Microsoft 365 licensing is designed for businesses of all sizes. It features both Microsoft 365 Business and Microsoft 365 Enterprise plans, each tailored to meet distinct organizational scales and operational needs.
When traversing through a licensing assessment, Microsoft 365 Enterprise licensing gains significant focus. As these licensing models offer uncompromised security, granular governance, and advanced automation.
While Microsoft 365 Business plans are designed for small and medium-sized businesses, Enterprise plans cater to large-scale organizations and heavily regulated industries that require robust compliance and unlimited scalability.
Microsoft Enterprise License Plans
The confusing part for businesses is choosing the best plan between the two main enterprise options: Microsoft 365 E3 and Microsoft 365 E5. This is where the role of an experienced Microsoft 365 licensing provider comes into play.
When evaluating these enterprise plans on their own, businesses often don’t have a clear idea of which is best for them. Because these plans are highly similar in the core feature they offer with the primary exceptions being their security frameworks and compliance tools.
A Microsoft 365 Licensing Assessment by LITS SERVICES benefits businesses by ensuring they invest in the exact plan they need. This process aligns your budget with only the specific apps, cloud services, security features, and capabilities required to run your work environment efficiently.
Microsoft 365 E3: This plan serves as an excellent foundation for productivity and management. It includes desktop Office applications, cloud services such as Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive, core identity and device management via Microsoft Intune, and advanced compliance tools.
Microsoft 365 E5: This plan is ideal for organizations looking for advanced security and intelligence within their work environment. It combines core Office apps with advanced cybersecurity, robust compliance, scalable Microsoft 365 analytics via Power BI, and cloud-based telephony via Teams Phone.
Why Licensing Assessment is Required?
At first glance, both enterprise plans look similar, offering the same desktop applications, cloud services, and features. The true exception lies in the availability of advanced security frameworks and analytics features.
The first thing to understand is that in a corporate environment, not all users require every single feature within Microsoft 365.
When a business pays for a plan packed with advanced features that general employees don’t need, it results in significant financial waste. Conversely, when a business chooses a lower-tier plan that lacks crucial cloud services or applications for high-profile users, a severe operational mismatch occurs.
Eliminating Financial Waste
Microsoft 365 E5 licenses are what most businesses buy for their entire workforce out of caution. In reality, the day-to-day work environment only requires access to the standard productivity tools found in more affordable E3 or Business plans.
A deep assessment helps identify which users do not require all E5 features. This allows organizations to move those users to lesser-licensed roles, eliminating unnecessary expenditures and saving IT budget.
Designing a Mixed-License Architecture
A business environment may demand a blend of services from both plans. For example, a section of your users might only need access to standard desktop apps and a few cloud services, but decision-makers must access analytics features to make smart decisions.
When looking at the majority of users, the Microsoft 365 E3 plan fits, but what should you do for analytics? The analytics feature is not available in E3. Here is how the mixed-license architecture works.
A licensing assessment helps get a picture of which users utilize standard desktop apps versus high-end services like analytics. This grouping allows you to buy E5 plans for power users, analysts, and security teams, while keeping general users on the E3 plan.
Eradicating Duplicated Tool Costs
Businesses are likely to spend on additional software to achieve a specific goal. For example, software for video conferencing, cloud storage, or security. They buy under the assumption that these services are not available with Microsoft 365 plans.
A thorough license assessment discloses if third-party solutions replicate Microsoft’s built-in capabilities for video conferencing and storage. Microsoft 365 enterprise plans have built-in tools for video conferencing (Microsoft Teams), storage (OneDrive), and advanced security, allowing businesses to eliminate redundant external subscriptions.
Matching Security and Compliance Needs
As your company grows, meeting strict data regulations becomes necessary, which is often impossible with a baseline package. However, instead of upgrading your entire workforce to an expensive E5 plan, users can be grouped based on their roles to apply a mixed-license architecture.
A thorough assessment ensures that general users are assigned to the right basic plan, while legal and compliance teams are given the exact tiers that feature advanced security and data protection tools.
How LITS SERVICES Optimizes Enterprise Licensing Strategy?
LITS SERVICES provides dedicated Microsoft 365 licensing consultation that paves the path for a productive work environment.
Our consultants gain a deep understanding of the specific features your users need to access. Users who require standard desktop apps and cloud services are assigned the E3 license, while advanced users who require analytics and advanced protection are assigned the E5 license.
We help build a hybrid environment where advanced users, analysts, and IT administrators utilize E5 capabilities while general users operate effectively on the E3 plan.
Our consultants seamlessly manage upgrades, downgrades, and contract renewals, ensuring that security standards are uniformly applied and compliance requirements are met as your business grows.
Our precise license assessment ensures that you never pay for unused cloud services or lack specialized capabilities, ultimately saving you money.
To learn more about how Microsoft 365 Enterprise Licensing works and help build a productive environment, connect with our teams for expert Microsoft 365 licensing consultation.
FAQ Section
What is the main difference between Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses?
The E3 plan provides standard desktop apps, cloud services, and device management. The E5 plan includes everything found in E3, but adds advanced cybersecurity, data analytics (Power BI), and cloud telephony (Teams Phone).
Why does a business need a Microsoft 365 Licensing Assessment?
An assessment ensures that your business deploys the right plan with the right features, preventing you from overspending on capabilities your employees will not use. Additionally, it accurately identifies your operational needs so you only invest in the specific apps, security tools, and cloud services you actually require.
What are the security features in Microsoft 365?
Multi factor authentication, data encryption, and compliance with global regulations will keep your data protected. These protect sensitive business and customer data with business continuity.