Glossary
Microsoft 365 Business Premium
Also called: M365 Business Premium, M365 BP
In one sentence
Microsoft 365 Business Premium is Microsoft's top small-business plan (up to 300 users), combining Office apps, email and Teams with device management and advanced security.
Microsoft sells three main business plans. Business Basic covers web and mobile Office apps, email and Teams. Business Standard adds the installed desktop apps. Business Premium includes everything in Standard plus the security and management tools most small organizations need: Intune for device management, Entra ID P1 for Conditional Access, Defender for Business for endpoint protection, Defender for Office 365 Plan 1 for safer links and attachments, and Microsoft Purview tools for sensitivity labels and data loss prevention.
Business plans are capped at 300 users; larger organizations move to Enterprise plans. You can mix plans in one tenant, but security policies tied to Premium features only protect the users who have Premium licenses.
Why it matters for practices and small businesses: Business Premium is often the most cost-effective way to meet the controls that HIPAA safeguards, cyber insurers and client security questionnaires ask about — MFA with device-based access rules, encrypted and managed devices, EDR and email threat protection — without buying several separate products. Microsoft also offers a HIPAA BAA covering in-scope Microsoft 365 services.
Having the license isn't the same as being protected. Most of these features are off or minimally configured until someone sets them up properly, and that setup is where much of the value is.
Example: a 12-person dental office on Business Standard pays separately for antivirus and has no way to enforce device encryption. Moving to Business Premium lets it replace the separate antivirus, encrypt and manage every PC with Intune, and restrict patient-file access to practice devices.
Compare plans with our Microsoft 365 plan picker or read our Basic vs Standard vs Premium guide.
Related terms
- Microsoft IntuneMicrosoft Intune is Microsoft's cloud service for managing and securing company computers, phones and tablets — settings, apps, updates and encryption — from one place.
- Microsoft Entra IDMicrosoft Entra ID (formerly Azure Active Directory) is Microsoft's cloud identity service — the system that holds your users' accounts and controls how they sign in to Microsoft 365 and other apps.
- Microsoft Defender for BusinessMicrosoft Defender for Business is Microsoft's endpoint security product for organizations of up to 300 users, combining next-generation antivirus with EDR and automated investigation.
- Conditional AccessConditional Access is the Microsoft Entra ID feature that decides, at every sign-in, whether to allow, block or require extra checks based on who is signing in, from what device, and from where.
- DLP (data loss prevention)Tools and policies that spot sensitive information — like Social Security numbers or patient records — and stop it from being shared where it shouldn’t go.
- Windows AutopilotWindows Autopilot lets a brand-new Windows PC set itself up for your business the first time an employee signs in — no imaging or hands-on setup required.