Microsoft 365 Business Premium: Why Saving £7 a Month Could Cost Your Business Its Future

19 Mar

In 2025, no business should still be guessing which Microsoft 365 licence they need. Yet, every week, businesses are handed quotes with Business Standard slapped on them — because it’s cheaper, easier to sell, and your IT provider didn’t bother to explain the difference.

Let me save you some pain. If you’re a UK business with staff, customers, or any legal obligation to protect data (so that’s basically all of you), the only sensible Microsoft 365 option is Business Premium.

And no, this isn’t a sales pitch for Microsoft. It’s a survival guide.

The Problem with Business Standard

Most businesses get pushed into Business Standard because it looks like the bargain option:

Office apps? ✔️
Email? ✔️
Teams? ✔️
Reasonable price? ✔️ (£10.30 per user per month on an annual commitment)

What’s the problem? Simple: it does nothing to secure your business.

It’s like buying a car with no locks, no seatbelts, and no brakes — but hey, it comes with a nice stereo. Business Standard is a productivity bundle. It’s not a security solution. If your data, devices, or staff credentials matter to you (spoiler: they do), this licence isn’t enough.

What Business Premium Adds (And Why It Matters)

1. Intune — Device Management You Actually Need

Ever had a laptop stolen? Staff using their personal iPad to access work email? With Intune, you can:

Enforce encryption and security policies on every device that touches your data
Block access to corporate data from unmanaged devices
Remotely wipe a lost or stolen device with a click

Without Intune, you’re relying on trust and hope. And hope is not a security strategy.

2. Conditional Access — Gatekeeper for Your Data

Your team should only access your systems if:

✅ They’re using a company device
✅ They’re in a trusted location
✅ They’re using an up-to-date browser or app

With Conditional Access (included in Business Premium), you can enforce all of that automatically.

With Business Standard? Any device, anywhere, no questions asked. That’s a hacker’s dream.

3. Defender for Office 365 — Your Email’s Bodyguard

Phishing is the number one way SMBs get hacked. Business Premium includes advanced email protection:

Scans every link and attachment before delivery
Blocks impersonation attempts (like fake CEO emails)
Protects Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint files too

Business Standard? You get basic spam filtering. That’s not enough in 2025 — and you know it.

4. Defender for Business — Proper Endpoint Security

Antivirus isn’t enough anymore. You need EDR (Endpoint Detection & Response) — tools that:

Spot suspicious behaviour (like a Word file trying to talk to a Russian server)
Automatically contain threats before they spread
Give you (or your IT team) a full timeline of exactly what happened

Business Premium includes this out of the box.
Business Standard? Nothing.

5. Information Protection — Control Your Sensitive Data

Let’s say someone tries to email your payroll spreadsheet to their personal Gmail. With Business Premium, you can:

Automatically detect sensitive files (payroll, customer lists, contracts)
Apply encryption that only authorised users can open
Block unauthorised sharing, even if the file leaves your business

Business Standard? Nothing. Once it’s emailed, it’s gone.

6. Azure AD Premium P1 — Self-Service and Smart Access

If your IT team spends half their time resetting passwords, Business Premium fixes that with:

Self-service password resets for users
Multi-factor authentication (MFA) that actually works seamlessly
Granular access controls so you can allow or block specific apps and devices

Business Standard? Basic authentication only. Hope your passwords are strong.

Pricing: Annual vs Monthly — And Why It Matters

Here’s the breakdown:

PlanAnnual Commitment (cheapest)Monthly Commitment (flexible)Business Standard£10.30/user/month£12.36/user/monthBusiness Premium£17.60/user/month£18.10/user/month

Annual Commitment = Cheaper, but you’re locked in for 12 months per user.
Monthly Commitment = Flexibility to cancel anytime, but you pay more for the privilege.

Co-Terming: One Renewal Date to Rule Them All

When you buy your first licence (on Annual Commitment), that sets your contract anniversary date. Every new user you add inherits that date — they don’t start a fresh 12 months. This keeps billing tidy, but it also means:

You can’t reduce licences mid-year — only at renewal
You only pay for the months left until renewal when adding users

This catches a lot of businesses out because nobody explains it upfront.

Cyber Essentials & Compliance — Business Premium Ticks the Boxes

If you’re aiming for Cyber Essentials Plus (which you absolutely should be), Business Premium covers most of the technical requirements out of the box:

RequirementCovered in Business Premium?Malware protection✅ Defender for BusinessDevice encryption✅ IntuneAccess control✅ Azure AD P1 & Conditional AccessSecure configuration✅ Intune device policiesSecurity updates✅ Intune (if configured properly)

Business Standard? You’ll need to buy separate tools, blowing your "savings" out of the water.

The £60 Rule — What Proper IT Costs

If you want proper managed IT (not just a helpdesk), your budget should look like this:

💷 Business Premium licence = £17.60/user/month
💷 Security setup, compliance management & 24/7 monitoring = £42.40/user/month

✅ Total = £60/user/month

That’s the real price of secure, managed IT in 2025.
If your current provider charges £30 and tells you you’re covered, they’re lying.

Why Cheap MSPs Push Business Standard

It looks cheaper on paper
It’s easier to support (fewer tools to configure)
They can hide poor security practice behind "we kept your costs down"

That’s not managed IT. That’s just outsourced guessing.

What Real MSPs Do

A proper IT provider doesn’t just sell you what’s cheap. They:

✅ Audit your risks and compliance requirements
✅ Explain licensing clearly (including commitment options)
✅ Recommend Business Premium as the default for any serious business
✅ Configure the tools properly (because licences alone do nothing)

Final Thought: Ask Your Provider These 3 Questions

1️⃣ What Microsoft 365 plan are we on, and why?
2️⃣ When can we reduce licences if needed?
3️⃣ How are you securing my data beyond basic Microsoft features?

If they struggle to answer — or only care about keeping your bill low — they’re the wrong partner.

Want Real Advice? Let’s Talk

If you want Microsoft 365 set up properly, with security, compliance, and cost all balanced, get in touch.

Or, if you’re stuck with a provider who only offered Business Standard without explaining any of this, we should definitely talk — because that’s negligence masquerading as cost-cutting.

TL;DR:
💻 Business Standard = Productivity tools and prayers
🔒 Business Premium = Productivity + Security + Control

Noel Bradford

Noel Bradford – Head of Technology at Equate Group, Professional Bullshit Detector, and Full-Time IT Cynic

As Head of Technology at Equate Group, my job description is technically “keeping the lights on,” but in reality, it’s more like “stopping people from setting their own house on fire.” With over 40 years in tech, I’ve seen every IT horror story imaginable—most of them self-inflicted by people who think cybersecurity is just installing antivirus and praying to Saint Norton.

I specialise in cybersecurity for UK businesses, which usually means explaining the difference between ‘MFA’ and ‘WTF’ to directors who still write their passwords on Post-it notes. On Tuesdays, I also help further education colleges navigate Cyber Essentials certification, a process so unnecessarily painful it makes root canal surgery look fun.

My natural habitat? Server rooms held together with zip ties and misplaced optimism, where every cable run is a “temporary fix” from 2012. My mortal enemies? Unmanaged switches, backups that only exist in someone’s imagination, and users who think clicking “Enable Macros” is just fine because it makes the spreadsheet work.

I’m blunt, sarcastic, and genuinely allergic to bullshit. If you want gentle hand-holding and reassuring corporate waffle, you’re in the wrong place. If you want someone who’ll fix your IT, tell you exactly why it broke, and throw in some unsolicited life advice, I’m your man.

Technology isn’t hard. People make it hard. And they make me drink.

https://noelbradford.com