Licensing Capability Alignment
Business Premium, E3, E5 — the license you're on determines what security capabilities you have access to. But the right license depends on what you'll actually operationalise. This advisory maps your current license to your security priorities and gives you an honest view of whether upgrading changes anything that matters for your situation.
Business Premium vs E3 vs E5 — what actually changes
Defender for Business (simplified endpoint), Intune, Azure AD P1, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1. Strong SMB baseline. Max 300 users. Missing: Defender for Identity, PIM, advanced analytics.
Azure AD P1, Intune, Defender for Endpoint Plan 1, basic compliance (Purview). Missing: Defender for Office 365 Plan 2, Defender for Identity, PIM, Sentinel included ingestion, advanced DLP.
Full Defender XDR suite, Defender for Identity, PIM, advanced Purview compliance, Sentinel ingestion credits, advanced hunting. The full capability set — only worth it if operationalised.
Defender for Office 365 Plan 2 on E3. Defender for Identity standalone. Entra ID P2 for PIM without E5. Often better value than a full E5 upgrade if you only need specific capabilities.
What this advisory covers
Get an objective view on
your Microsoft licensing.
Licensing advisory is included in every assessment and scoping call. Or request a standalone advisory conversation.