The world of licencing is complicated due to the wide variety of options and levels available. With Microsoft offering both standard and premium versions of their Microsoft 365 business licence, it is important that you choose the correct option for your business needs. In this blog, we cover the information you need to know to make the all-important licensing decision!

What is Microsoft 365?

Microsoft 365 is a subscription service which offers a wide range of business tools such as Word, PowerPoint and Excel. It also includes storage through OneDrive allowing for you to store files in the cloud. Although the web version of Microsoft 365 is free, to access the applications and other features, you will need a licence to use Microsoft 365.

What is Microsoft 365 Business Standard?

The Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan is tailored towards smaller businesses that require less security features. The standard licence includes 1TB of OneDrive storage and access to the whole Microsoft 365 suite applications such as Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel. In the standard licence, you also get access to Microsoft Teams which allows for business messaging and video conferencing.

What is Microsoft 365 Business Premium?

The Microsoft 365 Business Premium licence is still suitable for small businesses but also opens up features required by many larger businesses. These namely are security features such as Intune device management and Microsoft Defender for 365. With new cyberthreats emerging at break neck speeds, having these added features at your disposal is important for the security of your business.

Should We Choose Standard or Premium?

For the large majority of businesses, Business Premium is the licence to be on. The small increase in cost would clearly pay for itself in the case of a breach or cyber attack and having access to Intune (mobile device management) is also a massive advantage, being able to see and control which devices can access important business information. Although Business Standard still has a place and is a well-respected licence, having extra security features in this day and age is a no brainer.

Three Cherries: Helping you with your Licencing Needs

If you have any more questions regarding the differences between Standard and Premium licencing for Microsoft 365, feel free to contact Three Cherries. Our team of experts will be able to guide you through the different security features available in Premium with examples of how it may relate to your business. At Three Cherries, we take the gamble out of business technology.