Microsoft is a leading name when deciding on cloud productivity suites. However, if you’ve tried to take a look at their plans and licenses, there’s a good chance you might get confused. Microsoft 365 Enterprise, E3, E5, Standard, Business, Premium … It can all sound very similar.  

Microsoft Enterprise plans offer the best value to larger organizations (over 500 users or devices), that require licenses under one agreement. They currently offer two main products to answer this need: Office 365 (O365) and Microsoft 365 (M365).   

We know how tedious it can be to choose between two similar plans, so we’ll break the differences down to help you select the best plan for your business.   

Office 365 Enterprise – what’s included? 

Office 365 Enterprise’s popularity is undeniable, and it’s recognized as one of the most used suites of productivity apps. Between M365 and 0365, Office 365 Enterprise provides the most essential applications for your enterprise. This subscription (E1, E3 or E5) includes applications you most likely already know, including OneNote, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Forms, Planner, and To-do. The subscription to Office 365 Enterprise also provides email services, such as Exchange and Outlook. You can stay organized with business-class email, calendaring, and contacts all in one place. 

Office 365 Enterprise can also include Microsoft Teams and everything you love about it: meetings, chat, file storage and one-on-one calling. Beyond that, Office 365 provides social and intranet through SharePoint and Yammer. With these 2 apps, you can access your organization’s files from any device, anytime, anywhere.  

Additionally, Office 365 Enterprise includes apps from the Microsoft Power Platform, such as: 

• Power Apps for Office 365,  
• Power Automate for Office 365,  
• Power Virtual Agents for Office 365,  

Lastly, Office 365 Enterprise higher plans enable some security features, such as compliance management. This tool lets you assess compliance risks, protect sensitive data, and respond to regulatory requirements.   

* Power Virtual Agents is now offered by Copilot Studio *

  

Although Office 365 Enterprise provides access to several essential applications, the suite doesn’t offer advanced features. For instance, there are limited device/app management options, and a lack of identity and access management in the suite would limit users’ flexibility and control. Other security limitations can frustrate some CSOs, as Office 365 Enterprise lacks Windows Information Protection, Bit locker and security manager.  

Overall, Office 365 Enterprise excels at providing the most essential applications for your organizations to create efficient workflows and power productive, engaged teams. Office 365 Enterprise has tremendous value for smaller enterprises ready for a jump to cloud productivity. It’s also great for organizations that want less control over their cyber security and have a smaller budget. 

 

Microsoft 365 Enterprise – what’s included? 

Compared to Office 365 Enterprise, Microsoft 365 Enterprise is geared towards larger organizations that want a single, secure platform to share and collaborate. Its different plans are more complex but more flexible.  

Although Office 365 Enterprise provides features that every enterprise-level organization needs, Microsoft 365 Enterprise can provide those same features with added benefits, such as strong data security features and better services to take your business further.  

Microsoft 365 Enterprise offers everything that Office 365 includes, such as Office apps (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, OneNote, Publisher, and Access) and essential email and calendaring services such as Exchange and Outlook. Microsoft Teams is of course included for efficient meetings and voice calling. An added feature of Microsoft 365 Enterprise is Windows 11 Pro for Enterprise, which allows users to be more productive wherever they are while ensuring the security of corporate data. This account type also includes the Windows Autopilot, which works to fine-tune user experiences and Universal Print. 

A significant upgrade included in Microsoft 365 Enterprise includes advanced security for corporate data. Microsoft 365 Enterprise comes with more features for identity and access as compared to Office 365. It includes security features like Windows Hello and Credential guard. Just to give you an idea about Windows Hello, if you are using Windows 10 or Windows 11, you might have seen the option to log in using a pin or your face instead of using a password. Microsoft 365 enterprise also comes with features to provide threat protection; this includes Detection and investigation of advanced threats, compromised identities, and malicious actions across your on-premises and cloud environments. It uses Microsoft Defender Antivirus and Microsoft Application Guard to make sure your devices and environment are protected from unwanted threats. 

Another aspect that makes Microsoft 365 Enterprise stand out is its security management features: Microsoft Secure Score and Microsoft Security and Compliance Center. It allows one to gain visibility into the cloud apps and services, build insights with sophisticated analytics, and control how your organization’s data travels so you can respond to and combat cyber threats. 

