Microsoft 365 Business Premium is Microsoft's top small business plan, available for organizations with up to 300 users. It includes everything in Business Standard, plus security and device management tools that many growing businesses end up needing.
What every Business plan includes
Business Basic, Standard, and Premium all include Exchange Online email, Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive. Business Standard and Premium add the desktop versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.
What Business Premium adds
- Microsoft Intune: central management of Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android devices, including Windows Autopilot.
- Microsoft Entra ID P1: Conditional Access, so you can require MFA, block risky sign-in methods, and require compliant devices.
- Microsoft Defender for Business: endpoint detection and response for computers.
- Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1: additional protection against phishing, malicious links, and malicious attachments.
- Microsoft Purview Information Protection: sensitivity labels and data loss prevention for sensitive information.
- Exchange Online Archiving: additional archive storage for email.
When it's worth it
Business Premium is usually a strong fit when your business:
- Issues company laptops or lets staff use phones for email and wants them managed and secured.
- Faces cyber insurance or client questions about MFA, endpoint protection, and device encryption.
- Handles sensitive client, patient, or financial information.
- Has remote or hybrid staff who need secure access from anywhere.
Because it combines several tools that would otherwise be bought separately, it can be more economical than adding endpoint protection, device management, and Conditional Access individually.
When Standard may be enough
A very small team with few devices, minimal sensitive data, and no insurance or client security requirements may be well served by Business Standard with security defaults turned on. You can also mix plans, for example giving Business Premium to users who handle sensitive data and Business Standard to others, although a single standard is simpler to manage.
Licensing isn't configuration
Buying Business Premium doesn't make a tenant secure on its own. Intune policies, Conditional Access, and Defender settings have to be designed, tested, and rolled out. The value comes from putting those features to work.
Founder of Albano Tech, providing managed IT, Microsoft 365, and cybersecurity services to businesses in Delaware, Maryland, and the Philadelphia region. More about Zach.
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Albano Tech provides Microsoft 365 Management & Migrations for businesses in Delaware, Maryland, and the Philadelphia region.