Microsoft 365 Business Premium: Features & Pricing

What Is Microsoft 365 Business Premium?

Business Premium is the highest tier in Microsoft's Business plan range, sitting above Basic (£4.60) and Standard (£9.40). At £17.60/user/month, it provides the complete Microsoft 365 application suite — Office apps, Teams, Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive — combined with a security toolset that was previously only available to enterprise customers.

The security additions in Business Premium represent meaningful protection for businesses that handle client data, operate in regulated environments, or want proper device and identity governance. They're not cosmetic upgrades — they're the same tools that enterprise IT teams use to protect large organisations.

Everything Included in Business Premium

Productivity Applications

• Desktop Office apps — Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Access on up to 5 PCs or Macs per user
• Office mobile apps on up to 5 smartphones and tablets
• Office web apps (browser-based)
• Microsoft Teams — full meeting, chat and calling capabilities
• Exchange Online — 50GB mailbox per user
• OneDrive for Business — 1TB per user
• SharePoint Online
• Teams Webinars

Endpoint Security

• Microsoft Defender for Business — endpoint detection and response (EDR) for up to 300 devices. Detects, investigates and helps remediate threats across Windows, Mac, iOS and Android devices. Includes antivirus, firewall management, and attack surface reduction rules. This is the same Defender engine used in the enterprise E5 plan.

Identity and Access Management

• Azure Active Directory Premium P1 — conditional access policies (block sign-in from untrusted locations, require compliant devices, require MFA based on risk signals), self-service password reset with on-premises writeback, and dynamic group membership

Device Management

• Microsoft Intune — Mobile Device Management (MDM) and Mobile Application Management (MAM) for Windows, Mac, iOS and Android. Enrol and manage company devices, enforce compliance policies (PIN, encryption, OS version), and apply configuration profiles remotely. Enables remote wipe of a lost or stolen device.

Information Protection

• Microsoft Purview Information Protection P1 — sensitivity labels for documents and emails, data loss prevention policies, and Azure Information Protection P1. Allows businesses to classify and protect sensitive information, with policies that prevent sharing outside the organisation.
• Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 — Safe Links (URL checking at click time), Safe Attachments (sandbox scanning of email attachments), and anti-phishing with impersonation detection

Business Premium vs Business Standard: Is It Worth It?

The £8.20/user/month difference between Standard (£9.40) and Premium (£17.60) gets you:

• Defender for Business — replacing a separate third-party antivirus/EDR that would typically cost £5-10/user/month
• Intune — device management that would otherwise require a separate solution
• Azure AD Premium P1 — conditional access that prevents account compromise from untrusted devices and locations
• Defender for Office 365 — Safe Links and Safe Attachments for email security

For a business of 20 users, the uplift from Standard to Premium is £164/month. The equivalent security toolset purchased separately would typically exceed this. The real question is whether your business needs these capabilities — and for most UK SMEs handling client data, the answer is yes.

Business Premium and Cyber Essentials Plus

Cyber Essentials Plus certification requires technical controls including endpoint protection, device management, MFA with conditional access, and software patching. Business Premium includes all the Microsoft tools needed to implement these controls. AMVIA assists businesses pursuing Cyber Essentials Plus in configuring Business Premium correctly to meet the certification requirements.

Business Premium vs E3

E3 (£30.20/user/month) and Business Premium (£17.60/user/month) overlap significantly. E3 adds litigation hold, 100GB mailboxes, unlimited archive, advanced eDiscovery and Windows Enterprise. Business Premium actually has a stronger endpoint security story in some respects — Defender for Business is specifically tuned for businesses under 300 users.

For most UK SMEs, Business Premium provides the right balance of security and productivity at a price point that doesn't require the compliance features of E3. AMVIA recommends Business Premium as the default starting point for security-conscious businesses.