Elevate your cyber security strategy with E5 Uplift

The Microsoft 365 E5 Security package brings advanced security features to organisations of all sizes. 

There’s a common perception that security is expensive and inaccessible for smaller organisations. However, Microsoft has recently announced that the Microsoft 365 E5 Security package is now available as an add-on for Microsoft 365 Business Premium customers. This is a big deal, bringing advanced security features to smaller organisations, that were previously only available to larger enterprises, under a single, seamless uplift. This eliminates the need to scout for multiple tools or technologies, allowing customers to quickly benefit from a cost-effective solution in a familiar Microsoft view and format. 

What’s included? 

The E5 Security add-on includes powerful security tools previously reserved for higher tiers of licence. The Business Premium to E5 bundle uplift provides a huge number of capabilities at a much more attractive price. 

• Microsoft Defender for Office 365 P2: Defender for email protects against sophisticated threats like phishing and malware. It includes features such as attack simulation training and automated investigation and response, which can help organisations identify vulnerabilities and respond to threats more efficiently. This data can then be ingested into Sentinel to give deeper analytics and aid investigations. 

• Microsoft Defender for Endpoint P2: possibly the most notable tool in this blog.  Enhancing threat protection, endpoint detection and response capabilities, this alone is worth the uplift. It provides the ability to investigate and respond to threats across devices with ease, including advanced threat hunting, as well as  a detailed trail of what happened on the device. 24x7x365 response actions from a service like Softcat’s Managed Sentinel will quickly remediate any attacks or malicious content. 

• Microsoft Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) P2: an identity and access management solution that offers Privileged Identity Management (PIM) and Access Reviews. It helps better control and monitor access to sensitive resources. Bringing Entra ID logs into a solution like Sentinel allows useful login, access and user information to be harvested - imperative to understanding the scope and intention of attacks. 

Key benefits 

This add-on to the Business Premium licence can help organisations with: 

Cost savings and greater ROI: 

• Organisations can consolidate security tools, potentially reducing overall licencing spend and leading to cost savings in the security space. Some organisations have seen savings of around 57% with this add on. 

Greater security coverage: 

• Advanced threat protection and automated response capabilities all under one roof with features like Microsoft Defender Plan 2 for Endpoint, Office, Identity and Entra. This provides greater security and peace of mind. 

Why upgrade? 

Many Softcat customers upgrade their licensing for stronger security, particularly for the Defender for Endpoint P2 capabilities. The Business Premium to E5 security uplift greatly improves threat detection and response time, whilst costing far less than it used to. It also harnesses existing Microsoft technologies already in use within your organisation.  

Get in touch with our Sales team today, to discuss your licence uplift and access helpful demos, bringing it to life.