Microsoft 365 Enterprise also helps protect your sensitive data with Windows Information Protection and Bit Locker, which is not included in Office 365 Enterprise. They also provide the upgraded Azure Information Protection Premium Plan 1.

So, what’s the best plan for your enterprise? 

Overall, Microsoft 365 Enterprise has added layers of data protection, security, and device management features like Intune, giving administrators a lot more control over devices and how data is accessed. This makes Microsoft 365 Enterprise more robust for enterprises with services that can uphold over 500 users and devices. Although Microsoft 365 is almost double the price of Office 365 Enterprise, the added security and ability to securely access corporate information from wherever they are is a great benefit.  

For smaller businesses, the lower price point of Office 365 still harbors excellent value for the average user. Their services still allow the potential for the great success of your enterprise at a more budget-friendly cost per user per year. For more details about Office 365 and Microsoft 365 models, check out this article from Microsoft. 

In simple words, Microsoft 365 Enterprise is a combination of all features of Office 365 Enterprise, plus a variety of apps and add-ons for security, compliance, and device management features. 

For example, if your organization has frontline workers, then Microsoft 365 F series plans will best suit your requirements. These plans include features for kiosks and shared devices and an online version of the Office apps. 

If you are a small business and your primary requirement is regulating app usage, your best bet would be to get an Office 365 Enterprise subscription. This requirement does not need high security and information protection. 

If you have a medium or large business and want more security features, your best bet would be to go for Microsoft 365 Enterprise E series subscriptions. These additional features can include compliance, Windows information protection, Bit Locker, Defender, and conditional access. For example, suppose you want to protect your data from being accessed from specific locations. In that case, you can have security features to block access. You could also choose to secure your devices with device encryption (Bit Locker) to protect your corporate devices’ data in all circumstances. 

The following additional capabilities of Microsoft 365 Enterprise make it a better choice than Office 365 Enterprise for protecting your employees, organization data, and customer information. 

• Advanced Threat Protection with Advanced Threat Analytics, Microsoft 365 Defender.
• Information Protection with Azure Information Protection Premium P1 and P2.
• Advanced Device Management with Microsoft Intune, Microsoft 365 Endpoint Configuration Manager, and Windows 11 for Enterprise.

Despite choosing Microsoft 365 Enterprise or Office 365 Enterprise, both services are excellent enterprise options to support your business growth and workflow. 

 If you would like more details on which license will include what features, check out this comparison chart below: 

