Microsoft Licensing and Cost-Effective Alternatives
Knowing that every enterprise or organization has different needs for office productivity software Microsoft offers a range of subscription and license levels. These license levels range from a free Microsoft 365 Business Basic for Nonprofits license to a $55 per user per month cost for Microsoft 365 E5 license. Bluesource is an expert in Microsoft Technologies – helping companies migrate and manage Microsoft environments.
Microsoft Subscription Levels: E3 vs E5
Beyond the basics of Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and email with Exchange or Outlook, Microsoft license levels vary in collaboration tools, security, user management, eDiscovery, and storage capacity. There are specific licenses designed for government organizations and nonprofits, plus add-on subscriptions to customize services. The most advanced licensing – E5 and G5 for government come with advanced compliance, analytics, and security capabilities – at a significantly higher price point.
Choosing between Microsoft licenses is a critical decision for businesses looking to balance cost and functionality. Is the extra investment in E5 or G5 worth it for your organization? Does a basic Microsoft Frontline F1 or F3 license make sense for some of your workforce? Is a lower license level combined with add-on subscriptions or third-party tools better for your budget? Many companies find that they’re paying for premium features they don’t fully utilize.
The Microsoft subscriptions comparison table is a full 11-page document, which can be overwhelming. Bluesource can help break it down and ensure you’re getting all the necessary features for the best use of your budget.
Microsoft E5 vs E3 Licensing
Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 licenses include the full suite of productivity apps, windows operating system for enterprise, 1TB of cloud storage, and standard security and user management features. E5 expands on that with advanced security and compliance tools, and PowerBI for business analytics. The difference between E3 vs E5 come at the cost of $240 per user, per year for those enhanced features. The cost of E5 can add up quickly. Add-on options for compliance and security, and third-party tools can lower the over cost and ensure companies only pay for tools they’re using.
For government organizations, G3 vs G5 licensing is similar to E3 vs E5. Government licensing provides the capabilities of Microsoft 365 services, but in a segmented government cloud community, enabling organizations to meet U.S. compliance and security standards.
Are You Getting the Most out of an E5 or G5 License?
Microsoft 365 E5 and G5 licenses include a lot of advanced and premium features to enhance security, eDiscovery, compliance capabilities, and analytics. Paying for users to have access to these features if you’re not using them is the equivalent of tossing money out a window.
PowerBI Pro
E5 Licenses include Microsoft Power BI Pro, Microsoft’s data visualization and analytics software. PowerBI can connect and clean up data from multiple sources, and create reports and visualizations. The Pro subscription allows for more collaboration, and publishing and sharing reports.
Any Microsoft user can access the free level to create data visualizations and reports. Google’s similar platform – Google Looker Studio, doesn’t have as many advanced features as PowerBI, but is free and includes the ability to publish and share. Depending on users roles and needs, other solutions like Tableau, Klipfolio, and Whatagraph may be better options. Plus, if PowerBI Pro is essential for your users, but other E5 features are not – the PowerBI Pro add on is only $10/month per user.
Microsoft Defender
E5 licenses boast advanced security and protection features with the Microsoft Defender suite of products. Defender protects against phishing, malware, and cyberthreats. Defender can include post-breach detection, automated investigation and responses. System security is not something to ignore, but there are alternatives to Microsoft Defender. If license levels vary across your users, there’s probably a different security software in place across the enterprise to protect non E5 users. If E5 security features are the only E5 feature your company needs, the Microsoft 365 E5 Security add on for E3 users is a more cost-effective option.
Advanced eDiscovery
Microsoft Purview eDiscovery Premium is included with ana standard E5 license or the Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance add-on for E3 users. Premium eDiscovery features include:
- Custodian management
- Legal hold notifications
- Advanced indexing
- Review set filtering
- Tagging
- Analytics
Third-party eDiscovery tools include the same features without the need to have all users on premium subscription plans. If eDiscovery is the key feature of an E5 licensing, combining an E3 license with the compliance add-on, or using a third-party tool might be a more cost-effective option.
Risk Management
Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management is another tool included in an E5 license or the E5 Compliance add-on for E3 users. Insider Risk Management identifies code-of-conduct violations, restricts collaboration between groups to avoid conflict of interest, protects from breeches and helps meet compliance standards. Companies can upgrade necessary E3 users in security, human resources, and legal departments with the compliance add-on rather than full E5 licensing.
Entra ID P2 (Active Directory)
User management and access is critical to any workplace enterprise. Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is a cloud-based identity and access management service for employees. Entra ID P2 is included with E5 licensing, or available as a stand-alone. Admins can manage role-based access, single sign-on options, self-service password change, membership groups, conditional application access, and more identity-related tools. Entra P2 includes advanced security and user management features not available in Entra P1 – the level included with Microsoft 365 E3 subscriptions.
Cost-Efficient Solutions
If you’re not using all of the features of an E5 license, there’s a most cost-efficient solution. Every company has a different combination of Microsoft 365 license levels, add-ons, and third-party software that will best meet their needs and their budget. Moving users down to an E3 license and adding a third-party tool could save thousands of dollars each year. Moving just twenty users from an full E3 license to an F3 license for just the basics can save over six thousand dollars each year. Deciding between Microsoft 365 licenses isn’t just about accessing more features—it’s about ensuring your organization gets the best value for its investment.
Frontline License
In large enterprises, many employees only need the basics. Frontline employees working directly with customers, the public, or in manufacturing and distribution, don’t need all the features of an enterprise level license.
Microsoft F1 and F3 licenses include web and mobile access to the basic productivity apps – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, access to SharePoint, and collaboration with Teams. An F1 license is the most basic Microsoft offering with read-only access to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files and only 2GB of OneDrive storage. If that’s all your frontline workers need, the $27 per user per year price tag can have a major impact on the overall budget.
Similarly, for Government organizations (and private organizations that handle data subject to government regulations and requirements) a G1 Office 365 license offers the simplest options. G1 level includes more features than F1 with full access to web and mobile versions of productivity apps and more OneDrive storage.
Navigating Microsoft Licensing
Bluesource is your trusted partner for Microsoft 365. We make sure you get the most out of your investments, and all have all the functionality you need. Our expert team offers consulting, training, support, and implementation with Microsoft 365. The Bluesource team’s experience in eDiscovery and compliance means we know what your options are, and what is the most effective system for your company. Trust Bluesource to help navigate Microsoft license levels and save money without losing any necessary functionality.