Microsoft 365 Business Standard versus Premium, what is extra
The price jump is real but Premium does not add Word features. It adds security and device management.
Try this first
- 1Pull current pricing from microsoft.com. Standard and Premium are listed per user per month, excluding VAT, annual commitment.
- 2Standard gives Office apps, mailbox, Teams, OneDrive, SharePoint. Premium adds Intune (device management), Defender for Business (EDR), Entra ID P1 (conditional access), Microsoft Purview Information Protection (formerly AIP) and Exchange archive.
- 3Do the math: buying those security blocks separately, an EDR plus MDM plus conditional access stack often costs more than the Premium delta. For security demands from customers or NIS2, Premium wins quickly.
- 4When in doubt with hybrid teams: laptops moving in and out of the office, phones with company data, NDA work? Premium is hard to skip. Three people at fixed desks with no regulatory pressure? Standard is enough.
- 5Mixing is allowed. Not everyone needs Premium. Directors and people handling sensitive files on Premium, production and interns on Standard works fine.
When to bring us in
A short call helps us advise on the per-role mix. Send your current licence count and security requirements via /contact.
See also
- What does Managed IT actually cost for a 10-person SMBNo fixed number, but an honest breakdown. A full package for ten people is not 50 euros a month and not 5000 either.
- Microsoft announces another price hike, what do I doSince NCE Microsoft adjusts pricing structurally. Without action you renew at the new price for a full year.
- In-house versus outsourced IT, which is cheaper per yearThe real question is rarely "what does an IT hire cost" but "what does it cost us when IT is down for a week or poorly run".
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