What Is Included in Microsoft 365 Business? Full Breakdown

Core Services Included in All Business Plans

All three Microsoft 365 Business plans — Basic, Standard and Premium — include the following core services. These are not gated by plan tier:

Microsoft Teams

Full Teams functionality including unlimited meetings, chat, channels, file sharing, meeting recording, transcription, breakout rooms, and Teams Webinars (Standard and above). Meeting duration and participant limits are the same across all Business plans.

Exchange Online

A hosted business email mailbox with a 50GB capacity per user, supporting custom domain email (yourname@company.co.uk). Includes full Outlook calendar and contacts. Accessible via the Outlook desktop app, web browser, and mobile. Supports shared mailboxes, distribution lists, and resource calendars at no additional licence cost.

OneDrive for Business

1TB of personal cloud storage per user, accessible from any device. Files can be synced to the desktop for offline access. Supports sharing and co-editing with colleagues and external collaborators.

SharePoint Online

Team document storage and intranet capability. Each Microsoft 365 Group (and Teams team) gets a SharePoint site with document libraries. SharePoint is the backend storage for files shared in Teams channels. Also supports standalone team sites, intranet pages and communication sites.

Microsoft Forms

Create surveys, quizzes and polls. Responses are collected and can be analysed in Excel.

Microsoft Planner

Task management tool with Kanban-style boards. Planners are associated with Microsoft 365 Groups and integrate with Teams as a tab.

Microsoft To Do

Personal task management, integrated with Outlook Tasks and available as a standalone mobile app.

Microsoft Lists

A flexible data management tool for tracking information across a team — from issue logs to asset inventories. Built on SharePoint and accessible from Teams.

Yammer (now Microsoft Viva Engage)

Company-wide social networking for internal announcements, communities and discussion. Less commonly used in SMEs than Teams, but included across all plans.

Stream

Video hosting and sharing, integrated with Teams for storing and sharing meeting recordings.

What's Different Between Plans

Office Desktop Applications

Business Basic — web apps only (Word, Excel, PowerPoint in browser)
Business Standard — full desktop installs on up to 5 PCs/Macs per user
Business Premium — full desktop installs on up to 5 PCs/Macs per user

This is the most commonly misunderstood aspect of Microsoft 365 licensing. Business Basic does not install Office on users' computers — it only provides the browser-based versions. For most traditional office workers, Business Standard or above is required.

Security and Device Management

Business Basic and Standard — baseline security (Microsoft Defender Antivirus on Windows, MFA via Security Defaults, basic conditional access, Exchange Online Protection)
Business Premium — Defender for Business (EDR), Intune (device management), Azure AD Premium P1 (advanced conditional access), Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 (Safe Attachments, Safe Links), Microsoft Purview information protection

Teams Webinars

Teams Webinars (allowing external event hosting with registration, up to 1,000 attendees) are available on Business Standard and Premium, not on Business Basic.

What's Not Included in Any Business Plan

Several capabilities require add-ons or upgrades beyond the Business plans:

• Teams Phone / PSTN Calling — calling standard phone numbers requires a separate calling plan (approx. £8-12/user/month)
• Advanced compliance tools — litigation hold, unlimited archive, and advanced eDiscovery require E3 or E5
• Power BI Pro — the full Power BI service requires a separate licence or E5
• Dynamics 365 — CRM and ERP applications are separate products
• Azure Virtual Desktop / Windows 365 — cloud PC and desktop virtualisation require separate licences
• Third-party backup — Microsoft 365 doesn't include a comprehensive backup (see our backup guide)

Microsoft 365 Apps for Business

There is also a plan called Microsoft 365 Apps for Business (approximately £8.10/user/month) that provides desktop Office apps on up to 5 devices and 1TB OneDrive without Exchange email. This is a niche plan for businesses that already have email from another provider and just want Office installations and OneDrive. It's less common than Business Standard but exists as an option.

AMVIA advises UK businesses on the right Microsoft 365 plan configuration and manages licences as part of our managed IT support service. A licence audit can identify whether your current plan mix is appropriate or whether adjustments would better serve your business.