 Microsoft 365 vs. Office 365 Comparison Chart

	Microsoft 365			Office 365
	E3	E5	E5 Security  (Requires M365 E3 (or O365 E3 and Enterprise Mobility + Security E3))	E1	E3	E5
	US$36 per user monthly	US$57 per user monthly	US$12 per user monthly	US$10 per user monthly	US$23 per user monthly	US$38 per user monthly
Microsoft 365 Apps
Desktop client apps	✓	✓			✓	✓
Office Mobile apps	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Install apps on up to 5 PCs/Mac + 5 tablets + 5 smartphones	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Office for the web	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Visio for the web	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Editor premium features	✓	✓			✓	✓
Multilingual user interface for Office apps	✓	✓			✓	✓
Email, calendar, and scheduling
Exchange Kiosk (2GB mailbox)
Exchange Plan 1 (50GB mailbox)				✓
Exchange Plan 2 (100GB mailbox)	✓	✓			✓	✓
Calendar	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Outlook desktop client	✓	✓			✓	✓
Auto-expanding email archive	✓	✓			✓	✓
Exchange Online Protection	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Public folder mailboxes	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Resource mailboxes	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Inactive mailboxes	✓	✓			✓	✓
Microsoft Shifts	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Bookings	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Meetings, calling, and chat
Microsoft Teams	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Unlimited chat	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Online meetings	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Live Events	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Webinars	✓	✓			✓	✓
Screen sharing and custom backgrounds	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Record meetings	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Priority notifications	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Teams Phone		✓				✓
Audio Conferencing	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Social, intranet, and storage
SharePoint Kiosk (2GB OneDrive storage)
SharePoint Plan 1 (1 TB OneDrive storage)				✓
SharePoint Plan 2 (unlimited OneDrive storage)	✓	✓			✓	✓
Yammer Enterprise	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Viva Connections	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Content services
Microsoft Graph API	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Search	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Stream	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Forms	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Lists	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Delve	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Expertise identification	✓	✓			✓	✓
Create document understanding or form processing models	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Access content centers	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
View metadata extracted by document understanding or form processing models	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Insights and analytics
Productivity Score	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Secure Score	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Compliance Management	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Viva Insights – Personal insights	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Power BI Pro		✓				✓
Project and task management
Microsoft Planner	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft To-Do	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Briefing Email	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Automation, app building, and chatbots
Power Apps	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Power Automate	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Power Virtual Agent	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Dataverse for Teams	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Viva Learning
Viva Learning in Teams	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Create learning tabs in Teams channels	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Search, share and chat about learning content	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Learn and Microsoft 365 Training libraries + 125 top LinkedIn Learning courses	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Organization-generated content with SharePoint and Viva Learning	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Information governance
Manual retention labels	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Basic org-wide or location-wide retention policies	✓	✓			✓	✓
Rules-based automatic retention policies		✓				✓
Machine Learning-based retention		✓
Teams message retention policies	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Records Management		✓				✓
Information protection
Azure Information Protection Plan 1	✓
Azure Information Protection Plan 2		✓
Manual, default, and mandatory sensitivity labelling in Office 365	✓	✓			✓	✓
Automatic sensitivity labelling in Office 365 apps		✓				✓
Manual labelling with the AIP app and plugin	✓	✓
Automatic labelling in the AIP plugin		✓
Automatic sensitivity labels in Exchange, SharePoint, and OneDrive		✓				✓
Sensitivity labels based on Machine Learning/Trainable classifiers		✓
Sensitivity labelling for containers in Office 365	✓	✓			✓	✓
O365 Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for emails & files	✓	✓			✓	✓
DLP for Teams chat		✓				✓
Endpoint DLP		✓
Basic Office Message Encryption	✓	✓			✓	✓
Advanced Office Message Encryption		✓				✓
Customer Key		✓				✓
Threat Protection
Microsoft Defender Antimalware	✓	✓
Microsoft Defender Firewall	✓	✓
Microsoft Defender Exploit Guard	✓	✓
Microsoft Defender Credential Guard	✓	✓
BitLocker and BitLocker To Go	✓	✓
Windows Information Protection	✓	✓
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 1	✓	✓
Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Plan 2		✓	✓
Microsoft Defender for Identity		✓	✓
Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Plan 2		✓	✓			✓
Application Guard for Office 365		✓	✓
Safe Documents		✓	✓
Cloud access security broker
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps		✓	✓
Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps Discovery	✓	✓
Office 365 Cloud App Security						✓
Identity and access management
Azure Active Directory Premium Plan 1	✓
Azure Active Directory Premium Plan 2		✓	✓
User Provisioning	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Self Service Password Reset	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Advanced Security Reports	✓	✓	✓
Multi-Factor Authentication	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓
Conditional Access	✓	✓	✓
Risk-Based Conditional Access/ Identity Protection		✓	✓
Privileged Identity Management		✓	✓
Access Reviews		✓	✓
Entitlement Management		✓	✓
Microsoft 365 Groups	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
On-premises Active Directory sync for SSO	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
DirectAccess supported	✓	✓
Windows Hello for Business	✓	✓
Microsoft Advanced Threat Analytics	✓	✓
Windows Store Access Management	✓	✓
Endpoint and app management
Microsoft Intune	✓	✓
Mobile Device Management	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Microsoft Endpoint Manager	✓	✓
Mobile application management	✓	✓
Windows AutoPilot	✓	✓
Group Policy Support	✓	✓			✓	✓
Office cloud policy support	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Shared computer activation for M365 Apps	✓	✓			✓	✓
Endpoint Analytics	✓	✓
Cortana management	✓	✓
eDiscovery and auditing
Content Search	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Core eDiscovery (including Hold and Export)	✓	✓			✓	✓
Litigation Hold	✓	✓			✓	✓
Advanced eDiscovery		✓				✓
Basic Audit	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓
Advanced Audit		✓				✓
Insider risk management
Insider Risk Management		✓
Communication Compliance		✓				✓
Information Barriers		✓				✓
Customer Lockbox		✓				✓
Privileged Access Management		✓				✓
Windows
Windows 11 Edition	Enterprise	Enterprise
Azure Virtual Desktop	✓	✓
Universal Print	✓	✓

If you are still thinking about which plan is best for you, reach out to us! We’ll understand your requirements and propose the best solution for your organization.