Explaining Microsoft 365’s Security Features

How Microsoft 365 bolsters security

In addition to bringing the exceptional stability of Microsoft’s underlying platform, the latest version of Microsoft 365 features three things that are particularly notable for security:

Enterprise Mobility & Security modules

• Mobile device management through Microsoft Intune. Intune is a cloud-based service that makes it easy for a business to manage which mobile devices gain access to its systems. It may sometimes be necessary to connect a personal device, but every added device presents a fresh point of vulnerability — Intune allows admins to remotely grant or deny access to any type of mobile device, mitigating any security concerns.
• Identity management through Azure Active Directory. Whether configuring internal user accounts for employees or arranging a temporary file sharing for partners or clients, Azure Active Directory provides centralized identity management for entire IT systems. Easily ensure that everyone has access to the files they need and nothing else.
• Information protection through Azure Information Protection. Some files, or pieces of data, are considerably more sensitive than others, and having everything presented in the same manner is a recipe for disaster. Azure Information Protection enables logical information classification with clarifying labels and unambiguous permissions.

Higher tiers of Microsoft 365 offer more features, but this core set as a package is key. Using these services in combination, any business can easily determine who can access different systems, which devices they can use to do so, and what data they’re allowed to see.

Business wide Windows 10 upgrades

Lastly, something with major security implications for a business is the inclusion with Microsoft 365 of a full Windows 10 upgrade path. Support for Windows 7 is ending in 2020, and there are already significant risks to using outdated operating software.

Any business that has held out due to concerns about expense or convenience can benefit from taking the Microsoft 365 route, because it cuts down on the cost and provides easy deployment using Windows Autopilot. It’s also simpler to implement wide-ranging upgrades in one fell swoop instead of trying to stagger them.

The benefits to clients and resellers

Microsoft 365 is attractive to the average business because it offers a supreme combination of power, simplicity, and convenience. It’s costly, but less expensive as a package than the component parts would be if paid for individually, and it’s certainly worth it. The potential price of suffering an embarrassing data leak is far higher, after all.

And while the value to the client is hugely significant to the reseller, there’s another reason why Microsoft 365 is a suite worth pushing: by massively simplifying security matters for companies with minimal IT expertise, it can achieve a notable reduction in support requests. In essence, it can make life easier for all parties involved.