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Microsoft 365 Licensing: Getting What You Need

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Microsoft 365 licensing has a well-earned reputation for being confusing. With plans named Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, E3, E5, and a handful of add-ons in between, it can be genuinely hard to know whether you’re paying for the right thing — or leaving important protections on the table. With Microsoft’s pricing and packaging updates that took effect on 1 July 2026, now is a good time to take stock of what your organisation actually needs.

The Core Plans, Simply Explained

For most small to mid-sized New Zealand organisations, the choice comes down to three plans:

• Microsoft 365 Business Basic — Email, Teams, SharePoint, and web versions of Office apps. Good for budget-conscious teams who primarily work in a browser or on mobile.
• Microsoft 365 Business Standard — Adds full desktop Office apps (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and webinar hosting. The most common choice for general office workers.
• Microsoft 365 Business Premium — Everything in Standard, plus advanced security features including Microsoft Defender for Business and Intune device management. This is where real security uplift happens.

For larger organisations (typically 300+ users) or those with more complex compliance requirements, the E3 and E5 enterprise plans come into play. E3 adds advanced compliance tools and information protection; E5 layers on top-tier security analytics, Defender for Endpoint Plan 2, and Microsoft Purview capabilities.

What Changed from July 2026

Microsoft’s recent changes are worth noting — not because they’re dramatic, but because they bring genuine security improvements across the board. Several features that previously required add-ons have been bundled into existing plans, including Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 (which protects against phishing and malicious attachments), expanded Microsoft Intune capabilities such as Remote Help and Advanced Analytics, and increased mailbox storage. These additions rolled out to tenants by 1 August 2026.

The practical upside: if your organisation is already on Business Premium, E3, or E5, you’ll gain additional protections without needing to do anything. If you’re on a lower tier, it’s worth reviewing whether the new inclusions change your value calculation.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

The most frequent issue we see is organisations under-licensing for their security needs. Choosing Business Basic or Standard to save money, then purchasing separate security tools, often ends up costing more than simply stepping up to Business Premium — which includes Intune and Defender for Business as standard.

We also see over-licensing: organisations paying for E3 or E5 when Business Premium would serve them equally well. E3 makes sense when you need advanced eDiscovery, information barriers, or specific compliance frameworks — not just because it sounds more enterprise.

A Quick Checklist

• Do your staff need desktop Office applications? If yes, Basic isn’t enough.
• Do you manage devices centrally or need mobile device management? You’ll want Premium or E3.
• Do you have compliance obligations around data retention or legal holds? Consider E3 or specific compliance add-ons.
• Are you in health, legal, or government? Security should be non-negotiable — Business Premium is typically the minimum sensible baseline.

Licensing reviews don’t need to be painful. If you’re unsure whether your current plan is the right fit — or you want to understand what the July 2026 changes mean for your organisation — our team is always happy to help.

Jessica Falconer
Director, Resolve Technology
When she’s not wrangling IT strategies, Jessica can be found wrangling labradoodles, teenagers, and parishioners — not necessarily in that order.