Frequently asked questions about Microsoft 365

Office 365 includes only productivity apps (Exchange, SharePoint, Teams). Microsoft 365 adds Windows Enterprise licensing, Intune device management, and advanced security features on top of Office 365.

Business plans (Basic, Standard, Premium) are for organizations with up to 300 users. Enterprise plans (E3, E5, E7) have no user limit and include more advanced security, compliance, and Windows Enterprise.

Yes. You can assign different licenses to different users. It's common to combine e.g. E3 for office workers and F3 for frontline workers. Keep it manageable for easier administration.

An add-on is an extra license you buy on top of your base plan. E.g. Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30/user/mo) or Defender for Endpoint P2 ($5/user/mo). Add-ons require a qualifying base plan.

Business Basic, Standard and Premium support a maximum of 300 users. When your organization grows beyond 300, you must switch to Enterprise plans (E3/E5/E7) which have no user limit.

E7 is Microsoft's new top-tier license at $99/user/mo. It combines E5 + Microsoft 365 Copilot + Agent 365 + Entra Suite. Generally available from May 2026. Saves money compared to buying parts individually.

Prices rose on July 1, 2026. Business Basic: +17%, Business Standard: +12%, E3: +8%, E5: +5%, F1: +33%, F3: +25%. Business Premium and E7 remain unchanged.

The price increase took effect on July 1, 2026. If you have an Enterprise Agreement, you can still lock the price at your next renewal. Contact your Microsoft partner for options.

Annual billing gives the lowest price. Monthly billing costs 5% more but provides flexibility to change user count. Most organizations choose annual.

Yes. Microsoft removed Level A-D Enterprise Agreement discounts on 1 November 2025. All customers pay list price regardless of user count. Estimated impact: 6-12% price increase for large organizations.

$30/user/mo as add-on to qualifying plans (all Business plans, E3, E5, F1 and F3), or $21/user/mo as Copilot Business for up to 300 users. Included free in E7. Copilot Chat (limited version) is free in all plans except F1.

Policy-based access control that manages who, from where, and from which devices can access your data. Requires minimum Entra ID P1 which is included in Business Premium and E3+.

Defender for Business is designed for companies with up to 300 users (included in Business Premium). Defender for Endpoint is the enterprise version with P1 (basic, in E3) and P2 (advanced with automated response, in E5/E7).

P1 provides Conditional Access, self-service password reset and basic identity governance. Included in BP/E3. P2 adds Identity Protection (risk-based access control) and Privileged Identity Management. Only in E5/E7.

Yes, since July 1, 2026. Defender for Office 365 P1 (incl. Safe Links and Safe Attachments) has been added to E3 and Office 365 E3. Before that date it required E5 or an add-on.

Extended Detection and Response. NOT a standalone license. It's the umbrella term for Microsoft's Defender portal where threats correlate across endpoints, email, identities and cloud apps. The XDR experience activates when you have all E5 Defender components in place (Endpoint P2, Office P2, Identity, Cloud Apps).

Data Loss Prevention prevents accidental sharing of sensitive data (social security numbers, credit cards, confidential documents). Basic DLP is in Business Premium and E3. Endpoint DLP (protects local files) requires E5.

Labels that classify and encrypt documents and emails (e.g. 'Confidential', 'Internal Only'). Manual labeling is in Business Premium and E3. Automatic labeling with AI requires E5.

eDiscovery lets you search, preserve and export data across Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive and Teams. Essential for legal investigations and compliance audits. Standard is in E3, Premium requires E5.

A Purview tool that identifies potential internal threats via behavioral analysis, e.g. mass file downloads, attempts to send data externally, or internal policy violations. Only in E5 and E7.

Copilot Chat is free in Business Basic, Standard, Premium, E3, E5, E7 and F3 (not F1) and answers questions based on web data. Microsoft 365 Copilot ($30/user/mo or included in E7) accesses the files, emails and data the individual user has rights to via Microsoft Graph, not the entire organization's data.

Microsoft's new AI agent governance platform. Lets organizations build, deploy and manage AI agents that can perform tasks autonomously. Costs $15/user/mo as add-on or included in E7.

AI assistant for security analysts. Helps analyze threats, investigate incidents and generate reports. Priced via Security Compute Units (SCU) at $6/each. Included in E5 and E7.

Microsoft 365 E7 (Frontier Suite) is generally available from May 1, 2026 at $99/user/mo. It combines E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Agent 365 and Entra Suite in one license.

Microsoft Intune is cloud-based Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM). Use it when you want to control which devices can access company data, deploy apps centrally and enforce security policies.

Autopilot automates setup of new Windows devices. The user turns on the PC, signs in, and Autopilot configures everything automatically (apps, policies, settings). Requires Intune (BP/E3+).

An advanced Intune package with Endpoint Privilege Management, Cloud PKI, Enterprise App Management, Remote Help, and advanced analytics. E3 gained Remote Help + Advanced Analytics + Intune Plan 2 on July 1, 2026 (partial). The full Intune Suite is only in E5 and E7.

Yes. Business Premium includes Intune Plan 1 with MDM, MAM, Conditional Access and Windows Autopilot. It's the cheapest plan with full device management ($22/user/mo).

Since the July 1, 2026 update, E3 is stronger: it includes Intune Suite (advanced endpoint management) and Windows 11 Enterprise license. Business Premium only has basic Intune Plan 1. But Business Premium is cheaper ($22 vs $39).

Hybrid setup means you have both on-premise servers (Active Directory, Exchange) and cloud (Microsoft 365). This typically requires Enterprise plans (E3/E5) as Business plans don't support all hybrid scenarios.