Contemplating an upgrade to Microsoft 365 Business Premium? Let’s explore the key benefits to determine if this premium subscription is a worthwhile investment for your organisation’s needs.
Understanding the Differences: Business Basic, Standard and Premium
Microsoft 365 Business offers three tiers—Basic, Standard, and Premium, designed specifically for small to medium-sized organisations (limited to 300 users).
- Basic is the entry-level tier with core functionalities, providing access to Teams, Exchange email, OneDrive, SharePoint, and web-based versions of Office applications like Word and Excel.
- Standard includes all Basic features whilst adding desktop Office applications (installable on 5 devices), Clipchamp for video content creation, and Microsoft Loop for enhanced team collaboration.
- Premium extends beyond Standard’s features by integrating sophisticated security capabilities and device management tools. These include Microsoft Entra ID, Intune, Microsoft Defender, and Microsoft Purview. These solutions deliver identity management, device control, advanced threat protection, and data security.
Each subscription level provides email security through anti-phishing, anti-spam, and anti-malware protection. Microsoft 365 Business Premium offers enhanced cyber-security features to protect:
- Endpoints, including computers, laptops, tablets, and mobile devices.
- Content such as emails and files.
- Data (through encryption, sensitivity labels, and Data Loss Prevention).
Whilst Basic and Standard plans offer essential security features, they do not provide adequate protection against the latest cyber threats.
For organisations prioritising security, supporting remote workers, or implementing BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) policies, Business Premium is highly recommended to ensure comprehensive protection.
Compare the complete feature sets across all plans here Microsoft 365 Business Subs | M365 Maps
Advantages of Moving to Business Premium
Microsoft 365 Business Premium offers a comprehensive solution that integrates productivity tools with advanced security features. With Microsoft 365 Business Premium, you can:
- Secure resource access: using advanced Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA), single sign-on, and conditional access policies to prevent unauthorised or risky access.
- Protect information: sensitive data sometimes leaves the office through email, USB devices, or mobile phones. Using advanced information protection features, businesses can control documents outside their office environment. Functions like “Do Not Forward” or “Do Not Print” ensure confidential information remains protected.
- Advanced Threat Protection: this comprehensive feature safeguards your organisation from sophisticated cyber threats, including phishing attempts, ransomware attacks, malware infiltration, and zero-day vulnerabilities. It employs robust defence mechanisms such as URL detonation, anti-spoofing technology, and real-time ‘time of click’ protection to effectively mitigate potential risks.
- Enhanced email security: this sophisticated system analyses your emails, attachments, embedded links, and associated files for potentially malicious content. Anything suspicious is automatically blocked or quarantined before they can reach your inbox or device, ensuring maximum protection.
- Identity and Access Management: this crucial feature enables precise control and verification of data and application access, allowing you to manage both who can access your resources and define the specific parameters of that access.
- Manage and secure devices: apply comprehensive control over applications and data across Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android platforms. Intune offers app and data management across all devices, implements organisation-wide compliance policies, and ensures business information remains protected, even on personal devices. The system enables remote management capabilities, including wiping, locking, or resetting compromised devices, whilst controlling device access to your data and applications. Additionally, you can efficiently deploy and update applications, configure settings, implement policies, and monitor device health and performance metrics.
- Minimise the costs and time associated with computer setups: leverage Windows Autopilot to streamline the deployment and pre-configuration process for new devices.
A Premium upgrade strengthens your organisation’s defence against malicious threats, security breaches, and incidents that could potentially damage both your finance and reputation.
The Price of Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Current annual subscription costs for Microsoft 365 Business plans are as follows:
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Microsoft 365 Business Basic is priced at £58.80 ex VAT user/year
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Microsoft 365 Business Standard is priced at £123.60 ex VAT user/year
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Microsoft 365 Business Premium is priced at £217.20 ex VAT user/year
Many organisations are finding the upgrade from Standard to Premium, at an additional £93.60 ex VAT per user annually, to be a strategic investment, given all the comprehensive security features included.
Why Microsoft 365 Business Premium is a Worthwhile Investment
For organisations with fewer than 300 users, Business Premium is a worthwhile investment that offers unparalleled protection against modern cyber-security threats.
Microsoft 365 Business Premium helps you reduce costs by providing a single, affordable solution that covers all your business needs. This eliminates the need for multiple licenses, subscriptions, or third-party tools that may lack compatibility or integration.
However, to fully leverage Business Premium’s security capabilities requires proper configuration by qualified IT professionals, such as Fentons.
The value you get from a licence upgrade to Business Premium depends on its setup and configuration. Therefore, it is crucial to verify your IT provider’s expertise in the following:
- Entra ID: implementing conditional access policies, password self-service, application group management, cloud application monitoring.
- Intune: configuring device and application management policies to secure managed and unmanaged devices.
- Azure Information Protection: setting up data categorization, sensitivity labels, protection protocols, encryption, and Data Loss Prevention.
- Defender for Office 365 P1: configuring advanced anti-phishing, spoof settings, impersonation settings, Safe Links, and Safe Attachments for email and Office documents.
CONTACT US ABOUT MICROSOFT 365
At Fentons, we specialise in Microsoft 365 through our expert guidance and dedicated support. For Business Premium upgrades or enquiries, reach out to us today to increase your organisation’s security and productivity.