New Security and Compliance Add-ons for Microsoft 365 Business Premium

Cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated every day. For small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), this poses a serious challenge: how do you stay secure, compliant, and productive without enterprise-level budgets or dedicated in-house IT teams? Microsoft 365 Business Premium has long been the productivity and security choice for SMBs, but with the release of three new security and compliance add-ons, organisations now have access to enterprise-grade tools at an affordable price point.

Microsoft 365 Business Premium is an all-in-one productivity and security solution for SMBs. It combines familiar Microsoft 365 apps (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams) with advanced security, device management, and compliance tools. It’s designed to help organisations work efficiently while staying protected against threats like phishing, ransomware, and data breaches.

With the new add-ons, Business Premium customers can now extend their security and compliance posture even further without needing to jump to an enterprise license.

Microsoft Defender is Microsoft’s comprehensive security suite designed to detect, prevent, and respond to cyber threats. The new Defender Suite for Business Premium bundles together several high-value security tools, including:

• Microsoft Entra ID P2 – advanced identity protection and conditional access.
• Microsoft Defender for Identity – monitors suspicious user behaviour and insider threats.
• Defender for Endpoint Plan 2 – endpoint detection and response (EDR) capabilities.
• Defender for Office 365 P2 – protection against phishing, malware, and business email compromise.
• Defender for Cloud Apps – visibility and control across SaaS applications.

Normally these licences would cost $28.20 per user per month, but with the Defender Suite add-on, SMBs can access them for $10, saving 65%.

Microsoft Purview is Microsoft’s unified data governance, compliance, and risk management platform. For SMBs, this means having tools to discover, protect, and manage sensitive information while meeting growing regulatory requirements.

The new Purview Suite for Business Premium includes:

• Insider risk management and communication compliance.
• Data loss prevention and message encryption.
• AI-powered Data Security Posture Management (DSPM).
• Records and lifecycle management.
• eDiscovery (Premium) and Audit (Premium).
• Compliance Manager for simplified regulatory alignment.

Individually, this bundle is worth $19 per user per month, but with the add-on it’s available for $10, reducing costs by 47%.

Effective data governance isn’t just about compliance, it’s about ensuring your organisation knows where its data is, keeps it secure, and prevents accidental or malicious loss. With Purview, SMBs can build a governance strategy around three essential steps:

1. Know Your Data

You can’t protect what you can’t see. Purview provides discovery and classification tools that allow you to identify sensitive information across emails, documents, Teams chats, and third-party apps. By mapping data flows, you gain visibility into how information moves across your business.

2. Protect Your Data

Once sensitive data is identified, it needs the right safeguards. Purview allows you to apply sensitivity labels, encryption, and access restrictions to keep customer, financial, and operational data secure. This ensures only the right people have access, reducing the risk of leaks or misuse.

3. Prevent Data Loss

Data loss, whether from human error, insider threats, or cyberattacks, is a major risk for SMBs. Purview’s Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies, combined with Defender threat protection, help stop unauthorised sharing, monitor risky behaviour, and automatically block unsafe activity before it becomes a breach.

For SMBs that want the full suite of security and compliance capabilities, the combined Defender and Purview add-on delivers enterprise-grade protection and governance for just $15 per user per month, a 68% saving compared to purchasing licences separately.

Adopting these add-ons is just the first step. To get real value, they must be deployed strategically. At CPS, our Modern Work and Security experts work with SMBs to:

• Licensing reviews – ensure you’re only paying for what you need.
• Security and compliance roadmaps – prioritise and phase deployment in line with your business needs.
• Cyber Essentials and Cyber Essentials Plus assistance – align technology with policy to meet accreditation requirements.

We’ll help you set the right foundations, strengthen your security posture, and scale compliance as your organisation grows.