Your current plan is the Microsoft 365 Business Standard plan. It covers the day-to-day well: the Office apps, email, Teams, and your file storage.
That said, with Microsoft’s price change coming in July, it’s worth two minutes to look at whether Business Premium is now a better return for your business.
Why Now?
Up until now, Premium cost a significant more than Standard, so most small businesses stayed where they were and didn’t think much about it.
That’s changing as Microsoft is putting Standard’s price up while keeping Premium the same, so the gap between the two plans is the smallest it has ever been.
For not much more per person, Premium is a real step up in protection. It’s an investment worth looking at.
What You Have Now, And What Business Premium Adds
|
|
Business Standard (your plan now) |
Business Premium |
|
Office apps, email, Teams, file |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Advanced protection against scam |
No |
Yes |
|
Ransomware protection on your |
No |
Yes |
|
Manage and secure the laptops and |
No |
Yes |
|
Lock or wipe a lost or stolen |
No |
Yes |
|
Stronger sign-in, so a stolen |
No |
Yes |
|
Price from July |
Going up |
Staying the same |
What Those Extras Could Mean For You
1. Scam emails get caught before someone clicks.
Right now, a convincing fake invoice or a bad link can still land in an inbox.
Premium checks links and attachments as they arrive and blocks the dangerous ones, which takes the pressure off your team to spot every single one.
2. Your computers are watched for viruses and ransomware.
This is the kind of attack that locks you out of your own files and demands payment.
Premium includes Defender for Business which is Microsoft’s paid anti-virus and anti-malware solution. It keeps an eye on the machines, not just the email, and steps in when something looks wrong. In most cases, it can replace your existing anti-virus program so you’ll save
some money on that subscription.
3. We can look after your devices properly.
Premium contains Microsoft’s device management platform, Intune, which lets us manage the laptops and phones used
for work from one place.
If one goes missing, we can lock it or wipe the company data off it before it becomes your problem.
4. A stolen password stops being enough to get in.
Most break-ins start with a password that leaked somewhere.
Premium lets us ask for an extra check when someone signs in from a device or place we don’t recognise, so a breached password on its own doesn’t open the door.
Moving Up Is Easy
If it’s the right call, the switch itself is simple.
We swap your licences over in place. Nothing moves, nothing goes offline, and your team carries on as normal.
Is It Right For You?
Not for every business, and we’ll always give you a straight answer on that. If your setup is simple and the extra protection would mostly sit unused, we’ll tell you to stay where you are.
But if you hold client data, handle money, or have people working off laptops and phones outside the office, this is worth a proper look while the price gap is this small.
If you’d like us to work out exactly what it would cost and cover for your team, please contact us. Existing clients can just raise a support ticket or if you’re a potential new client and want some advice then please use the contact form on this website or give us a call.