Microsoft terms and conditions
As detailed in our previous article, Microsoft terms and conditions now specifically prohibit the incorrect use of Microsoft licensing which means that combining certain licences together in your tenant is not permitted and risks being picked up and penalised should an audit take place. Combining Office 365 Basic or Office 365 Standard with Office 365 Premium without additional products is a contravention.
Advice and Guidance from Qi
This article is to provide some advice on guidance on how to practically and cost effectively give your staff what they need for their day to day whilst remaining compliant.
Do not downgrade from Premium
The benefits of Microsoft Office 365 Premium are many and if you already have these licences in your portfolio, you have understood that this licence is a cost-effective approach to achieving enhanced security, email security, device management, protection against lost devices, device updates, Azure AD and Microsoft Defender antivirus.
How to make Office 365 Basic licences compliant with Business Premium use
If you require access to Microsoft Office 365 web apps, SharePoint, Teams, and OneDrive plus mailbox, then Basic will have suited you well.
Make Basic compliant for use with your Premium licences by adding Azure AD Premium and Microsoft Defender.
Total Annual Cost per user £147.60 per year plus VAT
This approach returns a lesser cost than Business Premium at £217.20 per year, per user plus VAT.
Only using a mailbox?
Downgrade Basic licences to Exchange Online Plan 1. Staff can access their emails from any device, anywhere but will not have access to Office 365 Apps, Teams, SharePoint, or OneDrive.
(Remember, they can still join a Teams meeting with Exchange Online Plan 1 if the meeting organiser sends them an invitation with a link in it. Click on the web link – they can join!)
Total Annual Cost per user £39.60 per year plus VAT
Understand the business case for Frontline Worker licences. See this previous article.
Increasingly, Frontline Worker licences are being subscribed to providing shop floor managers and remote service engineers (as examples) with the right tools to fulfil their roles – without breaking the bank. Frontline Worker licences are compliant in conjunction with Premium
Total Annual Cost for an F3 licence per user £79.20 per year plus VAT
Thought for the Day
When in doubt – call Qi for advice. If we understand what your staff do in their day to day and from what devices, they are accessing Office 365 – we can give you the right recommendations.