Any difference between using security groups, distribution lists, or Office 365 groups for sharing?

[Bend-IT]

According to the documentation we can use these three different types of groups to manage Workspace access:

-security groups

-distribution lists

-Office 365 groups

Is there any advantage of choosing one over the other (disregarding what happens / is necessary outside of PBI)?

In my case, the organization is not using any other Microsoft / Office 365 product, and I'm wondering which of these three group / lists types I should choose. There will be a one to one to one mapping between department, workspace, and (security) group.

[v-xicai]

Hi @Bend-IT ,

Office 365 groups are used for collaboration between users, both inside and outside your company. With each Office 365 group, members get a group email and shared workspace for conversations, files, and calendar events, and a Planner.

Distribution groups are used for sending notifications to a group of people. They can receive external email if enabled by the administrator.

Security groups are used for granting access to Office 365 resources, such as SharePoint. They can make administration easier because you need only administer the group rather than adding users to each resource individually.

You may refer to the document to see more differences and applicable scenarios:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/office365/admin/create-groups/compare-groups?view=o365-worldwide

Best Regards,

Amy

Community Support Team _ Amy

If this post helps, then please consider Accept it as the solution to help the other members find it more quickly.

[Greg_Deckler · Accepted solution]

Not really, no.