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What Is Microsoft 365 for Business and What's Included?

Office apps, email, Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive and, on some plans, the security tooling.

Microsoft 365 for business is a subscription that bundles the Office applications, Exchange email, Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, with identity provided by Microsoft Entra ID and, on the Premium plan, device management and advanced security. For most small and mid-sized businesses it is the platform everything else connects to.

What is included

  • Office apps. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote; web and mobile on every plan, desktop on Standard and Premium.
  • Exchange Online. Business email, calendars and contacts with large mailboxes.
  • Teams. Chat, meetings, calling (with a Teams Phone add-on) and collaboration.
  • SharePoint and OneDrive. Company file storage and personal file storage. See SharePoint vs OneDrive.
  • Entra ID. The identity service behind every login, and the place MFA and access policies live. See what is Entra ID.
  • On Business Premium: Intune device management, Defender for Business endpoint protection, Entra ID P1 (Conditional Access), and information protection.

Choosing a plan

Business Basic, Standard and Premium differ mainly in desktop apps and security. For most businesses with anything to protect, Premium is the right answer. See Business Basic vs Standard vs Premium. Business plans are capped at 300 users; larger organizations move to Enterprise plans.

What Microsoft 365 does not do by itself

It does not back up your data in the way most people assume (does Microsoft 365 back up your data), it does not enforce MFA or security policies until someone configures them, and it does not stop users from sharing files with the world if sharing settings are left at defaults. Configuration is where a tenant becomes secure or does not.

Copilot

Microsoft 365 Copilot is an add-on that brings AI assistance into the apps; see what is Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Mentis Group is a Microsoft Partner in Dallas-Fort Worth and provides Microsoft 365 support, including licensing, migration, security configuration and day-to-day user help.

Have a question about your own environment? Schedule a consultation with Mentis Group or call (866) 901-7808.