-wearing compounds.Visio: Iridium (Ir). Highest information density, must be combined as an alloy with Word or PowerPoint.

That's my next step. But O365 Groups isn't an "app", no matter how much I pester Microsoft to make it so. So it's kind of an outsider to this representation. :(

I tried to at first, but couldn't get an alignment that worked. Then I reconsidered: Sway does presentations, but it also does newsletters (like Word) and web pages (like Publisher), so it's not really just a PowerPoint sibling, which makes placement that much more complicated. So I gave it its own spot for being unruly.

Benjamin Elias, Great analogy to Office 365. Benjamin Elias wrote:Deleted has found an engaging way to present The Waffle (or La Gaufre), but the analogy could even be taken a little further! With a vague recollection of high school chemistry, here goes: Sway: Helium (He). Refuses to interact with anything else, makes your voice sound funny.Flow: Phosphorus (P). Spontaneously combusts, never quite know when it's going to start working. Handle with extreme care.SharePoint: Sodium (Na). Shiny and new, until you take it our of the jar. Then quickly goes dull grey.PowerPoint: Arsenic (As). The phrase "death by PowerPoint" is already in common use. Toxic to any large audience.OneNote: Krypton (Kr). Superman, need I say more?Mail: Potassium (K). Handle with care. As a salt it seems innocuous enough, but in its pure form it actually explodes in water.Calendar: Barium (Ba). Used to tell whether you're "regular", in a gastrointestinal kinda way.Teams: Tantalum (Ta). Tantalisingly similar to an unnamed competitor product.Yammer: Tungsten (W). Lightbulb moments. Durable and hard-wearing compounds.Visio: Iridium (Ir). Highest information density, must be combined as an alloy with Word or PowerPoint.

New infographic: Periodic Table of Office 365

37 Replies

Brent Ellis
Silver Contributor
May 09, 2017
I like this. Clean but comprehensive.

I'd work in O365 Groups.
- Deleted
  May 24, 2017
  http://icsh.pt/O365groups What do you think?
  - Paul Stawski
    Copper Contributor
    Aug 04, 2017
    Wow! That is stunning... You are a big inspiration.
- Deleted
  May 09, 2017
  That's my next step. But O365 Groups isn't an "app", no matter how much I pester Microsoft to make it so. So it's kind of an outsider to this representation. :(
- jcgonzalezmartin
  MVP
  May 09, 2017
  Really nice Matt!
Salvatore Biscari
Silver Contributor
May 09, 2017
Awesome! Thank you for sharing.
Just a suggestion: IMO, Sway should be connected to PowerPoint.
- Deleted
  Jun 19, 2017
  Sway is now connected to PowerPoint.
- Deleted
  May 09, 2017
  I tried to at first, but couldn't get an alignment that worked. Then I reconsidered: Sway does presentations, but it also does newsletters (like Word) and web pages (like Publisher), so it's not really just a PowerPoint sibling, which makes placement that much more complicated. So I gave it its own spot for being unruly.
Cian Allner
Silver Contributor
May 09, 2017
Nicely done! I love these different ways of explaining Office 365, I am sure end-users respond well to this. Anything that helps demystify the 'elements' of Office 365 and the modern toolset, is time well spent in my book.

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New infographic: Periodic Table of Office 365

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